The Song of the Sea: Ex 15:1 - 21

204 Pages·1991·5.45 MB·English

by  Martin L. Brenner

Martin L. Brenner
The Song of the Sea: Ex 15:1 — 21
W
DE
G
Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die
alttestamentliche Wissenschaft
Herausgegeben von
Otto Kaiser
Band 195
Walter de Gruyter · Berlin · New York
1991
Martin L. Brenner
The Song of the Sea:
Ex 15:1-21
Walter de Gruyter · Berlin · New York
1991
© Printed on acid-free paper which falls
within the guidelines of the ANSI to ensure
permanence and durability.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Brenner, Martin L.
The song of the sea : Ex. 15:1-21 j Martin L. Brenner,
p. cm. — (Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttesta-
mentliche Wissenschaft, ISSN 0934-2575 ; Bd. 195)
Revision of thesis (doctoral) — Angelicum, Rome, 1988.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 3-11-012340-1 (Berlin) - ISBN 0-89925-721-6 (N.Y.)
1. Bible. O.T. Exodus XV. 1-21 — Criticism, interpretation,
etc. 2. Bible. O.T. Exodus XV. 1-21 - Authorship. I. Title.
II. Series: Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche
Wissenschaft ; 195.
BS410.Z5 vol. 195
[BS1245.2]
222M206 —dc20 91-145
C1P
Deutsche Bibliothek Cataloging in Publication Data
Brenner, Martin L.:
The song of the sea : Ex 15:1-21 / Martin I„. Brenner. — Berlin ;
New York : de Gruyter, 1991
(Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft ;
Bd. 195)
Zugl.: Rom, Angelicum, Diss., 1988
ISBN 3-11-012340-1
NE: Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft / Beihefte
ISSN: 0934-2575
© Copyright 1991 by Walter de Gruyter & Co., D-1000 Berlin 30.
All rights reserved, including those of translation into foreign languages. No part of this
book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publisher.
Printed in Germany
Printing: Werner Hildebrand, Berlin 65
Binding: Lüderitz & Bauer, Berlin 61
PREFACE
This work began as a seminar presentation at the Angelicum
in 1983. Since then it became a licence thesis, a doctoral dis-
sertation, and now a monograph. After so much time I am a
little hesitant to let it go out to meet the cold hard world on its
own, but you cannot hold on forever. So I present it for the
inspection of all and stand back to watch.
I would like to take the opportunity to thank those who
helped it along. Fr. Sansoni gave encouragement and support
at the seminar and licence level. Fr. P. Zerafa did likewise
when it grew to a doctoral thesis. He and Fr. J. Agius levelled
objections against it and suggestions for it that have improved
it, without doubt.
I give an affectionate thank you to Sr. Mary Ellen Doyle, Sr.
Mary Ransom, and Sr. Claudette Hudalla for their efforts in
proof reading it when it was still in the doctoral stage and the
encouragement they gave to me seek publication. With a grateful
heart I acknowledge the generosity of my translators, who helped
me through innumerable German articles, Reto Nye, Fr. Frank
Sirovic, and Willie Eck.
All one can ever want is that what he has done be of the
truth and of some help to others. It is in that spirit that I offer
this work on the Song of the Sea.
Rome, November 25, 1990 Martin Brenner

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface V
Table of Contents VII
Introduction 1
I The Argument and its Development 3
Lexicographical Studies 3
Comparative Studies 5
Placement with regard to the Pentateuchal Sources 11
Placement within the Reed Sea Tradition Development 12
Statement of the Argument 19
II Preliminary Questions 22
The Text 22
Unity and Poetic Technique 26
The Form: A Victory Song 36
The Prose Framework, w la, 19-2la 42
III The Formulaic Enclosure, w lb-3, 18, 21b 54
Comparison with Redactive texts In Isaiah 54
Comparison with Ps 118 61
The Elements Proper to the Song 73
The Doxology, ν 3 75
The Refrain, w la, 21b 80
IV Exegesis of Part One, w 4-12 85
The Song and the Reed Sea Tradition 85
The Egyptians Go down to Destruction, w 4, 5 96
The Exaltation of God's Right Hand, ν 6 97
A Note on the Mythological Character of the Song 98
God's Anger is Dispatched, ν 7 100
The Standing of the Waters, ν 8 101
The Enemy's Plans, ν 9 106
The Sea Covers the Egyptians, ν 10 112
The Incomparability of Yahweh, ν 11a 113
In Praise of God's Great Deeds, ν 1 lb 121
The Earth Swallows up God's Foes, ν 12 122
V Exegesis of Part Two, w 13-17 126
The Leading Theme, w 13, 16b 126
The Structure of Part Two, w 13-17 132
Liturgical Character of w 13, 16b 17 136
V 17 as Myth Text 143
VIII Table of Contents
Excursus: The Placement of Ps 78 153
The Fear of the Peoples, w 15. 16 160
VI Conclusions 175
The Dating of the Song of the Sea 175
Authorship 177
Final Remarks 186
Works Cited 189
INTRODUCTION
The Song of the Sea, Ex 15:1-21, has been a question mark
In biblical research throughout much of the twentieth centuiy.
It has fallen under the scrutiny of many of the most famous
biblicists, but still there exists a very great diversity of opinions
concerning very basic questions. Estimates as to the age of
composition among recent authors extend from the amphictyonic
period to the post-exile. There is no opinion which has won
consent concerning its place in the tradition development of the
Reed Sea event nor how it relates to any of the four major
Pentateuchal sources. The question of authorship has been
barely touched upon. Most agree that it is cultic in nature, but
there is still diversity of opinion regarding its form and the
feast for which it may have been written. The search for historical
indicators within the psalm has led to conclusions that vary
from the thirteenth centuiy to the post-exile. The solution to
the historical critical problem, in the sense of what events the
Song spoke to and explained for its contemporaries when it
was written, starts with the opinion that the Song was of Mosaic
authorship and sung on the actual occasion of the victory—it
explained what had just happened. And the opinions stretch to
the notion that the building talked about in ν 18 is the second
temple.
The problems involved with the Song of the Sea have a far
wider import than the simple placement of this one piece com-
prising a psalm of eighteen verses and a prose outline involving
three more. It touches on the whole question of the development
of the Reed Sea tradition. The entrance of the myth systems of
2 Introduction
the ancient Near East into Israel's literature and the mode of
their use is of particular import in the investigation. There are
also key methodological considerations inherent in the treatment
of this piece. How is the interior comparison to other Biblical
material and exterior comparison to extra-biblical poetry to be
coordinated so that coherent conclusions can be reached that
pay sufficient attention to the whole gamut of data?
The present work seeks to address most of the extant problems
concerning the Song of the Sea. The questions of the time and
place of composition, authorship, cult nature, theology, and
sources will all be spoken to. I shall seek to take account of the
acquisitions of the previous research. My method pays strict
attention to stylistic devices and forms. Tradition tracing is also
heavily used. Ultimately, the historical indicators have the final
authority in all of the conclusions reached.