Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

DANCE

Dance in the Bible is associated with various occasions. Birthdays (Matt. 14:6; Mark 6:21-22), weddings (presuming that Jer. 31:22 refers to dancing as part of a marriage ceremony and that Matt. 11:17; Luke 7:32 refer to Jesus as bridegroom), and family reunions (Luke 15:25) are all marked by dancing. Overwhelmingly, however, dance is associated with cultic events. The prophets of Baal perform some sort of limping dance around Elijah’s altar on Mt. Carmel in an attempt to beseech their god to appear (1 Kgs. 18:26); Aaron and the Israelites dance before the golden calf at the base of Mt. Sinai (Exod. 32:6, 18-19); and David and the Israelites dance before the ark of the covenant as it is brought to Jerusalem (2 Sam. 6:1-23; 1 Chr. 13:1-14; 15:1-29). Dancing more generally in praise of God is described in Ps. 26:6; 87:7; 149:3; 150:4, and dancing appears as the antithesis of mourning (Ps. 30:11[MT 12]; Eccl. 3:4; Lam. 5:15). Given that mourning is a ritualized behavior in Israelite religion, the dance juxtaposed to it should be understood as ritualized as well. Also, the names of some Israelite festivals are associated lexically with dance: e.g., the Hebrew verb pāsaḥ (piel), “to perform a limping dance,” is the root of “Pesach” or Passover.

Somewhat surprisingly in Israel’s male-dominated religion, two types of cultic dancing appear to be the exclusive province of women. First, women dance in celebration of an Israelite victory in battle (Exod. 15:20-21; Judg. 11:34; 1 Sam. 18:6-7; Jdt. 15:12-13). While the religious context of such dancing may not be readily apparent, it is important to remember that war in ancient Israel was a sacred activity. A dance before two armies (Cant. 6:13[7:1]) and a dance of the virgin Israel that celebrates her restoration in Zion (Jer. 31:4) should probably also be understood as part of the women’s victory dance tradition. The “hand-drum” or “tambourine” (tōp) mentioned in Jer. 31:4 was a distinctive instrument of women’s victory dances.

Second, women dance as part of a cultic revel at the annual fall vineyard festival (Judg. 21:19-21; Jer. 31:12-13). Although the Mishnah (Taʿan. 4.8) relocates these dances to earlier in the harvest season (the 15th of Ab and Yom Kippur), this rabbinic source makes clear that the tradition of a women’s harvest dance endures for the better part of a millennium.

Bibliography. J. H. Eaton, “Dancing in the Old Testament,” ExpTim 86 (1975): 136-40; M. I. Gruber, “Ten Dance-Derived Expressions in the Hebrew Bible,” Bibl 62 (1981): 328-46; repr. in D. Adams and D. Apostolos-Cappadona, eds., Dance as Religious Studies (New York, 1990), 48-66; C. L. Meyers, “Of Drums and Damsels: Women’s Performance in Ancient Israel,” BA 54 (1991): 16-27; J. Sasson, “The Worship of the Golden Calf,” in Orient and Occident, ed. H. A. Hoffner. AOAT 22 (Neukirchen-Vluyn, 1973), 151-59.

Susan Ackerman

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

DANCE

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)