Song of Moses
Encyclopedia
The Song of Moses in this article relates to the name sometimes given to the poem that appears in Deuteronomy
of the Hebrew Bible
written/orated just prior to Moses' death atop Mount Nebo
.
The Song is believed by some to have been written down and placed in the Ark of the Covenant
, along with Aaron's staff and the Pentateuch
.
The poem opens with an exordium (verses 1-3) in which heaven and earth are summoned to hear what the poet is to utter. In verses 4-6 the theme is defined: it is the rectitude and faithfulness of Yhwh toward His corrupt and faithless people. Verses 7-14 portray the providence which conducted Israel in safety through the wilderness and gave it a rich and fertile land; verses 15-18 are devoted to Israel's unfaithfulness and lapse into idolatry. This lapse had compelled Yhwh to threaten it (verses 19-27) with national disaster and almost with national extinction. Verses 28-43 describe how Yhwh has determined to speak to the Israelites through the extremity of their need, to lead them to a better mind, and to grant them victory over their foes.
In a Torah scroll
the song is written with a special layout, in two parallel columns.
"Like a vulture, that stirreth up its nest, That hovereth over its young, He spread abroad His wings, He took him, He bore him upon His pinion: Yhwh alone did lead him; And no foreign god was with Him."
The general plan of the poem resembles that of Ps. lxxviii., cv., cvi., and the prose of Ezek. xx., as well as the allegories of Ezek. xvi. and xxiii. In the Song of Moses, however, the theme is treated with greater completeness and with superior poetic power.
the poem was an originally separate text, that was inserted by the deuteronomist
into the second edition (of 2), of the text which became Deuteronomy (i.e. was an addition in 'Dtr2').
The poem, cast partly in the future tense
, describes how Yahweh is provoked into punishing the Israelites due to their apostasy
, resulting in the Israelites being destroyed. Dtr2 is believed to have been produced as a reaction to the Kingdom of Judah
being sent into its Babylonian exile, and thus to Dtr1's (the hypothesised first edition of Deuteronomy) positive outlook, and suggestion of an upcoming golden age, being somewhat no longer appropriate. Consequently the poem fits the aim of Dtr2, in retroactively accounting for Israel's misfortune, and, indeed, may have been composed at a similar time.
Though both Jewish and Christian sources have traditionally attributed the Song to Moses, the conditions presupposed by the poem render the Mosaic authorship of it impossible according to critical commentary. The Exodus and the wilderness wanderings lie in the distant past. The writer's contemporaries may learn of them from their fathers (verse 7). The Israelites are settled in Palestine (verses 13-14); sufficient time has passed for them not only to fall into idolatry (verses 15-19), but to be brought to the verge of ruin. They are pressed hard by heathen foes (verse 30); but Yahweh promises to interpose and rescue his people (verses 34-43).
from the University of Michigan
assigns it to the period just after the defeat of the Israelite
militia
at the battle of Eben-Ezer
, and its authorship to the prophet Samuel:
When all of Deuteronomy 31:14-23 was referred to JE, the poem was believed to be anterior thereto, and was believed to be contemporary with the Assyrian wars under Jehoash
and Jeroboam II
(c. 780 BCE). To this period it is referred by August Dillmann
, Schrader, Samuel Oettli, Heinrich Ewald
, Adolf Kamphausen
and Edouard Guillaume Eugène Reuss
. Kuenen and Driver, who believe that the expression "those which are not a people" in verse 21 refers to the Assyria
ns, assign the poem to the age of Jeremiah
and Ezekiel
(c. 630 BCE); while Cornill, Steuernagel, and Bertholet refer it to the closing years of the Exile, ie. the period of the second Isaiah.
In the present state of modern knowledge the date cannot be definitely fixed; but there is much to be said in favor of the exilic date.
Both Songs of Moses, as with Habakkuk 3 (Domine Audivi), and 1 Samuel 2 (Exultavit Cor Meum) are counted as canticle
s in church use.
Deuteronomy
The Book of Deuteronomy is the fifth book of the Hebrew Bible, and of the Jewish Torah/Pentateuch...
of the Hebrew Bible
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible is a term used by biblical scholars outside of Judaism to refer to the Tanakh , a canonical collection of Jewish texts, and the common textual antecedent of the several canonical editions of the Christian Old Testament...
written/orated just prior to Moses' death atop Mount Nebo
Mount Nebo (Jordan)
Mount Nebo is an elevated ridge that is approximately 817 meters above sea level, in what is now western Jordan. The view from the summit provides a panorama of the Holy Land and, to the north, a more limited one of the valley of the River Jordan...
.
The Song is believed by some to have been written down and placed in the Ark of the Covenant
Ark of the Covenant
The Ark of the Covenant , also known as the Ark of the Testimony, is a chest described in Book of Exodus as solely containing the Tablets of Stone on which the Ten Commandments were inscribed...
, along with Aaron's staff and the Pentateuch
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
.
Biblical Data
Poem found in Deut. xxxii. 1-43. It is said that "Moses spake in the ears of all the assembly of Israel the words of this song" (Deut. xxxi. 30, R. V.; comp. ib. xxxii. 44). The song exhibits striking originality of form; nowhere else in the Old Testament are prophetic thoughts presented in poetical dress on so large a scale.The poem opens with an exordium (verses 1-3) in which heaven and earth are summoned to hear what the poet is to utter. In verses 4-6 the theme is defined: it is the rectitude and faithfulness of Yhwh toward His corrupt and faithless people. Verses 7-14 portray the providence which conducted Israel in safety through the wilderness and gave it a rich and fertile land; verses 15-18 are devoted to Israel's unfaithfulness and lapse into idolatry. This lapse had compelled Yhwh to threaten it (verses 19-27) with national disaster and almost with national extinction. Verses 28-43 describe how Yhwh has determined to speak to the Israelites through the extremity of their need, to lead them to a better mind, and to grant them victory over their foes.
In a Torah scroll
Sefer Torah
A Sefer Torah of Torah” or “Torah scroll”) is a handwritten copy of the Torah or Pentateuch, the holiest book within Judaism. It must meet extremely strict standards of production. The Torah scroll is mainly used in the ritual of Torah reading during Jewish services...
the song is written with a special layout, in two parallel columns.
Critical View
The poet was also an artist. Conspicuous literary ability and artistic skill are manifested in the development of his theme. His figures are diversified and forcible; the parallelism is unusually regular. One of the best examples of poetic simile in the Bible occurs in verses 11 and 12 of this song:(Driver's transl.)"Like a vulture, that stirreth up its nest, That hovereth over its young, He spread abroad His wings, He took him, He bore him upon His pinion: Yhwh alone did lead him; And no foreign god was with Him."
The general plan of the poem resembles that of Ps. lxxviii., cv., cvi., and the prose of Ezek. xx., as well as the allegories of Ezek. xvi. and xxiii. In the Song of Moses, however, the theme is treated with greater completeness and with superior poetic power.
Scholarly views
According to the modern documentary hypothesisDocumentary hypothesis
The documentary hypothesis , holds that the Pentateuch was derived from originally independent, parallel and complete narratives, which were subsequently combined into the current form by a series of redactors...
the poem was an originally separate text, that was inserted by the deuteronomist
Deuteronomist
The Deuteronomist, or simply D, is one of the sources underlying the Hebrew bible . It is found in the book of Deuteronomy, in the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings and also in the book of Jeremiah...
into the second edition (of 2), of the text which became Deuteronomy (i.e. was an addition in 'Dtr2').
The poem, cast partly in the future tense
Future tense
In grammar, a future tense is a verb form that marks the event described by the verb as not having happened yet, but expected to happen in the future , or to happen subsequent to some other event, whether that is past, present, or future .-Expressions of future tense:The concept of the future,...
, describes how Yahweh is provoked into punishing the Israelites due to their apostasy
Apostasy
Apostasy , 'a defection or revolt', from ἀπό, apo, 'away, apart', στάσις, stasis, 'stand, 'standing') is the formal disaffiliation from or abandonment or renunciation of a religion by a person. One who commits apostasy is known as an apostate. These terms have a pejorative implication in everyday...
, resulting in the Israelites being destroyed. Dtr2 is believed to have been produced as a reaction to the Kingdom of Judah
Kingdom of Judah
The Kingdom of Judah was a Jewish state established in the Southern Levant during the Iron Age. It is often referred to as the "Southern Kingdom" to distinguish it from the northern Kingdom of Israel....
being sent into its Babylonian exile, and thus to Dtr1's (the hypothesised first edition of Deuteronomy) positive outlook, and suggestion of an upcoming golden age, being somewhat no longer appropriate. Consequently the poem fits the aim of Dtr2, in retroactively accounting for Israel's misfortune, and, indeed, may have been composed at a similar time.
Though both Jewish and Christian sources have traditionally attributed the Song to Moses, the conditions presupposed by the poem render the Mosaic authorship of it impossible according to critical commentary. The Exodus and the wilderness wanderings lie in the distant past. The writer's contemporaries may learn of them from their fathers (verse 7). The Israelites are settled in Palestine (verses 13-14); sufficient time has passed for them not only to fall into idolatry (verses 15-19), but to be brought to the verge of ruin. They are pressed hard by heathen foes (verse 30); but Yahweh promises to interpose and rescue his people (verses 34-43).
Dating the Song
There are differences of opinion as to precisely when and by whom the song was written. George E. MendenhallGeorge E. Mendenhall
George Emery Mendenhall is an author and Professor Emeritus at the University of Michigan’s Department of Near Eastern Studies....
from the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
assigns it to the period just after the defeat of the Israelite
Israelite
According to the Bible the Israelites were a Hebrew-speaking people of the Ancient Near East who inhabited the Land of Canaan during the monarchic period .The word "Israelite" derives from the Biblical Hebrew ישראל...
militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
at the battle of Eben-Ezer
Eben-Ezer
Eben-Ezer , is the name of a location that is mentioned by the Books of Samuel as the scene of battles between the Israelites and Philistines. It is specified as having been less than a day's journey by foot from Shiloh, near Aphek, in the neighbourhood of Mizpah, near the western entrance of the...
, and its authorship to the prophet Samuel:
- "The poem cannot have originated at any time than after the destruction of Shiloh" and "...there is an impressive number of linguistic correlations in this text with the language and idioms of the syllabic textsByblos syllabaryThe Byblos syllabary, also known as the Pseudo-hieroglyphic script, Proto-Byblian, Proto-Byblic, or Byblic, is officially an undeciphered writing system, known from ten inscriptions found in Byblos. The inscriptions are engraved on bronze plates and spatulas, and carved in stone...
from ByblosByblosByblos is the Greek name of the Phoenician city Gebal . It is a Mediterranean city in the Mount Lebanon Governorate of present-day Lebanon under the current Arabic name of Jubayl and was also referred to as Gibelet during the Crusades...
; those correlations also cluster around Exodus 15, Judges 5, Deuteronomy 33, and Genesis 49".
When all of Deuteronomy 31:14-23 was referred to JE, the poem was believed to be anterior thereto, and was believed to be contemporary with the Assyrian wars under Jehoash
Jehoash of Israel
Jehoash , whose name means “Yahweh has given,” was a king of the ancient Kingdom of Israel and the son of Jehoahaz. He was the 12th king of Israel and reigned for 16 years. William F. Albright has dated his reign to 801 BC – 786 BC, while E. R. Thiele offers the dates 798 BC – 782 BC...
and Jeroboam II
Jeroboam II
Jeroboam II was the son and successor of Jehoash, , and the fourteenth king of the ancient Kingdom of Israel, over which he ruled for forty-one years according to 2 Kings . His reign was contemporary with those of Amaziah and Uzziah , kings of Judah...
(c. 780 BCE). To this period it is referred by August Dillmann
August Dillmann
Christian Friedrich August Dillmann was a German orientalist and biblical scholar.-Life:The son of a Württemberg schoolmaster, he was born at Illingen. He was educated at the University of Tübingen, where he became a pupil and friend of Heinrich Ewald, and studied under Ferdinand Christian Baur,...
, Schrader, Samuel Oettli, Heinrich Ewald
Heinrich Ewald
Georg Heinrich August Ewald was a German orientalist and theologian.-Life:Ewald was born at Göttingen where his father was a linen weaver. In 1815 he was sent to the gymnasium, and in 1820 he entered the University of Göttingen, where he studied with J.G. Eichhorn and T. C. Tychsen, specialising...
, Adolf Kamphausen
Adolf Kamphausen
Adolf Kamphausen was a German Protestant theologian, born at Solingen and educated at Bonn. In 1855, as private secretary to Bunsen, he assisted him in his great Bibelwerk. At the same time he was privatdocent at Heidelberg, and in 1863 he became professor of theology at Bonn...
and Edouard Guillaume Eugène Reuss
Edouard Guillaume Eugène Reuss
Edouard Guillaume Eugène Reuss , was a Protestant theologian from Alsace.-Life:He was born at Strasbourg, where he studied philology . He went on to study theology at Göttingen under Johann Gottfried Eichhorn; and Oriental languages at Halle under Wilhelm Gesenius, and afterwards at Paris under...
. Kuenen and Driver, who believe that the expression "those which are not a people" in verse 21 refers to the Assyria
Assyria
Assyria was a Semitic Akkadian kingdom, extant as a nation state from the mid–23rd century BC to 608 BC centred on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia , that came to rule regional empires a number of times through history. It was named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur...
ns, assign the poem to the age of Jeremiah
Jeremiah
Jeremiah Hebrew：יִרְמְיָה , Modern Hebrew:Yirməyāhū, IPA: jirməˈjaːhu, Tiberian:Yirmĭyahu, Greek:Ἰερεμίας), meaning "Yahweh exalts", or called the "Weeping prophet" was one of the main prophets of the Hebrew Bible...
and Ezekiel
Ezekiel
Ezekiel , "God will strengthen" , is the central protagonist of the Book of Ezekiel in the Hebrew Bible. In Judaism, Christianity and Islam, Ezekiel is acknowledged as a Hebrew prophet...
(c. 630 BCE); while Cornill, Steuernagel, and Bertholet refer it to the closing years of the Exile, ie. the period of the second Isaiah.
In the present state of modern knowledge the date cannot be definitely fixed; but there is much to be said in favor of the exilic date.
Musical Settings
- Disambiguation; for Cantemus Domino see Song of the SeaSong of the seaThe Song of the Sea is a poem that appears in the Book of Exodus of the Hebrew Bible, at . It is followed in verses 20 and 21 by a much shorter song sung by Miriam and the other women...
.
- Audite cæli quæ loquor, grand motet, S.7 by Michel Richard DelalandeMichel Richard DelalandeMichel Richard Delalande [de Lalande] was a French Baroque composer and organist who was in the service of King Louis XIV. He was one of the most important composers of grand motets. He also wrote orchestral suites known as "Simphonies pour les Soupers du Roy" and ballets...
. - Audite caeli by Francesco ProvenzaleFrancesco ProvenzaleFrancesco Provenzale was an Italian Baroque composer and teacher.Before the year 1658, there is virtually no record of Provenzale's existence, although it's thought that he studied at the Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini in Naples. The year of his entry into history is 1654, the year his...
.
Both Songs of Moses, as with Habakkuk 3 (Domine Audivi), and 1 Samuel 2 (Exultavit Cor Meum) are counted as canticle
Canticle
A canticle is a hymn taken from the Bible. The term is often expanded to include ancient non-biblical hymns such as the Te Deum and certain psalms used liturgically.-Roman Catholic Church:From the Old Testament, the Roman Breviary takes seven canticles for use at Lauds, as follows:*...
s in church use.
External links
- Michael S. HeiserMichael S. HeiserMichael S. Heiser is an American Christian author. His books include The Façade and The Bible Code Myth.-Education and background:Heiser was raised in Lebanon PA. He attended Lebanon High School and Cedar Crest High. He received an M.A. in Ancient History from the University of Pennsylvania, and...
, Deuteronomy 32:8 and the Sons of God - Casper Labuschagne, 2b. The Song of Moses in Deuteronomy 32— Logotechnical Analysis