| 10 Songs in Tanach | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1st Song | Mizmor Shir l'Yom Ha-Shabbos-A Psalm for the Sabbath Day: this is the Song that Adam sang after the Creation was completed. | Psalm 92 |
| 2nd Song | Shirat Ha-Yam -The Song of the Sea: this Song is sung by the Hebrews following the drowning of the Egyptian army in the "Sea of Reeds" and the saving of the Hebrews from returning to slavery in Egypt. | Exodus 14:30-15:19 |
| 3rd Song | Shiras Ha-Be'er-Song of the Well: This Song was sung as a result of the miracle that G-d created to save the Hebrews from being ambushed by the Amorites, in what is now Jordan on their way to Canaan after 40 years of wandering in the Sinai Desert. Because those who carried the Ark of the Covenant preceded the Hebrews, it caused the mountains to sink and the valley to rise, crushing the Amorites in their hideouts in the caves. The Hebrews would not have noticed this if the Well of water which accompanied them did not throw up pieces of the corpses. Thus this miracle created by G-d with the Well resulted in the Hebrews bursting forth in the "Song of the Well" in commemoration of this miraculous event. | Bamidbar (Numbers 21:16-18) |
| 4th Song | "Ha'azinu" ("to hear", "to listen" in Hebrew): the Hebrew/Jewish people must actively listen to the message that is being said to them by Moses so that they will be able to pass this message down to future generations. "Ha'azinu" was sung to the Hebrews by Moses prior to his death and at the conclusion of the Hebrews' 40-year wanderings in the Sinai Desert. This Song was sung by Moses to help assure the spiritual future of the Hebrews and included words of warning, of instruction, and of hope, and reaffirms G-d's care and love of the Hebrews to the Hebrews in all circumstances. "Ha'azinu" reflects the vicissitudes of the present and future destiny of Israel, the ups and downs, the rises and the declines. It is not a testimony to the past, but rather a warning for the present and the future. It was sung to a people who were mostly already born into physical freedom, so there was no need for the Hebrews to suddenly rejoice in song as at the "Sea of Reeds" or the "Red Sea", but rather, to listen and hear Moses in a restrained and dour manner. In contrast, the "Shiras Ha-Yam" or "Song of the Sea", sung a little over 40 years earlier by Moses and his sister Miriam at the "Sea of Reeds" or the "Red Sea", was sung as an instantaneous outburst of joy at the realization of the Hebrews' physical freedom after the miraculous event at the "Sea of Reeds" or the "Red Sea". | Deuteronomy 32:1 - 32:52 |
| 5th Song | "Shirat Ha-Givon" - "Givon" is a place in the valley of Ayalon near Jerusalem. Joshua was the leader commissioned to lead the conquest of Canaan, and he exhorted the "sun [to] stand still upon Gibeon/And you, the moon, in the valley of Ayalon" in order to enable him to wage war and to defeat Adoni-Zedek, king of Jerusalem and his allies and enable the Hebrews to enter Canaan and set up the divisions of land for each Hebrew tribe as well as establishing a sanctuary at Shiloh, which served as a holy city and stood for 200 years until the First Temple was built by King Solomon. | Referenced in: Joshua 10:12-15 |
| 6th Song | Song of Devorah. This Song was sung by the Prophetess Deborah after the Hebrew armies defeated the armies of Canaan, led by their general, Sisera. Devorah also sings about Yael, the wife of Heber the Keni, who used a spike and a hammer to drive the spike through the head of Sisera while he slept. | Judges 4:4-5:31 |
| 7th Song | Song of Hannah. Hannah was the mother of the Prophet Samuel. The Song of Hannah calls attention to the "humiliation" and "misery" of a barren woman, namely Hannah herself (1 Samuel 1:11), who confides her pain to G-d. After her prayers are completed, she is then blessed with a child, Samuel. Essentially, the Song of Hannah is the story of a woman who was barren for a long time and then was blessed with a child. This is but one of many examples of the power of prayer in the Hebrew Bible. | I Samuel 2:1-10 |
| 8th Song | Shirat David. In this Song, which has the distinction of being the only Song of the 10 Songs or 10 Shirot to be mentioned twice in the Hebrew Bible, King David recounts the desperate state of his very survival and existence during parts of his long and varied career, and he sings a Song of praise to G-d and dedicates the Song to G-d after the G-d had saved him from the hands of all his enemies and from the hands of Saul, the King of Israel prior to David. | 2 Samuel 22; Psalm 18 (minor differences ) |
| 9th Song | Song of Songs or Song of Solomon ("Shir Ha-Shirim" in Hebrew). The Song of Songs is traditionally seen to be an allegory for the relationship between G-d and Israel by utilizing the example of the love between a man and a woman. | Song of Songs is one of the five "megillot". |
| 10th Song | Song of Mashiach or Song of the Messiah: this Song has yet to be sung. It will be sung during the times of Mashiach or the Messiah, after Mashiach appears on Earth. | Isaiah 9:2-7, 26:1 |
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( מיום שברא הקדוש ברוך הוא את העולם ועד שעמדו ישראל על הים, לא מצינו אדם שאמר שירה לקדוש ברוך הוא, אלא ישראל. ברא אדם הראשון ולא אמר שירה. הציל אברהם מכבשן האש, ומן המלכים ולא אמר שירה. וכן יצחק מן המאכלת, ולא אמר שירה. וכן יעקב מן המלאך, ומן עשו, ומן אנשי שכם, ולא אמר שירה. כיון שבאו ישראל לים, ונקרע להם, מיד אמרו שירה לפני הקדוש ברוך הוא, שנאמר: אז ישיר משה ובני ישראל.
From the day that God created the world until Israel stood by the sea, there was not a single person who said a song to God except for Israel. God created the first man and he didn't say a song. God saved Abraham from the firey furnace and from the kings and he didn't say a song. And also Isaac [was saved] from the knife and he didn't say a song and Jacob [was saved] from the angel and from Esau and from the men of Shechem and he didn't say a song. When Israel came to the sea and it parted for them, they immediately said a song before God, as its says Then Moses sang and the people of Israel.
(ב והוא הדין מי שהתרגשה עליו מרה שחורה, ועמד והסירה בשמיעת הניגונים ובמיני הזמר, ובטיול בגינות ובבניינים נאים, ובישיבה עם צורות נאות וכיוצא בדברים שמרחיבים הנפש ומסירים הרהוריו הקודרים ממנה. והמכוון בכל זה, שיבריא גופו, ותכלית בריאות גופו: לקנות חכמה. והוא הדין מי שטרח והתעסק בקנות הממון, תהיה תכליתו בקיבוצו שיוציאו למעלות, ושימצאהו לקיום גופו והמשך מציאותו, עד שיציג וידע את השם יתברך, מה שאפשר לדעתו.
(2 Similarly, one who suffers from melancholia may rid himself of it by listening to singing and all kinds of instrumental music, by strolling through beautiful gardens and splendid buildings, by gazing upon beautiful pictures, and other things that enliven the mind, and dissipate gloomy moods. The purpose of all this is to restore the healthful condition of the body, but the real object in maintaining the body in good health is to acquire wisdom. Likewise, in the pursuit of wealth, the main design in its acquisition should be to expend it for noble purposes, and to employ it for the maintenance of the body and the preservation of life, so that its owner may obtain a knowledge of God, in so far as that is vouchsafed unto man.
(ה) אַחַר כֵּן תָּבוֹא גִּבְעַת הָאֱלֹהִים אֲשֶׁר שָׁם נְצִבֵי פְלִשְׁתִּים וִיהִי כְבֹאֲךָ שָׁם הָעִיר וּפָגַעְתָּ חֶבֶל נְבִיאִים יֹרְדִים מֵהַבָּמָה וְלִפְנֵיהֶם נֵבֶל וְתֹף וְחָלִיל וְכִנּוֹר וְהֵמָּה מִתְנַבְּאִים.
(5) After that thou shalt come to the hill of God, where is the garrison of the Philistines; and it shall come to pass, when thou art come thither to the city, that thou shalt meet a band of prophets coming down from the high place with a psaltery, and a timbrel, and a pipe, and a harp, before them; and they will be prophesying.
(יד) וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלִישָׁע חַי ה' צְבָאוֹת אֲשֶׁר עָמַדְתִּי לְפָנָיו כִּי לוּלֵי פְּנֵי יְהוֹשָׁפָט מֶלֶךְ יְהוּדָה אֲנִי נֹשֵׂא אִם אַבִּיט אֵלֶיךָ וְאִם אֶרְאֶךָּ. (טו) וְעַתָּה קְחוּ לִי מְנַגֵּן וְהָיָה כְּנַגֵּן הַמְנַגֵּן וַתְּהִי עָלָיו יַד ה'.
(14) And Elisha said: ‘As the LORD of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, surely, were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look toward thee, nor see thee. (15) But now bring me a minstrel.’ And it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the LORD came upon him.