1 Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things; his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him Ps 98:1
Praise the LORD! Sing a new song to the LORD; praise him in the assembly of his faithful people! Ps 149:1
Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. 2 Sing to the Lord, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day. Ps. 96:1,2.
When we think of songs and singing in worship and praise to the Lord, we probably think of hymns and in modern times, choruses.
The most well known songs in the Bible are probably the
150 Psalms /Tehillim /תהילים
and then the
Song of Solomon or
The Song of Songs שִׁיר הַשִּׁירִים : Shīr Hashīrīm.
The Hebrew title for the book of Psalms is Tehillim/תהילים, meaning “songs of praise,” and individual psalms are referred to as Mizmorim: Mizmor Aleph (Psalm 1), Mizmor Bet (Psalm 2), and so on.
We looked at the Song of Solomon in an earlier post.
https://www.minimannamoments.com/a-secret-hidden-in-a-kings-song-shir-hamelech/
However these are not the only songs recorded in the scriptures. There are many more, some we may not have read or even realized they were songs.
We usually associate songs or singing with musical accompaniment but it can also be simply voices without instruments: a cappella, (Italian: “in the church style”), performance of a polyphonic (multipart) musical work by unaccompanied voices, a performance by a singer or a singing group without instruments.
What was a song was in ancient times?
There were a number of words for singing and songs but the word used for SONG in Exodus 15:2:
“The LORD [is] my strength and song.”
is zamar which is a word for
a pruning hook or pruning a tree.
When used as a song it represents:
a song of deliverance,
a song of victory over having pruned
or cut away your enemies from you.
https://www.minimannamoments.com/what-does-a-pruning-hook-have-to-do-with-worship/
This is why one translation (the NIV), does not render this as a song at all but as a defense. Here however a basic English translation cannot tell the history because in ancient times songs were really stories.
The lyrics in modern Christian music don’t tell stories like the old hymns and Gospel songs did, so the younger generation may find it difficult to understand what it means to say that
God is our song….
which is in fact telling a story, the History of what He has done for us.
Exodus 15:2: “The LORD [is] my strength and song.”
There are several words for song in Hebrew.
זִמְרָה – zimrah – melody, song in praise of Yahweh
song שִׁיר as a noun:
poem, chant, hymn, poetry, ditty.
zimrah: melody, song (in praise of Yah)
Strongs# 2172 Original Word: זִמְרָה
Part of Speech: Noun Feminine
Transliteration: zimrah
Phonetic Spelling: zim-raw‘
Definition: melody, song (in praise of Yah)
שִׁ֥יר shiyr – song, musical
sir or shir
pronounced:sheer
The 1st song in the Scriptures
is the
song of Moses and Miriam.
Exodus 15:1–18, 21
Exodus 15:1
HEB: יִשְׂרָאֵ֜ל אֶת־ הַשִּׁירָ֤ה הַזֹּאת֙ לַֽיהוָ֔ה
NAS: sang this song to the LORD, and said,
KJV: of Israel this song unto the LORD,
INT: and the sons of Israel song likewise to the LORD
It was sung after one of the greatest and most well known miracles, when God parted the Red Sea, allowing the children of Israel to cross on dry ground, escaping Pharaoh’s army. When the Egyptians pursued them, God closed the sea over them, washing away the chariots and horsemen.
Moses led the men in a song of praise to God, while Miriam leads the women singing the chorus:
Sing to the LORD, for He is highly exalted;
The horse and his rider He has hurled into the sea. Ex.15:20,21
There are at least 185 songs in the Bible which include songs about battles, coronations, funerals, cities being destroyed, and seas being parted. The book of Psalms contains 150, being a collection of songs written over the centuries by different leaders of Israel. 6 are from the Song of Solomon and Lamentations. However there are some 35 other songs, chants, dirges, and hymns spread throughout both the Old and New Testaments. Some of the songs are very similar to Psalms, the other pieces of poetry may or may not have been sung or set to music. A list below includes many of them.
The Song of Wells in the Wilderness.
(Nu 21:17–18)
Numbers 21:17
HEB: יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל אֶת־ הַשִּׁירָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את עֲלִ֥י
NAS: sang this song: Spring up, O well!
KJV: sang this song, Spring up,
INT: sang Israel song likewise Spring
As Israel wanders through the wilderness they come to a place called Beer. Beer is a Hebrew word for well, and there the whole nation refills its’ supply of water; and being a very happy occasion, the Israelites break into song:
Spring up, O well! Sing to it!
The well, which the leaders sank,
Which the nobles of the people dug,
With the scepter and with their staffs.
The Song of Moses and Joshua
(Deuteronomy 31:19–22, 30, 32:1–43)
Deuteronomy 31:22
HEB: מֹשֶׁ֛ה אֶת־ הַשִּׁירָ֥ה הַזֹּ֖את בַּיּ֣וֹם
NAS: wrote this song the same day,
KJV: therefore wrote this song the same day,
INT: wrote Moses song likewise day
Deuteronomy 31:30
HEB: אֶת־ דִּבְרֵ֥י הַשִּׁירָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את עַ֖ד
NAS: of this song, until
KJV: the words of this song, until they were ended.
INT: of Israel the words song likewise until
Moses instructs the nation of Israel to love and obey the Lord when they enter the promised land; reaffirming the law. He then appoints Joshua as the new leader, and calls the people to pledge their allegiance to their God.
Moses puts it all together into a song, which he and Joshua teach to the people.
It is a well known fact that people remember things easier when in the form of a song or poem. Children especially learn quicker with for example the alphabet songs. This was a method employed by many cultures, where the majority could not read or write; stories were passed down through generations and were often accompanied with music or sung. Although it seemed like entertainment, it was a way to ensure that tribal history was remembered, when word of mouth was all people had to pass on information to future generations.
Here in Deuteronomy, it is a covenant song of God’s faithfulness: He is the righteous Rock of Israel and the song reminds Israel of the Lord’s blessings; and warns them of the consequences of disobeying Him.
The Rock! His work is perfect,
For all His ways are just;
A God of faithfulness and without injustice,
Righteous and upright is He.
The Song of Deborah and Baruk.
Another victory song, and one of the oldest texts in Scripture.
Judges 5:12
HEB: ע֖וּרִי דַּבְּרִי־ שִׁ֑יר ק֥וּם בָּרָ֛ק
NAS: awake, sing a song! Arise, Barak,
KJV: awake, utter a song: arise, Barak,
INT: awake sing As
Deborah, a prophetess, leads a small Israeli militia against their Canaanite overlord’s well-armed forces. Her field officer Baruk meets the enemy commander, Sisera, on the battle field. Baruk wipes out Sisera’s forces, but Sisera escapes on foot.
He doesn’t get too far. Sisera stops to rest and sleeps in a nearby tent, and the woman whose tent it was nails his head to the ground.
After the battle was won, Deborah and Baruk wrote a song of praise to God, rejoicing over His deliverance. They also sing about the battle heroes,
Thus let all Your enemies perish, O LORD;
But let those who love Him be like the rising of the sun in its might.
Song of David’s Victory
1 Sa 18:7
After young David kills Goliath, he and king Saul triumphantly return from the battle. The women of the cities are very happy about the victory, and they meet King Saul with musical instruments, dancing, and singing a new song:
Saul has slain his thousands,
And David his ten thousands.
The song becomes popular and even, Israel’s enemies, the Philistines know it 1 Sa 21:11. Saul becomes jealous of David, and this song becomes a problem for Saul driving a wedge between the two of them for the rest of Saul’s life.
The Song of the Bow
2 Samuel 1:17–27
We have read the songs about victory, covenant and wells, but this is the first of many sad songs in Scripture called a lament.
David writes the song of the bow when he learns that both Saul and Jonathan have died in battle. It’s a sad day for David and for the whole Hebrew nation: Jonathan was David’s best friend, and Saul was the anointed king of Israel. David chants this lament or dirge for Saul and Jonathan and has the sons of Judah learn it. Its possible David may have named it in honor of Jonathan, who was a skilled archer.
2 Samuel 22:1
HEB: אֶת־ דִּבְרֵ֖י הַשִּׁירָ֣ה הַזֹּ֑את בְּיוֹם֩
NAS: of this song to the LORD
KJV: the words of this song in the day
INT: to the LORD the words song in the day
Later this was David’s lament for Abner in
2 Samuel 3:33–34
Your beauty, O Israel, is slain on your high places!
How have the mighty fallen!
After Saul died there was a 7-year civil war between Judah and the rest of Israel. Judah names David their king, while the rest of the country serves Saul’s son Ish-bosheth. However, Ish-bosheth upsets his own general, who was a warrior named Abner. Abner defects to David, swearing to make him king of all Israel. David accepts Abner’s alliance, and it looks like the war will finally come to an end. However, there’s just one problem: Abner killed one of David’s men in an earlier battle, and now that man’s brother Joab wants revenge. Joab pulls Abner aside at the city gate and murders him. Horrified, David writes a funeral chant for Abner.
Should Abner die as a fool dies?
Your hands were not bound, nor your feet put in fetters;
As one falls before the wicked, you have fallen.
Song of David’s Deliverance
2 Samuel 22, Ps 18
We looked at the song of victory above where it gave Saul real problems when he realizes that his kingdom will pass to David.
Because of this Saul spends much of his reign hunting chasing after David. Eventually, God delivers David from Saul and he writes a psalm of praise to his Savior. This song is actually recorded twice in the Bible: first in 2nd Samuel, and again in Psalms 18.
The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge;
My savior, You save me from violence.
Asaph’s Psalm of Praise
1 Ch 16:7, Ps 105
When David commissions the building of the temple, he ordains the house of Asaph to be a family of worship leaders. Asaph and his sons are faithful to their duties for hundreds of years and his family wrote 12 of the Psalms. As the temple was commissioned, David asked them to sing and like David’s psalm of deliverance, this one is in both 1 Chron. and Psalms 105.
Oh give thanks to the LORD, call upon His name;
Make known His deeds among the peoples.
Sing to Him, sing praises to Him;
Speak of all His wonders.
Asaph’s Song for the Temple’s Completion
2 Chronicles 5:13
HEB: וּבִמְצִלְתַּ֜יִם וּבִכְלֵ֣י הַשִּׁ֗יר וּבְהַלֵּ֤ל לַיהוָה֙
NAS: and instruments of music, and when they praised
KJV: and instruments of musick, and praised
INT: and cymbals and instruments of music praised the LORD
The shortest song in the original Hebrew text is only 5 words in length.
The temple construction is finished, and the ark of the covenant is brought to the Holy of Holies. The sons of Asaph praise the Lord, and God’s glory fills the temple.
Saying for He is good forever His mercy/loving kindness endures.
Jehoshaphat’s Battle Song
2 Ch 20:21
King Jehoshaphat is outnumbered by his enemies, so he pleads with God for help. A man of the tribe of Levi brings Jehoshaphat a message from God:
“Do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God’s”.
So the next day when they go to battle, they put singers on the front lines not soldiers, and the singers cry out:
Give thanks to the LORD, for His lovingkindness is everlasting.
The Lord ambushes Jehoshaphat’s enemies, and once again saves His people.
The Song of Songs
Solomon is credited with 1,005 songs; 1 Ki 4:32, but there is one which stands higher than the rest. Mentioned earlier, we know it as the Song of Solomon, or the Song of Songs. A love song between a man and a woman, and their wedding.
I am my beloved’s,
And his desire is for me.
There are 3 songbooks in the Bible, the documents made up entirely of lyrics.
The 1st and by far the biggest is Psalms.
The 2nd is Song of Solomon.
The 3rd is Lamentations.
Unlike Psalms and Song of Solomon, Lamentations does not state itself as being a songbook. However, when the book was translated into Greek (the Septuagint), it was called a book of dirges. This book mourns Jerusalem after the fall to Babylon. Each of the 5 chapters begins a new poem and 4 are acrostics using the Hebrew alef bet.
How lonely sits the city
That was full of people!
She has become like a widow
Who was once great among the nations!
She who was a princess among the provinces
Has become a forced laborer!
Isaiah’s vineyard song
Is 5:1–2
The prophet Isaiah was called to preach to the people of Israel with both judgment and comfort and one of his messages uses a song as a parable.
My well-beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hill.
He dug it all around, removed its stones,
And planted it with the choicest vine.
And He built a tower in the middle of it
And also hewed out a wine vat in it;
Then He expected it to produce good grapes,
But it produced only worthless ones.
It is a metaphor:
the Lord is the one who built Israel, just as a man builds a vineyard. And instead of following the ways of God, Israel killed the innocents and perverted justice. (Is 5:7).
Song of the harlot
Isaiah 23:15
Isaiah is prophesying that the nearby land of Tyre will be forgotten and desolate for 70 years. The Babylonians will plunder her, and her harbors and fortresses will be ruined; but after that time, Tyre will engage in trade again, like an old harlot trying to be remembered by her suitors.
Take your harp, walk about the city,
O forgotten harlot;
Pluck the strings skillfully, sing many songs,
That you may be remembered.
Song of Judah’s protection
Is 26:1–6
Not all of Isaiah’s songs are sad. The prophet says that there will come a time when the Lord will once again protect Judah from her enemies and in that day, the people will sing of how God shields and protects their cities.
We have a strong city;
He sets up walls and ramparts for security.
Lament for the Princes of Israel
Ezek 19:1–14
Ezekiel mourns Israel’s captivity as the lion-like nation has been hunted, captured, and dragged away into exile.
They put him in a cage with hooks
And brought him to the king of Babylon;
They brought him in hunting nets
So that his voice would be heard no more
On the mountains of Israel.
The International Lament for Tyre
Ezek 26:17–18
The book of Ezekiel tells of God’s judgment on the Ancient Near East nations. Tyre, a rich city for sailors and traders is one city that will fall to the Babylonians; and when Tyre is ransacked, Ezekiel predicts that the princes of the world will sing a song of lamentation for the fallen city.
How you have perished, O inhabited one,
From the seas, O renowned city,
Which was mighty on the sea,
She and her inhabitants,
Who imposed her terror
On all her inhabitants!
Now the coastlands will tremble
On the day of your fall;
Yes, the coastlands which are by the sea
Will be terrified at your passing.
Ezekiel’s lament over Tyre
Ezek. 27
Ezekiel is told by the Lord to give another dirge/lament for Tyre, one which describes her downfall more completely.
Your wealth, your wares, your merchandise,
Your sailors and your pilots,
Your repairers of seams, your dealers in merchandise
And all your men of war who are in you,
With all your company that is in your midst,
Will fall into the heart of the seas
On the day of your overthrow.
Sailor’s lament for Tyre
Ezek 27:32–36
This is a song within a song. Ezekiel is making his own lament for the city of Tyre, he says that the sailors and captains of the sea will sing their own song about their fallen city.
Who is like Tyre,
Like her who is silent in the midst of the sea?
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