Hebrew Word Study – Causing God To Sing – Yashir  – Yod Shin Yod Resh

Exodus 15:1 “Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the LORD, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.”

After the children of Israel crossed the Red Sea they: “Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord and spake saying.”  I have studied this passage for many years and in fact, wrote on this same passage last year at this time.  Something really troubled me about this translation. It’s not mistranslated but there are other ways to translate or read this that is really more grammatically correct.  The only problem is that many Christians would be uncomfortable with those renderings. 

You see, a single prefix can contain many different ways in which the word that it prefixes can be understood.  The word in Hebrew rendered as saying in our study verse is laimor, with the prefix Lamed. All our modern translations simply ignore this prefix because it is awkward to render it as: “And spoke for saying.”  Throughout Scripture, but particularly in extra-Biblical literature laimor is almost always used for someone else to do the speaking. I wrote about this last year at this time.

However, even more, troubling is that there is a Yod that prefixes the word shir sang.  Again, translators totally ignore that prefix. That Yod changes the word sing from a perfect inflection to an imperfect inflection.  Hebrew has no tenses (past, present, and future) but it does have two inflections, a perfect or completed action and an imperfect for an uncompleted action.  A completed action suggests a past tense in English.  An uncompleted action suggests a future tense in English.  Hence to follow the grammar you would not render this as Moses and the children of Israel “sang a song” but rather you would render this as “they will sing a song.” 

Yet, that Yod could also indicate something else rather than just putting a verb into an imperfect state.  It could also indicate that one party imposes on another, that is in this case it is read as making someone else sing. With the word laimor being used, this would appear to be the case in this verse. It would be read “the people caused God to sing.

I could find no one in the Christian community who would translate this using the imperfect form for sing and the common use of laimor  (saying) as in God saying and not the people saying.  I found no Christian commentators even raising the issue as to why it is translated as “sang” and not “will sing.”  

As I shared in my study a year ago when I was preparing for my Torah Study I found that Jewish teachers had much to say about this problem of the uncompleted action and there were various attempts to give some understanding. Again as this parshah came around this year I read even deeper into this conundrum. Not that I don’t like the understanding that I found last year. The most common Jewish understanding is one that really makes sense to me and I really like it. However, there is another understanding and I will let you be the judge as to whether you like that idea or not. 

If we are being true to the grammar then the way we would translate this is: “Then Moses and the children of Israel made God sing this song, for Him to say…”  I don’t know if I would go as far as some Jewish teachers that we make or force God to sing, but I would suggest we do cause God to sing to us. Thus I would render this as: “Then Moses and the children of Israel caused God to sing this song for Him to say…” 

What do you think God is doing while we are dancing and praising Him in worship? Is He sitting on some throne, chin resting on the palm of His hand, nodding and saying; “Yes, well done, sure nuf appreciate it.”  I believe like Exodus 15:1 seems to suggest that we cause God to sing.  When we being to dance, sing and celebrate Him, He jumps out of that throne and joins right in with us in song and dance. 

I also saw something else. You see the verse starts off with yishir which is translated in all our English translations as “Then sang Moses and the children of Israel…” but then in the same verse it says “they spoke.” They did not sing the words of this song but spoke them. We really need to keep yishir in an imperfect form which would read; “Then Moses and the children of Israel will sing…but they spoke.”

You see singing is an expression of your heart.  Even though the children of Israel believed in God their redemption was yet to come. One explanation given by Jewish scholars is that the Messiah will bring redemption and when He does then they will be able to sing or express this song of redemption from their hearts.  

However, after I wrote my book on a Hebrew Teacher Looks at Stargates and Time Travel, I tend to lean more toward another explanation as to why the children of Israel only spoke the song of redemption rather than sang it.  God does not live in time. Past, present, and future are all mushed together.  In God’s realm, the redemptive work of His Son Jesus Christ already took place. So, they would not have to wait for the Messiah to bring redemption for in God’s realm it was a done deal. 

Then why could they not sing, express from their heart, this song of redemption?  Exodus 14:31 tells us that after crossing the Red Sea, they only believed in the power of God.  They may have believed but they had yet to really know – yada’ be intimate with God. Many believe in God but they do not know God.  However, once Miriam and her prophetic team came on the scene playing their tambourines, dancing and singing songs of praise and worship were the others drawn into this celebration of praise to God. They may have started to recite this song but once they entered into the worship and praise, they had a regular Pentecostal meltdown and began to worship and praise God from their hearts. Then knowing God, having entered into His redemption they were able to sing this song of redemption. 

Just another way to look at this problem in translation. 

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