The horse and his rider hath He cast into the sea.
Here the dancing and singing have clearly the single purpose of thanksgiving to Jahwe, for the victory is ascribed solely to Him; so that the passage presents the highest development of purpose for which this type of dance was performed. It is the same in Ps. lxviii. 11, 12 (12, 13 in Hebr.), where there is an obvious reference to the custom: “Jahwe giveth the word, the women that publish the tidings (i.e. of victory) are a great host; kings of armies flee; and she that tarrieth at home divideth the spoil[289].” True, there is no mention of singing and dancing here; but if, as we may well believe, it was so well known that the women who celebrated the victory did sing and dance, there was no need to specify it.
In the example given in Judg. xi. 34 it is different, for the dancing and singing here are in honour of the victorious warrior. Jephthah, on his return from his victory over the Ammonites, is met by his daughter and other maidens (her companions are spoken of in verse 38) “with timbrels and with dances[290].” This is further illustrated by the well-known passage 1 Sam. xviii. 6, 7:
And it came to pass as they came, when David returned from the slaughter of the Philistines, that the women came out of the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with timbrels, with joy and with instruments of music (Shalishim, whatever this may mean); and the dancing women sang to one another and said,
Saul hath slain his thousands,
And David his ten thousands.
The corruptions in the Hebrew text of this passage need not trouble us as they do not affect the special point with which we are concerned. The same event is referred to in 1 Sam. xxi. 11, where the way in which the custom is spoken of shows that it was a common one: “Did they not sing one to another in the dances...?” See also xxix. 5. In passing, it is worth offering an interesting parallel to this, although the actual dancing is not mentioned. It is given in Pausanias in reference to the victorious Aristomenes after his defeat of the Lacedaemonians:
When Aristomenes returned to Andania the women threw ribbons and fresh flowers on him, and recited in his honour a song which is sung to this day,—
To the midst of the Stenyclerian plain and to the top of the mountain
Aristomenes followed the Lacedaemonians[291].