02_Booij_351_351_374 30/10/15 13:01 Pagina 366 366 THIJS BOOIJ 366 33,8-11, the Song’s identification of “the sea” (Exod 14,2.9 etc.) with the Reed Sea (Exod 15,4; the same in 15,22) appears to reflect a tradition of a later time; its origin seems to be Deuteronomistic (see e.g. Josh 2,10). Furthermore, since the literal meaning of lag is “buy back”, the words tlag wz in v. 13 do not suit the Exodus event very well. They seem more clearly to presuppose the exile, from which Israel is repeatedly said to have been “bought back” by its God (Isa 43,1; 44,22.23, etc.). It is suggested in v. 13, moreover, that Israel on its way to YHWH’s sanctuary was like a flock that is carefully led (lhn pi‘el) to a lush and watery place (hwn). That image recalls Israel’s return from exile, as expressed in various prophetic texts (Isa 40,11; 49,10; Ezek 34,13-16). So, in all likelihood, the Song of the Sea, the Isaian texts and Psalm 118 all date from roughly the same period. What is the relation between the formulas in the Song of the Sea and those in the thanksgiving songs? If the confession in Exod 15,2 were a fusion of the formulas in Isa 12,2b and Isa 25,1a (or Psalm 118,14.28), it would be remarkable that similar formulas can be found, separately, in yet another text, namely Psalm 118 (or Isaiah 12; 25). It is in itself more probable that this confession is an original unity. In addition, nothing in its style and content contradicts that unity. The confession’s second part is linked more closely to the first part than Ps 118,28 is linked to v. 27. This second part is also more distinctive than the formulas in Ps 118,28 and in Isa 25,1a. Apparently, then, the most ancient version of the formulas is the one passed down in the Song of the Sea. VI. Collective Thanksgiving Does Psalm 118 represent, in a liturgical presentation, the collective song of thanksgiving as a literary genre? To answer this question, we first of all need a definition of “genre”, for which we FREEDMAN, “The Song of Miriam”, JNES 14 (1955) 237-250. Features such as anaphora (v. 3; cf. Pss 96,1; 121,5), suffix wm- (v. 5 etc.; cf. Pss 73,6; 140,10), ḥireq compaginis (v. 6; cf. Ps 101,5; Lam 1,1), and “repetitive par- allelism” (vv. 6.11.16; cf. e.g. Pss. 94,1.3; 124,1-2) are usual in poetry. Yod as in wmysky (v. 5) is far from exceptional (cf. Ps 122,6; Job 3,25). The phrase $tbvl !wkm (v. 17) appears to be traditional (cf. 1 Kgs 8,13; Ps 33,14).