The Lord is a Man of War
In Exodus, after the Hebrews cross the Red Sea, which closes behind them and drowns the Egyptians, there is a victory song that is quite unlike anything else in the Bible.
Harold Bloom gives four different translations, but concludes the King James version is the best – which is not surprising, since it builds on the excellent translations before it – including Tyndale, who was martyred for his efforts.
Handel’s Israel in in Egypt is about this:
The Lord is a man of war: the Lord is his name.
Pharaoh’s chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea: his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red Sea.
Bloom says: “Like most victory odes, the Song of Moses offers exultation at the cost of wisdom and can leave the wary reader a little chilled.”
You can sample the music here in the Amazon MP3 Downloads page. No 13 on disk 2 is The Lord is a Man of War.
Listening to it, I could not help reflect that this reflected the growing power of the British Empire – which Empire is now history.
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