Then Moses Sang and the Ten Songs of Israel

"Then sang Moses and the children of Israel" (Exodus 15:1). There is a "then" for the past and a "then" for the future to come. For the past: "Then men began to call upon the name of the LORD" (Genesis 4:26); "Then she said, A bridegroom of blood, because of the circumcision" (Exodus 4:26); "Then Joshua built an altar" (Joshua 8:30); "Then David said" (1 Chronicles 15:2); "Then Solomon said" (1 Kings 8:12). For the future to come: "Then you shall see and be radiant" (Isaiah 60:5); "Then shall your light break forth like the dawn" (Isaiah 58:8); "Then shall the lame leap like a deer" (Isaiah 35:6); "Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened" (Isaiah 35:5); "Then shall the virgin rejoice" (Jeremiah 31:12); "Then was our mouth filled with laughter and our tongue with singing... then they said among the nations, The LORD has done great things for them" (Psalms 126:2-3). Rabbi says: It is not written here "Then Moses sang," but "Then Moses will sing" — from here we learn the resurrection of the dead from the Torah. Another interpretation: "Moses and the children of Israel" — Scripture tells that Moses was weighed against all Israel, and Israel against Moses, in the hour they sang the Song. Another interpretation: it teaches that Moses sang the Song facing all Israel. "This song." Is there only one song? Are there not ten songs? The first was uttered in Egypt: "You shall have a song as on the night when a feast is sanctified" (Isaiah 30:29). The second was said at the Sea: "This is my God, and I will glorify Him." The third at the well: "Then Israel sang this song: Spring up, O well, sing to it" (Numbers 21:17). The fourth, the Song of Haazinu: "And Moses spoke in the ears of all the assembly of Israel the words of this song" (Deuteronomy 31:30). The fifth, which Joshua said: "Then spoke Joshua to the LORD on the day the LORD gave the Amorite" (Joshua 10:12). The sixth, which Deborah and Barak said: "Then sang Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam" (Judges 5:1). The seventh, which David said: "And David spoke the words of this song" (2 Samuel 22:1). The eighth, which Solomon said: "A psalm; a song at the dedication of the House; of David" (Psalms 30:1). Now did David build it? Did not Solomon build it, as it is said, "And he built the House and finished it" (1 Kings 6:9)? Rather, because David gave his soul over to it, it was called by his name. And where did he give his soul over to it? As it is said, "Remember, O LORD, for David all his affliction, how he swore to the LORD and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob" (Psalms 132:1) — every matter for which a person gives his soul is called by his name. Another interpretation: the song of Solomon, as it is written, "The Song of Songs, which is Solomon's" (Song of Songs 1:1). The ninth, which Jehoshaphat said: "And he took counsel with the people and appointed singers to the LORD, praising the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, saying, Give thanks to the LORD, for His steadfast love endures forever" (2 Chronicles 20:21). The tenth is for the future to come: "Sing to the LORD a new song, His praise from the end of the earth" (Isaiah 42:10), and it says, "Sing to the LORD a new song, His praise in the assembly of the faithful" (Psalms 149:1). All the deliverances that have passed were called by a feminine name, for just as a female gives birth, so the past deliverances have subjugation after them. But the deliverance that is to come is called by a masculine name, for just as the male does not give birth — as it is said, "Ask now, and see, can a male give birth?" (Jeremiah 30:6) — so the future deliverance has no subjugation after it, as it is said, "Israel is saved by the LORD with an everlasting salvation; you shall not be put to shame nor confounded forever and ever" (Isaiah 45:17). "To the LORD." To the LORD they uttered it, and not to flesh and blood — not in the manner of "And the women came out singing... and they answered, Saul has slain his thousands and David his ten thousands" (1 Samuel 18:6-7); but here, "to the LORD," and not to flesh and blood. "And they spoke, saying." Rabbi Nehemiah says: the Holy Spirit rested upon Israel and they uttered the Song like people who recite the Shema. Eleazar ben Tadai says: Moses would open and say "I will sing to the LORD," and Israel would answer after him and complete with him, "horse and rider He has thrown into the sea"; Moses would open and say "The LORD is my strength and my song," and Israel would answer and complete, "This is my God, and I will glorify Him"; Moses would open, "The LORD is a man of war," and Israel would complete, "the LORD is His name." "I will sing to the LORD" — to the LORD belongs greatness, to the LORD belongs might, His are glory and victory and majesty, as the son of David says, "Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the might and the glory and the victory and the majesty" (1 Chronicles 29:11). They told a parable: to what may this be compared? To a king of flesh and blood who entered a province, and they praised him before he was — that he is mighty when he is only weak, wise when he is only a fool, rich when he is only poor, merciful when he is only cruel — flattering him though he has none of these traits. But sing to the LORD, for He truly is wise: "The LORD by wisdom founded the earth" (Proverbs 3:19); "With Him are wisdom and might, His are counsel and understanding" (Job 12:13). He is truly rich: "Behold, to the LORD your God belong the heavens... the earth and all that is in it" (Deuteronomy 10:14); "The silver is Mine and the gold is Mine, says the LORD of hosts" (Haggai 2:8). He is truly merciful: "The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious" (Exodus 34:6). He is truly a judge: "For the LORD is a God of justice" (Isaiah 30:18). He is truly faithful: "the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love" (Deuteronomy 7:9); "a God of faithfulness and without iniquity" (Deuteronomy 32:4). Sing to the LORD, for He is exalted and majestic and praised, as it is said, "For who in the skies can be compared to the LORD?" (Psalms 89:7). "For He is highly exalted (ki gaoh gaah)." He exalted me and I exalted Him. He exalted me in Egypt — "Israel is My son, My firstborn" (Exodus 4:22) — and I too exalted Him and uttered a song before Him, "You shall have a song as on the night when a feast is sanctified." He exalted me at the Sea — "And the angel of God who went before the camp of Israel moved" (Exodus 14:19) — and I too exalted Him and sang before Him, "This is my God, and I will glorify Him." Another interpretation: "For He is highly exalted" — He is exalted and is destined to be exalted, as it is said, "For the LORD has a day against all that is proud and lofty" (Isaiah 2:12-17). Another interpretation: He is exalted above all the proud, for by the very thing in which the nations of the world exalt themselves before Him, He exacts punishment from them. So you find with the generation of the Flood, with the men of the Tower, with the men of Sodom; and so with Egypt, who exalted themselves saying, "Cast every newborn son into the river" (Exodus 1:22), and of whom it is said, "Pharaoh's chariots and his army He cast into the sea" (Exodus 15:4). So with Sisera, who mustered nine hundred chariots of iron (Judges 4:13), of whom it is said, "From heaven the stars fought, from their courses they fought against Sisera" (Judges 5:20). So with Sennacherib, who boasted, "By my many chariots... I dug and drank water" (2 Kings 19:23-24), of whom it is said, "The angel of the LORD went out and struck down in the camp of Assyria one hundred eighty-five thousand" (2 Kings 19:35) — these were his army commanders. So with Nebuchadnezzar, who said, "I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne" (Isaiah 14:13), of whom it is said, "You shall be brought down to Sheol, to the depths of the Pit" (Isaiah 14:15). So with the prince of Tyre, who said, "I am a god; I sit in the seat of gods" (Ezekiel 28:2), of whom it is said, "You shall die the death of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers" (Ezekiel 28:10). Thus, by the very thing in which the nations exalt themselves before Him, He exacts punishment; therefore it is said, "For He is highly exalted." "Horse and rider." Was there only one horse and one rider? Has it not already been said, "He took six hundred chosen chariots" (Exodus 14:7)? Rather, this teaches that before the Omnipresent they were as but a single horse and rider. Similarly you say, "When you go out to war against your enemies and see horse and chariot" (Deuteronomy 20:1) — do the nations go out with one horse and one chariot? Rather, whenever Israel does the will of the Omnipresent, their enemies before them are as but a single horse and chariot. Another interpretation: "horse and rider" teaches that the horse was bound to the rider and the rider bound to the horse. "He cast (ramah) into the sea." One verse says "ramah" and another says "He hurled (yarah)" (Exodus 15:4); how are both upheld? "Ramah" — that they rose to the heights; "yarah" — that they descended to the depths, and they were not separated one from another. By the way of the world, if a person throws two vessels into the air, will not one part from its fellow? But here, ramah and yarah — they rose to the heights and descended to the depths and were not parted. Another interpretation: "He cast into the sea" — when Israel saw the guardian angel of Egypt fall, they began to render praise before Him; therefore it is said, "He cast into the sea." So you find that the Omnipresent does not exact punishment from the kingdoms until He first casts down their guardian angels, as it is said, "On that day the LORD will punish the host of heaven on high, and afterward the kings of the earth on the earth" (Isaiah 24:21). Another interpretation: "horse and rider He cast into the sea" — the Holy One, blessed be He, would bring the horse and its rider and set them in judgment. He says to the horse, Why did you run after My children? It answers, The Egyptian drove me against my will, as it is said, "And the Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh's horses" (Exodus 14:23). He says to the Egyptian, Why did you run after My children? And he answers, The horse drove me against my will, as it is said, "For Pharaoh's horse came" (Exodus 15:19). So the Holy One, blessed be He, would bring horse and rider and judge them as one. Antoninus asked Rabbi this: since a person dies and the body decays, does the Holy One, blessed be He, bring it to judgment? He answered: rather than asking me about an impure body, ask me about the soul, which is pure. They told a parable: to what may this be compared? To a king of flesh and blood who had an orchard with fine early figs, and he set two watchmen over it, one lame and one blind. The lame man said to the blind, I see fine figs. The blind said, Can I see? The lame said, Can I walk? What did they do? The lame mounted upon the blind, and they went and took the figs and sat back in their places. In time the king came and sat in judgment over them. He said, Where are the figs? The blind said, Can I see? The lame said, Can I walk? The king, being shrewd, set the lame upon the blind, and they walked. He said to them, Thus you did, and you ate the figs. So the Holy One, blessed be He, brings body and soul and sets them in judgment. He says to the body, Why did you sin before Me? It says, Master of the world, it is the soul that sinned; from the day it left me, I am cast before You like a stone. He says to the soul, Why did you sin before Me? It says, Master of the world, it is the body that sinned; from the day I left it, I am pure before You. So the Holy One, blessed be He, brings the soul and returns it into the body and judges them as one, as it is said, "He summons the heavens above, and the earth, to judge His people" (Psalms 50:4) — "the heavens above" to bring the soul, "and the earth" to bring the body, and afterward "to judge His people." Another interpretation: Isi ben Shammai says: "horse" is stated here without specification, and there it says, "On that day, says the LORD, I will strike every horse with panic and its rider with madness" (Zechariah 12:4). What is plain there — that the plague comes in five forms — applies also here.