Hilchot Tefilla - Shirat Hayam as a Literary Text

(19) For the horses of Pharaoh, with his chariots and riders, went into the sea; and ה׳ turned back on them the waters of the sea; but the Israelites marched on dry ground in the midst of the sea.(20) Then Miriam the prophet, Aaron’s sister, picked up a hand-drum, and all the women went out after her in dance with hand-drums.

Then Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, “Every boy that is born you shall throw into the Nile, but let every girl live.”

(3) When she could hide him no longer, she got a wicker basket for him and caulked it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child into it and placed it among the reeds by the bank of the Nile.(4) And his sister stationed herself at a distance, to learn what would befall him.

מקדש ה׳ כוננו ידיך, a veiled reference to the sanctuary which G’d would instruct the Jewish people to build for His Presence in Exodus 25,8-9. [G’d’s stating the sizes, furnishings, and materials this Sanctuary would be made of makes it equivalent to He Himself having constructed it. Ed.] Also David, in Chronicles I 28,19 spoke about his having received the details of the blueprint of the Temple to be built by his son Solomon from G’d, proving that G’d Himself considered this as His permanent residence on earth.

(1) Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to ה׳. They said:
I will sing to ה׳, for He has triumphed gloriously;
Horse and driver He has hurled into the sea.(2) ה׳ is my strength and might;
He is become my deliverance.
This is my God and I will enshrine Him;
The God of my father’s [house], and I will exalt Him.(3) ה׳, the Warrior—
ה׳ is His name!(4) Pharaoh’s chariots and his army
He has cast into the sea;
And the pick of his officers
Are drowned in the Sea of Reeds.(5) The deeps covered them;
They went down into the depths like a stone.(6) Your right hand, ה׳, glorious in power,
Your right hand, ה׳, shatters the foe!(7) In Your great triumph You break Your opponents;
You send forth Your fury, it consumes them like straw.(8) At the blast of Your nostrils the waters piled up,
The floods stood straight like a wall;
The deeps froze in the heart of the sea.(9) The foe said,
“I will pursue, I will overtake,
I will divide the spoil;
My desire shall have its fill of them.
I will bare my sword—
My hand shall subdue them.”(10) You made Your wind blow, the sea covered them;
They sank like lead in the majestic waters.(11) Who is like You, ה׳, among the celestials;
Who is like You, majestic in holiness,
Awesome in splendor, working wonders!(12) You put out Your right hand,
The earth swallowed them.(13) In Your love You lead the people You redeemed;
In Your strength You guide them to Your holy abode.(14) The peoples hear, they tremble;
Agony grips the dwellers in Philistia.(15) Now are the clans of Edom dismayed;
The tribes of Moab—trembling grips them;
All the dwellers in Canaan are aghast.(16) Terror and dread descend upon them;
Through the might of Your arm they are still as stone—
Till Your people cross over, ה׳,
Till Your people cross whom You have ransomed.(17) You will bring them and plant them in Your own mountain,
The place You made to dwell in, ה׳,
The sanctuary, O my lord, which Your hands established.(18) ה׳ will reign for ever and ever!(19) For the horses of Pharaoh, with his chariots and riders, went into the sea; and ה׳ turned back on them the waters of the sea; but the Israelites marched on dry ground in the midst of the sea.(20) Then Miriam the prophet, Aaron’s sister, picked up a hand-drum, and all the women went out after her in dance with hand-drums.(21) And Miriam chanted for them:
Sing to ה׳, for He has triumphed gloriously;
Horse and driver He has hurled into the sea.(22) Then Moses caused Israel to set out from the Sea of Reeds. They went on into the wilderness of Shur; they traveled three days in the wilderness and found no water.(23) They came to Marah, but they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter; that is why it was named Marah. (24) And the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?”(25) So he cried out to ה׳, and ה׳ showed him a piece of wood; he threw it into the water and the water became sweet. There [God] made for them a fixed rule; there they were put to the test.(26) [God] said, “If you will heed your God ה׳ diligently, doing what is upright in God’s sight, giving ear to God’s commandments and keeping all God’s laws, then I will not bring upon you any of the diseases that I brought upon the Egyptians, for I ה׳ am your healer.”(27) And they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees; and they encamped there beside the water.

(12) O God, my King from of old,
who brings deliverance throughout the land;(13) it was You who drove back the sea with Your might,
who smashed the heads of the monsters in the waters;(14) it was You who crushed the heads of Leviathan,
who left him as food for the denizens of the desert;^-c(15) it was You who released springs and torrents,
who made mighty rivers run dry;

(9) O LORD, God of hosts,
who is mighty like You, O LORD?
Your faithfulness surrounds You;(10) You rule the swelling of the sea;
when its waves surge, You still them.