Exodus 15:20

_AND MIRIAM THE PROPHETESS, THE SISTER OF AARON, TOOK A TIMBREL IN HER HAND; AND ALL THE WOMEN WENT OUT AFTER HER WITH TIMBRELS AND WITH DANCES._ Miriam the prophetess - so called from her receiving divine revelations (Numbers 12:1; Micah 6:4), but in this instance, principally from her being eminently skilled in music; and in this sense the word 'prophesy' is sometimes used in Scripture (1 Samuel 10:5; 1 Samuel 10:10; 1 Chronicles 25:1; 1 Co

20._And Miriam the prophetess. _Moses here introduces in his song the ἀντιστροφὴ, such as were constantly used by the lyric poets. For God would have not only men to be the proclaimers of this great miracle, but associated the women with them. When, therefore, the men had finished their song, the women followed in order. Although it is not certain whether the first verse was intercalary, (as the sacred history testifies the following sentence to have been in a solemn hymn: — “For his mercy endureth for ever,” 1 Chronicles 16:34, which is also intercalated in Psalms 136:0), or whether the women repeated alternately what the men had sung. It little matters which opinion you prefer, except that the former is more probable. But although Moses honors his sister by the title of “prophetess,” he

1-21 This song is the most ancient we know of. It is a holy song, to the honour of God, to exalt his name, and celebrate his praise, and his only, not in the least to magnify any man. Holiness to the Lord is in every part of it. It may be considered as typical, and prophetical of the final destruction of the enemies of the church. Happy the people whose God is the Lord. They have work to do, temptations to grapple with, and afflictions to bear, and are weak in themselves; but his grace is their strength. They are often in sorrow, but in him they have comfort; he is their song. Sin, and death, and hell threaten them, but he is, and will be their salvation. The Lord is a God of almighty power, and woe to those that strive with their Maker! He is a God of matchless perfection; he is glorious in holiness; his holiness is his glory. His holiness appears in the hatred of sin, and his wrath ag...

Verse Exodus 15:20. _AND MIRIAM THE PROPHETESS_] We have already seen that Miriam was _older_ than either Moses or Aaron: for when Moses was exposed on the Nile, she was a young girl capable of managing the stratagem used for the preservation of his life; and then Aaron was only three years and three months old, for he was _fourscore_ _and three_ years old when Moses was but _fourscore_, (see Exodus 7:7;) so that Aaron was older than Moses, and Miriam considerably older than either, not less probably than _nine_ or _ten_ years of age. Exodus 2:2. There is great diversity of opinion on the origin of the name of _Miriam_, which is the same with the Greek Μαριαμ, the Latin Maria

AND MIRIAM THE PROPHETESS - The part here assigned to Miriam and the women of Israel is in accordance both with Egyptian and Hebrew customs. The men are represented as singing the hymn in chorus, under the guidance of Moses; at each interval Miriam and the women sang the refrain, marking the time with the timbrel, and with the measured rhythmical movements always associated with solemn festivities. Compare Judges 11:34; 2 Samuel 6:5, and marginal references. The word used in this passage for the timbrel is Egyptian, and judging from its etymology and the figures which are joined with it in the inscriptions, it was probably the round instrument. Miriam is called a prophetess, evidently...

EXPOSITION THE SONG OF MOSES. Full of gratitude, joy, and happiness—burning with a desire to vent in devotional utterance of the most fitting kind, his intense and almost ecstatic feelings, Moses, who to his other extraordinary powers, added the sublime gift of poesy, composed, shortly after the passage, a hymn of praise, and sang it with a chorus of the people as a thanksgiving to the Almighty. The hymn itself is generally allowed to be one of transcendent beauty. Deriving probably the general outline of its form and character of its rhythm from the Egyptian poetry of the time, with which Moses had been familiar from his youth, it embodies ideas purely Hebrew, and remarkable for grandeur, simplicity, and depth. Naturally, as being the first outburst of the poetical genius of the nation, and also connected with the very commencement of the national life, it exerted the most important for...

AND MIRIAM THE PROPHETESS, THE SISTER OF AARON,.... The same, it is highly probable, that is called the sister of Moses, Exodus 2:3, her name Miriam is the same as Mary with us, and signifies bitterness; and, as the Hebrews x observe, had it from the bitterness of the times, and the afflictions the Israelites endured and groaned under when she was born; which is a much more probable signification and reason of her name than what is given by others, that it is the same with Marjam, which signifies a drop of the sea; from whence, they fancy, came the story of Venus, and her name of Aphrodite, the froth of the sea: Miriam was a prophetess, and so called, not from this action of singing, here recorded of her, for so all the women that sung with her might be called prophetesses, though sometimes in Scripture prophesying intends singing; but rather from her having a gift of teaching and instru...

Exodus 15:1. Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the LORD, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt him. The LORD is a man of war: the LORD is his name. Pharaoh's chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea: his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red sea. The depths have covered them: they sank into the bottom as a stone. Thy right hand, O LORD, is become glorious in power: thy right hand, O LORD, hath dashed in pieces the enemy. And in the greatness of thine excellency thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee: thou sentest forth thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble. And with the blast of thy nostrils t...

7. THE SONG OF REDEMPTION CHAPTER 15:1-21 _ 1. Jehovah acknowledged and praised (Exodus 15:1)_ 2. The victory celebrated as His victory (Exodus 15:3) 3. His holiness praised (Exodus 15:11) 4. His enemies tremble (Exodus 15:14) 5. Thou shalt bring them in (Exodus 15:17) 6. The judgment and salvation (Exodus 15:19) 7. The women's chorus ...

THE SONG OF TRIUMPH (Exodus 15:1 J, Exodus 15:2 ( PSALM), Exodus 15:19 R, Exodus 15:20 F. E). The oldest undoubtedly genuine fragments of Heb. song are short (p. 44). And Miriam's brief burst of unpremeditated song (Exodus 15:21) ranks with the surest and greatest of these. Sing to Yahweh, for He rose in His might, horse and chariot (reading _recheb)_ He flung into the sea. Gressmann claims this song as confirming his volcanic theory of the crossing. At least it is complete in itself, and has double attestation, being found as...