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by Paul Sumner
This recorded event followed the Last Passover at which Yeshua told his disciples to remember him and his sacrifice with bread and wine.
In ancient Passover services, as recorded in the Mishnah, the meal ended with singing the so-called "Second Hallel" (Psalms 115–118). Then came the Fourth Cup, following by the "Blessing of the Song" (a kind of reprise of previous hymns sung during the Seder) (Mishnah, tractate Pesachim).
The phrase translated "singing a hymn" in Matthew 26:30 is one word in Greek: humneo. It means to hymn, sing praise, celebrate or worship with hymns. Thus, v. 30 says, "after they hymned" or "after hymning" (Grk, humnesantes) they left the upper room where the meal was enjoyed.
In Modern Hebrew NTs, the phrase in v. 30 is rendered two ways: "after concluding the Hallel" (gamar haHallel; Delitzsch, Salkinson) or "after singing the Hallel" (shar haHallel; Israel Bible Society, 1991).
Yeshua not only participated in the Passover—as its presiding host—he joined all Israel that night in singing hymns of praise to God. He and they thanked and worshiped the One who rescued his people from Egyptian bondage some fourteen centuries before.
A Messianic Hymn
Yeshua's last hymn was the Second Hallel. Its concluding psalm, 118, reverberates with messianic meanings.
Part of Psalm 118 tells how a decision by Jerusalem's builders to reject a certain "stone" was overruled by God. What they rejected, God laid down as the Rosh Pinnah, chief cornerstone, of his Temple. His sovereign action was "marvelous" in the eyes of the faithful; it was a "day which the LORD [had] made" — and thus a day to be rejoiced in (vv. 22-24).
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Yeshua quoted this passage as a warning to the Jewish leaders who were rejecting him. They were about to fulfill a dark prophecy (Matt 21:42; cf. Acts 4:11). Yet he also recited the "Barukh" or "Welcome Blessing" in verse 26 as a way of offering them an alternative, though contingent, destiny:
Your House [the Temple] is being left to you desolate!
For I say to you, from now on you shall not see me
until you say,
"Blessed [barukh] is he who comes
in the name of the Lord."
(Matt 23:38-39; Ps 118:26)
In citing this biblical invitation, Yeshua invited them to invite him back as the One who comes in God's name and, by implication, will bring ultimate Passover redemption. [Consider the reconstruction of The Last Passover of Yeshua. PDF]
[In the NT, humneo(verb) and humne(noun) appear at: Matt 26:30; Mark 14:26; Acts 16:25; Heb 2:12; Eph 5:19; Col 3:16.
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Hebrews 2:12
"For both he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father; for which reason he is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying,
'I will proclaim your name to my brethren,
In the midst of the congregationregation
I will sing your praise.' "
In this passage, Yeshua has recited Psalm 22:22. As a member of Congregation Israel, he proclaims God's name to his fellow Israelites and vows to sing God's praise in the holy gathering at the Temple.
The phrase "sing your praise" is the same root word discussed above in Matthew 26:30—"after singing a hymn." Here, the future tense and pronoun (humneso se) mean "I will hymn You" or "I will praise You in song."
The Hebrew text of Psalm 22:22 (Heb v. 23) reads:
"I will recount [asaprah] your name to my brothers,
In the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise [ahaleleka]."
The Hebrew behind "I will sing your praise" is the verb form of the word "Hallel" —"I will hallel You." So here too Yeshua is depicted as singing praises (hallel's) to God. He sang praise hymns about God's acts of redemption for and among his brethren.
Before dying on the tree on Golgotha, he recited the opening of Psalm 22—"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
But, in contrast, before death, he chose to lift his eyes to Heaven with revived hope and sang from the latter portion of the psalm: "I will sing your praise." He did this because he knew what was to come. [See the study "God Raised Yeshua"]
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Revelation 15:2–4
"I saw…those who had been victorious over the beast…standing on the sea of glass, holding harps of God. And they sang the song of Moses the bond-servant of God and the song of the Lamb, saying,
'Great and marvelous are your works,
O Lord God, the Almighty;
Righteous and true are your ways,
You King of the nations.
Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name?
For you alone are holy;
For all the nations will come and worship before you,
For your righteous acts have been revealed.' "
In verse 3 the translational issue is this: what does "song of" mean?
In Greek the genitive "of" could mean one of two things here. (1) A genitive of possession would mean it is Moses' song or the Lamb's song, that is, songs which they sing. (2) An objective genitive would mean the song is about Moses or about the Lamb, or for Moses and the Lamb.
Which genitive is used in verse 3a? The song [Grk ode; 3b-4] answers the question.
Phrases from several passages in the Hebrew Bible are echoed in this song (see note below). Exodus 15 and Deuteronomy 32 have strong influence, and both contain songs once sung by Moses himself on auspicious occasions:
Exod 15:1—Then Moses and the sons of Israel sang
this song to the LORD.
Deut 31:30—Then Moses spoke in the hearing of all the assembly of Israel the words of this song, until they were complete.
[chap. 32 is the song itself]
[The Hebrew word "song" in these two verses is shirah. In the Septuagint the Greek word is ode in both, the same as in Rev 15:3.]
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Two times, Moses sang praise to God. Once, as he and the children of Israel stood on the far side of the Reed Sea (Exod 15). The other, as he commissioned the next generation of Israel to enter the land of promise (Deut 32). Both times, Moses praised God for His works on behalf of His people.
These two songs are about God; they are not about Moses.
Can we then conclude that the phrase "song of Moses" in Rev 15:3a is a genitive of possession? Yes, for none of the phrases in this song are about Moses, but about his God. This is Moses' song of deliverance about the Lord. It is what he sang.
Did Yeshua Have a Song Too?
Would Yeshua sing salvation songs? Would he praise God for His great works, for his righteous and true ways, for the promise that the Gentiles will one day come and worship at the throne of the God of Abraham, Moses, and David?
Of course. We saw in the two studies above that Yeshua sang salvation Hallel's to God. The pattern is laid down.
The gospel accounts tell us of an incident when Yeshua "was filled with joy of the Holy Spirit" and "rejoiced greatly…and said, 'I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth' " (Luke 10:21; Matt 11:25).
Yeshua did have joy, and publically, in front of the Israelites around him, he exclaimed with passion his love for and thankfulness to his Father.
Would he not also sing a hymn of praise for God's delivering him from the grave?
The "Song of the Lamb" in Rev 15:3-4 is Yeshua's victory hymn. It is his own testimony about what God had done for him. And it alludes to what the Father will do through him in redeeming the nations ("for all the Gentiles will come and worship before you").
This song is not about Yeshua. It is his own song offered to his Father.
Yeshua Joins Moses
The Messiah's song of praise — overheard in heaven after his resurrection — reverberates with the shirah of Moses. Together, their one great Song became the anthem of "those who had come off victorious from the beast" — that is, of those who were killed by the anti-Messiah (Rev 15:2b).
That's the point. Messiah's martyrs join him in singing his song because he too — though he also died at the hands of the great Beast — came back to life because of God's grace and power. That's their hope too: that God will raise them as well.
Yeshua laid down an example for his followers by linking his experiences with those of previous generations of God's people. In so doing, he teaches future generations where the anchors of their souls truly lay:
Moses' Song + the Lamb's Song =
Martyr–Servant's Song of Victory
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The Singer is Praised
And because he went through the fires and emerged in new life by the power of God, Yeshua can praise Him from both sides of life and death. The hallel's of Yeshua and the Song of the Lamb (the slain Messiah) become one. And because he laid down his life, he himself becomes the object of praise songs, along with God.
"Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing… To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion for ever and ever." (Rev 5:12, 13)
"God highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Yeshua every knee should bow…and every tongue confess that Yeshua Messiah is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Phil 2:9-11)
• Paul Sumner
Notes
1 —The most often quoted (3x or more) texts from the Psalms in the NT include: Psalm 2, 8, 22, 34, 69, 95, 110, 118. By far, the two most frequently quoted are Psalm 2 (12x) and 110 (16x).
2 —Revelation 15:3-4 echoes the following passages: Ps 92:5; 111:2; 139:14; Deut 32:4; Exod 15:11; Ps 86:9; Mal 1:11; Ps 144:17 LXX; 98:2.
Ps 92:5—How great are your works, O LORD! Your thoughts are very deep.
Ps 111:2—Great are the works of the LORD; they are studied by all who delight in them.
Ps 139:14—I will give thanks to you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are your works and my soul knows it very well.
Deut 32:4—The Rock! His work is perfect, for all his ways are just; a God of faithfulness and without injustice, righteous and upright is he.
Exod 15:11—Who is like you among the gods, O LORD? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in praises, working wonders?
Ps 86:9—All nations whom you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord; and they shall glorify your name.
Mal 1:11—"For from the rising of the sun, even to its setting, my name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense is going to be offered to my name, and a grain offering that is pure; for my name will be great among the nations," says the LORD of hosts.
Ps 144:17 LXX (Eng 145:17)—The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.
Ps 98:2—The LORD has made known his salvation; he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations.
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