By Shmuli Phillips and Joshua Berman
In what is probably the most fascinating and significant section of Rabbi Dr Joshua Berman’s recent Ani Ma’amin, a strong and consistent parallel is found between the Song of the Sea (Shirat HaYam) that we read yesterday and the Kadesh poem – an Egyptian celebration of Rameses great victory over the Hittite army. The commonality is seen both in terms of specific unusual phrases which are employed and also in the overall structure and pattern of the two commemorations.
Most notably, both passages open with an army being subject to a surprise attack and calling out for divine assistance. When this assistance is forthcoming, the aggressor recognises that its opponents are receiving supernatural assistance and attempts to flee, only to meet total annihilation in water. There are distinctive parallels in some of the metaphors and terminologies which are drawn upon: in no ancient text other than these two does “right hand” signal strength – nor do any other military accounts refer to defeated enemies as “chaff”. Both passages conclude with their peerless kings or gods leading troops back home and intimidating foreign lands in the process.
Berman makes a compelling case for the Song of the Sea having been directly influenced and inspired by the Kadesh poem. Based on archaeological findings from Egyptian temples of that period, he suggests that the Kadesh poem would have been well known throughout Egypt – an important and much publicised element of nationalistic pride and propaganda.
This close comparison can provoke feelings of discomfort in some traditional readers who approach every feature and phrase of the Torah as containing profound spiritual and mystical truth (a matter which we will seek to address in an upcoming post). Berman’s theory nevertheless provides a measure of support for the traditional account of the Exodus, which has often been challenged from academic quarters.
Most significantly, it demonstrates that those who composed the Song of the Sea possessed intimate and detailed knowledge of Egyptian culture from the Egyptian New Kingdom (approx. 1250 BCE) – the period of Egyptian history in which many consider that the Exodus would have occurred. Such awareness of close details of Egyptian belief is not limited to the Song of Sea, but can also be seen in the ironic mirroring of Egyptian religious concepts such as “mighty hand and outstretched arm”, “hardening of Pharaoh’s heart” and even prior details such as the ways in which the Torah describes the Jewish slavery, taskmasters and building materials. The parallels between the Song of the Sea and the Kadesh poem also represent a challenge to those such as David Rohl, who propose a far earlier date for the Exodus which precedes Rameses altogether.
An additional dimension to this early Israelite cultural appropriation may be psychological. The Torah makes it very clear that, after exiting Egypt, the newly-released slaves were vulnerable and had to be directed away from the shortest path to Canaan “lest the nation have a change of heart upon seeing war and return to Egypt”. Part of the project of the 40-year trek through the desert was to transform the weak and pagan-influenced Israelites, psychologically damaged by centuries of enslavement to the powerful Egyptians, into a warrior nation with belief in the God of Abraham. Whenever the nation faced hardship in the desert, the knee-jerk reaction was that they would be better off returning to enslavement. The Egyptians clearly had a strong psychological hold over them.
Part of the function of the Splitting of the Sea and its subsequent ironic celebration may therefore have been an attempt to shatter this psychological hold. By appropriating the Egyptians’ song of supremacy, the Israelites could embark upon their own national project, confident that “the way you look at the Egyptians today, you shall no longer perceive them for eternity”.
As explained by Rambam in his Guide, a major function of many biblical commandments, such as the sacrifices, which the nation was soon to receive, was to withdraw the people gradually from the pagan belief and practice of the culture in which they had been immersed in Egypt. The ironic appropriation of Egypt’s paen to its god-king may thus have been an exercise in breaking free from the psychological stranglehold of Egypt. This would now give the Israelites an opportunity to flourish as an independent nation and fulfil its role as a “kingdom of priests and a holy nation” – entering into a monotheistic covenant and marching confidently into Canaan to be a light unto the other nations of the world.
First posted to Facebook 16 January 2022, here.
