Moses

DESCRIPTION: Leader lines out "Moses, Moses, don't let King Pharaoh overtake you." "I hear the chariot coming (horses running, Jordan rolling)." "Jordan, Jordan, let those children over." All repeat the line twice and end "In some lonesome graveyard"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1959 (LomaxCD1712)
KEYWORDS: Bible nonballad religious
FOUND IN: US(SE)
RECORDINGS:
John Davis and the Georgia Sea Island Singers, "Moses" (on LomaxCD1712)
NOTES [108 words]: The tag line, "In some lonesome graveyard," is also in "Oh, Lord, How Long," a different hymn. - BS
This song seems to conflate two instances of the Israelites crossing dryshod over a place that is usually water: Exodus 14, where Moses leads the Israelites across the Red Sea/Sea of Reeds as Pharaoh pursues, and Joshua 3, where Joshua, not Moses (who is by then dead) leads the Israelites over the Jordan. In the latter case, there are no pursuers to be avoided; the Israelites have already slaughtered the peoples of Kings Og and Sihon, and are crossing the Jordan for the purpose of massacring the people of Jericho and the rest of Canaan. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.7
File: RcJDMose

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