SUMMARY AND CONSIDERATIONS
Joyful expressions for victory in battle lie in the nature of things; and since dancing is, and always has been, one of the means of giving vent to this feeling, its mention in the Old Testament in this connexion is what might be expected. In the few examples of this dance recorded in the Old Testament the points to be noted are that it is performed as an act of thanksgiving to Jahwe; this stamps it as in the nature of a sacred rite. It is also a welcome home to the victorious warriors and a tribute to their bravery; but in all probability at the back of this there was always the thought of the real author of the victory, the national God; for it was in His name that the warriors had consecrated themselves for the battle, and in His name that they had, therefore, gone forth to fight (cp. Deut. xx. 1 ff.). Moreover, it has to be remembered that the nation’s enemies were always regarded as the enemies of the national God. The religious character of the rite is thus emphasized. A further point is that these dances, together with accompanying music, were performed by women. As it was the men who had gone forth to fight it will be argued that there could be none but women to perform the dances. At the same time, it cannot be supposed that a district would be wholly denuded of men; some, it may reasonably be expected, remained at home for various reasons; see e.g. Deut. xx. 6-8, xxiv. 5. But the performance of the rite seems to have been entirely restricted to women. It may be that there was in its early origins some reason for this, for we find a similar restriction among races of lower civilization.
This type of dance is quite distinct from the war-dance; whether there was anything in the nature of a war-dance among the Israelites we have no means of ascertaining; it is never even hinted at in the Old Testament. On the other hand, there was preparation for battle in the form of sacrifice to Jahwe.
There were some other customs regarding preparation and “consecration” for battle among the Israelites which point to the lingering of very old-world conceptions; this fact offers some justification for the contention that this type of sacred dance may possibly be the remains, in a developed form, of a rite which originally contained some similar old-world conception. By “remains, in a developed form,” we mean a rite shorn of its original content, but which continues to be observed, and has a new meaning assigned to it. We have in the Old Testament distinct references to the taboo on sexual intercourse for warriors previous to battle (Deut. xxiii. 10, 11; 1 Sam. xxi. 4, 5 [5, 6 in Hebr.]; 2 Sam. xi. 11).
The extension of this kind of taboo to warriors on an expedition is common among rude peoples, and we know that it had place among the Arabs, and was not wholly obsolete as late as the second century of Islām[305].
In reference to the rule laid down in Deut. xxiii. 10, 11, Frazer rightly points out that
it suffices to prove that the custom of continence observed in time of war by the Israelites, as by a multitude of savage and barbarous peoples, was based on a superstitious, not a rational motive. To convince us of this it is enough to remark that the rule is often observed by warriors for some time after their victorious return, as also by the persons left at home during the absence of the fighting men. In these cases the observance of the rule evidently does not admit of a rational explanation, which could hardly, indeed, be entertained by anyone conversant with savage modes of thought[306].
There is ample evidence to show that this custom was not observed from fear of dissipating physical strength, but simply owing to the belief that any contact whatsoever with women made a man effeminate; it extended even to the touching of women’s apparel. We do not maintain that the Israelites were necessarily conscious of the reason why they observed this taboo; it may or may not have been so; but what we contend is that the continued existence among them of such an old-world rite, whatever purpose was assigned for its performance, justifies belief in the possibility that the sacred dance in celebration of victory is the remains of another old-world custom and conception to which a new meaning was given. The consideration of some analogous examples of this type of dance among the uncultured races suggests that in its origin it was a magical rite performed by the women to ensure victory. This was, however, only one of the purposes of this type of dance; another object of it was the quieting or propitiating of the ghosts of those slain in battle. That it ever had this object among the Israelites or their forbears it would be rash to deny, knowing what is recorded in the Old Testament regarding the attitude of the living towards the dead[307]; but no data upon which to go occur in the Old Testament.