Exodus 15:20-21

15:20 Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a hand-drum in her hand, and all the women went out after her with hand-drums and with dances. ¹  15:21 Miriam sang in response ²  to them, “Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and its rider he has thrown into the sea.” ³ 

Exodus 15:2

15:2 The Lord ⁴  is my strength and my song, ⁵ 

and he has become my salvation.

This is my God, and I will praise him, ⁶ 

my father’s God, and I will exalt him.

Exodus 20:13

20:13 “You shall not murder. ⁷ 

Psalms 148:11-13

148:11 you kings of the earth and all you nations,

you princes and all you leaders ⁸  on the earth,

148:12 you young men and young women,

you elderly, along with you children!

148:13 Let them praise the name of the Lord,

for his name alone is exalted;

his majesty extends over the earth and sky.

Jeremiah 31:13

31:13 The Lord says, ⁹  “At that time young women will dance and be glad.

Young men and old men will rejoice. ¹⁰ 

I will turn their grief into gladness.

I will give them comfort and joy in place of their sorrow.

Matthew 21:9

21:9 The crowds that went ahead of him and those following kept shouting, ¹¹  “Hosanna ¹²  to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! ¹³  Hosanna in the highest!”

Matthew 21:15

21:15 But when the chief priests and the experts in the law ¹⁴  saw the wonderful things he did and heard the children crying out in the temple courts, ¹⁵  “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they became indignant

Ephesians 5:19

5:19 speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music ¹⁶  in ¹⁷  your hearts to the Lord,

James 5:13

Prayer for the Sick

5:13 Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone in good spirits? He should sing praises.

[15:20]  ¹ sn See J. N. Easton, “Dancing in the Old Testament,” ExpTim 86 (1975): 136-40.

[15:21]  ² tn The verb עָנָה (’ana) normally means “to answer,” but it can be used more technically to describe antiphonal singing in Hebrew and in Ugaritic.

[15:21]  ³ sn This song of the sea is, then, a great song of praise for Yahweh’s deliverance of Israel at the Sea, and his preparation to lead them to the promised land, much to the (anticipated) dread of the nations. The principle here, and elsewhere in Scripture, is that the people of God naturally respond to God in praise for his great acts of deliverance. Few will match the powerful acts that were exhibited in Egypt, but these nonetheless set the tone. The song is certainly typological of the song of the saints in heaven who praise God for delivering them from the bondage of this world by judging the world. The focus of the praise, though, still is on the person (attributes) and works of God.

[15:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “Yah.” Moses’ poem here uses a short form of the name Yahweh, traditionally rendered in English by “the LORD.”

[15:2]  ⁵ tn The word וְזִמְרָת (vÿzimrat) is problematic. It probably had a suffix yod (י) that was accidentally dropped because of the yod (י) on the divine name following. Most scholars posit another meaning for the word. A meaning of “power” fits the line fairly well, forming a hendiadys with strength – “strength and power” becoming “strong power.” Similar lines are in Isa 12:2 and Ps 118:14. Others suggest “protection” or “glory.” However, there is nothing substantially wrong with “my song” in the line – only that it would be a nicer match if it had something to do with strength.

[15:2]  ⁶ tn The word נָוָה (navah) occurs only here. It may mean “beautify, adorn” with praises (see BDB 627 s.v.). See also M. Dahood, “Exodus 15:2: ‘anwehu and Ugaritic snwt,” Bib 59 (1979): 260-61; and M. Klein, “The Targumic Tosefta to Exodus 15:2,” JJS 26 (1975): 61-67; and S. B. Parker, “Exodus 15:2 Again,” VT 21 (1971): 373-79.

[20:13]  ⁷ tn The verb רָצַח (ratsakh) refers to the premeditated or accidental taking of the life of another human being; it includes any unauthorized killing (it is used for the punishment of a murderer, but that would not be included in the prohibition). This commandment teaches the sanctity of all human life. See J. H. Yoder, “Exodus 20,13: ‘Thou Shalt Not Kill’,” Int 34 (1980): 394-99; and A. Phillips, “Another Look at Murder,” JJS 28 (1977): 105-26.

[148:11]  ⁸ tn Or “judges.”

[31:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.” This phrase has been brought up to the beginning of v. 13 from the end of v. 14 to introduce the transition from third person description by Jeremiah to first person address by the Lord.

[31:13]  ¹⁰ tc The translation follows the reading of the LXX (Greek version). The Hebrew reads “will dance and be glad, young men and old men together.” The Greek version presupposes a Qal imperfect of a rare verb (יַחְדּוּ [yakhdu] from the verb חָדָה [khadah]; see BDB 292 s.v. II חָדָה Qal) as opposed to the Hebrew text which reads a common adverb יַחְדָּו (yakhdav). The consonantal text is the same but the vocalization is different. There are no other examples of the syntax of the adverb used this way (i.e., of a compound subject added to a third subject) and the vocalization of the Hebrew text can be explained on the basis of a scribe misvocalizing the text based on his greater familiarity with the adverb.

[21:9]  ¹¹ tn Grk “were shouting, saying.” The participle λέγοντας (legontas) is redundant here in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[21:9]  ¹² tn The expression ῾Ωσαννά (Jwsanna, literally in Hebrew, “O Lord, save”) in the quotation from Ps 118:25-26 was probably by this time a familiar liturgical expression of praise, on the order of “Hail to the king,” although both the underlying Aramaic and Hebrew expressions meant “O Lord, save us.” In words familiar to every Jew, the author is indicating that at this point every messianic expectation is now at the point of realization. It is clear from the words of the psalm shouted by the crowd that Jesus is being proclaimed as messianic king. See E. Lohse, TDNT 9:682-84.

[21:9]  ¹³ sn A quotation from Ps 118:25-26.

[21:15]  ¹⁴ tn Or “and the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[21:15]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “crying out in the temple [courts] and saying.” The participle λέγοντας (legontas) is somewhat redundant here in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[5:19]  ¹⁶ tn See BDAG 1096 s.v. ψάλλω.

[5:19]  ¹⁷ tn Or “with.”