Alena Nicholson

Dr. Erickson

Old Testament Poetic Lit.

22 October 2019

Moses’/Miriam’s Song

“He is my God, and I will praise him” Exodus 15:2b

Moses’ Song is a very poetic passage in the middle of Exodus. For some, it may seem

like it is a break in the story, for others it is woven beautifully into the story. While it is different

from the rest of Exodus, it is certainly part of the story and not written in to throw off readers. It

is meant to explain God’s power and his desire for His people to thrive and multiply. It shows

that we all have to rely on God and that God will always deliver us. There is debate as to when it

was written, who actually sang the song, where the sea was parted… etc. Regardless of the

debates, the passage is beautiful poetically and should be held high for it’s work in praising God.

Historical context for this starts in the beginning of Exodus. Joseph was dead and the new

pharaoh had no idea what he had done for his kingdom. The Israelites were in Egypt multiplying

as God commanded. The new pharaoh saw this a threat and oppressed them and overworked

them. God promises them freedom and unleashes plagues on Egypt. Every Egyptian first born is

killed, including the Pharaoh’s and Israel escaped, but not with Egypt tailing them. The came to

the Red Sea and God commanded Moses to lift his staff to part the sea for the people to go

through. Moses did as instructed and the sea was parted. The Israelites passed and the Egyptians

drowned.
 Moses sang this song after God parted the Red sea for him and the rest of the Israelites to

escape the Egyptians. There apparently has been debate on the translation of this. Some have

interpreted it (yam suph) as “sea of reeds/seaweed” which would explain why many scholars

prefer Reed Sea over Red Sea. They prefer this “noting that lakes north of the Red Sea are

abundant with reeds. They usually designate one of these shallow bodies of water as the site of

the Israelite crossing but say that the Egyptians, with their heavy chariots, got bogged down and

somehow drowned” (Seiglie). However, many still use the “Red Sea” because the Israelites had

to travel a long ways and camp out. The only body of water in the region large enough for this to

happen would be the Red Sea. Regardless of where the sea was parted, Moses sang this song out

of praise and thanksgiving of God’s power for getting him and the Israelites out of a sticky

situation.

Historically, it was written after God delivered them from the Egyptians. Compared to

today’s military strength, it doesn’t seem that great. We can “part the sea” with submarines or

sail across with warships. However, in Moses’ time (around 1400 BCE) Egyptian military was

the best of the best. God rescuing them was the only way His people would have survived. The

song is addressed to YHWH himself and sung by Moses and Miriam joins in later (or after each

verse).

There is debate as to if Moses actually sang this after being delivered. Miriam’s song

would make a lot of sense as the song that they sang considering it was spontaneous and full of

heart and worship. We see this debate pop up because of verse 13, “With your faithful love, you

will lead the people you have redeemed; you will guide them to your holy dwelling with your

strength” (CSB). In certain versions, like ESV, it is in past tense, “You have led… you have

guided…” This points to the accusation that this part of the song was added in later, either by
Moses or a different author. However, it could also be pointing to a form of prophecy.

Considering God is outside of time, it is legitimate for Moses to talk about Him in this way.

However, the debate still stands.

The song is set up in two main parts. The first part emphasizes the defeat of the

Egyptians. The second part (13-21) focuses on those who would oppose Israel in the future.

Differently, the first half dwells on the Egyptian’s defeat and the second half focuses on Israel’s

deliverance, even ones yet to come. This is clear with the tense change is verse 13. Verses 1

through 12 have been present (and sometimes past) and verse thirteen changes to future. This is

extremely beautiful in the fact that the Israelites saw this just as their beginning and not their end.

The point of view, however, changes a lot. The first three verses are written in first

person, talking about God. Verse 4 changes and now the song is addressing God directly, talking

to him in second person. We switch back to talking about Him in the last verse.

The song itself is also poetically beautiful. According to McCabe, the passage has two

examples of Three-Line Staircase Parallelism. The first is found is verses 6-7 and the second in

verse 11. A three-line staircase parallelism in verses 6-7 has the first two words of the first line

repeated in the second line; “Your right hand, O LORD”. McCabe also states “that the

tetragrammaton not only functions as the second word but it also must function as the vocative”

meaning that the word YHWH is not only the repeating second word, but also a noun that the

author is directing. Verse 7 starts with describing the greatness of His majesty and by that, He

was able to overthrow his attackers, which is parallel synthetically to the latter part of verse 6.

This creates three-line staircase. In simpler terms, the first four words (in our English Bible, two

in Hebrew) in the first line in verse 6 are repeated in the second line of verse 6. The latter part of

verse 6 is parallel synthetically to verse 7.

 However, verse 6 itself is just synonymous parallelism. It matches the first verse and

expands on it. The two lines say the same thing; however, the second line expands on that

thought. We see this in verse 2b as well; “This is my God, and I will praise him, // my father’s

God and I will exalt him.”

The second example is verse 11. The first repeating phrase is “Who is like You” which

appears in a and b of verse 11. The last part of 11b is “awesome in holiness” which is parallel

synthetically to the beginning of 11c which is “astonishing in praiseworthy deeds”. Verse 11

ends with “a wonder, worker?” creating another staircase.

All of these poetic forms enhance the passage in several ways. As stated before, the

division between verses 1 through 12 and 13 through 21 shows how Israel knows that this isn’t

their end, it is their beginning. Verse 13 says “With your faithful love, you will lead the people

you have redeemed…” They know that God will take them the rest of the way to the Promised

Land and protect them, not only on the way there, but for ages to come as seen in verse 18 “The

LORD will reign forever and ever!”

The tense change shifts focus from praising God, to remembering what God did for them,

to finally hope for the future. This adds to the feeling hidden behind the song. A song isn’t a

song without feeling and spirit, and this tense change shows that, it reveals it to the reader. It

manipulates time and adds a sense of when it was written to the readers’ mind.

A three-line staircase parallelism enhances that passage repeating phrases or

words that are important to the author and to the reader. In this case, usually LORD (YHWH).

By repeating phrases, it shows, not only it’s importance, but makes it easier for the reader to

remember. A phrase like “LORD who is like you?” reminds the Israelites to not worship idols
(as they often have issues with) because no one is like Him. By building on this phrase it adds to

its importance and expands on it. “…revered with praises, performing wonders?” It shows why

God is the only one and how no one is like Him, it elevates Him. The staircase enhances this. By

just saying “Lord who is like you, who performs wonders?” isn’t as meaningful as “Lord, who is

like you among the gods? Who is like you, glorious in holiness, revered with praises, performing

wonders?

This song is special and very Psalm-like. The acts of God are seen as “evidences of His

nature and character” (Deffinbaugh). Contrary, the defeat of the Egyptians, described in poetic

imagery, is viewed in light of the character of God which is demonstrated in God’s deliverance.

The imagery used in the song immerses the reader in and makes the song come alive. By using

phrases like “nostrils of God” instead of “an east wind” (as seen in Exodus 14:21), it increases

the creativity of the picture the reader paints in their head.

The song is beautiful, but the main point it was sung/written is due to the deliverance of

the Israelites from Egypt and the defeat of the Egyptians. It is a description of God’s power and

might as Israel’s defender, evidenced with the destruction of the Egyptians and the parting of the

Red Sea.

The main reason most passages are written and chosen to go into the holy book we call

the Bible is so that we would remember. Deuteronomy 6:7-9 in short says to tell your children

about the good works of the LORD and to always remember. Moses wrote the song in here so

that we all would remember, not so much the story of how they were delivered, but how they

praised God. Regardless if Moses or Miriam sang the song, they sang it with praise and

thanksgiving for God delivering them from the Egyptians. They sang it with hope for the future

of their people and of God bringing them to the promised land.

 By going into great detail about God’s power and might, it explains that God is the only

one. The only God for them, the only one who can perform that kind of miracle, and the only one

who can take them to the promised land. We are too apply to today’s life. We often make jokes

about how the Israelites often had trouble with worshipping idols, however, we all have that

issue. We might not worship other gods, but we worship our cellphones, other people, objects,

clothes…etc. In Exodus 32, the Israelites will worship a golden calf before they have arrived in

the promised land. We all are a little messed up. We all have idols. However, if we take time to

worship God in everything that He does for us, we will most likely feel convicted to do better. If

we worship Him in everything we do, we will never forget and can “impress this on our

children” (Deut. 6) so that they don’t forget.

In 1400 BCE, the Israelites were delivered from the Egyptians, taken to the promised

land, and it all led to Jesus being born, breaking his body on the cross and shedding his blood for

our sins. That moment led to the year 2000 where a baby girl was born in Southern California

and in a short 19 years, she would go to Minnesota for college. Then she would write this six

page paper, talk about it with her roommate, and gain more insight on Exodus 15, all because the

Israelites trusted God to deliver them from Egypt.

Moses’ song (or Miriam’s song depending on who you are talking to) is a beautifully

written song. While there is debate on when it was written, who sang it, and where the sea was

parted, we know for a fact that it was sung with praise, thanksgiving, and worship for the one

and only God that could part the seas for them. The poetic forms in the passage bring out the

feeling and spirit hidden behind the words and immerses the reader. It puts them dancing right

next to Miriam looking forward, with hope, to the Promised Land.

 Work Cited

Deffinbaugh, Robert L. “8. The Song of the Sea (Exodus 15).” 8. The Song of the Sea (Exodus

15) | Bible.org, 13 May 2004, bible.org/seriespage/song-sea-exodus-15.

McCabe, Robert C. “CARMEN MARIS ALGOSI: AN EXEGETICAL STUDY OF EXODUS

15:1-18 .” Grace Theological Seminary, June 1981,

http://faculty.gordon.edu/hu/bi/ted_hildebrandt/OTeSources/02-Exodus/Text/Books/McCabe-

Ex15/McCabe-Ex15.pdf

Seiglie, Mario. “The Bible and Archaeology: The Red Sea or the Reed Sea?” United Church of

God, 3 June 1997, www.ucg.org/the-good-news/the-bible-and-archaeology-the-red-sea-

or-the-reed-sea.