NEWS PROVIDED BY
Brandeis University
June 18, 2026
BROOKLINE, Maine, June 18, 2026 /Standard Newswire/ — The most rousing expression of American Civil Religion is the well-known The Star-Spangled Banner[1] sung ritually at patriotic events especially on July 4. Less well known is how much the American anthem was inspired by the biblical hymn, The Song at the Sea.[2]
Both the Song at the Sea in Exodus 15 and the Anthem were triggered by a wondrous upset. As America surprisingly eluded the British effort to resubjugate them at Chesapeake Bay, so Israel miraculously eluded the Egyptian onslaught to resubjugate them at the Re[e]d Sea.
Perceiving the salvation of America in terms of the salvation of ancient Israel, Francis Scott Key. Who doubled as a Sunday-school Bible teacher in D.C., composed a hymn reverberating with echoes of the Song as he composed other biblically-inspired hymns including “Lord, with Glowing heart I’d Praise Thee” and “Before the Lord We Bow.”[3]
Each of these events inspired songs that liturgize the baffling reversal by compressing the past into the present, where the singers bear witness to their astonishing deliverance. More than mirroring the event, the songs re-enact it, placing singers and listeners at the event.
Both Anthem and Song thus begin with a double reference to visualizing the victory thereby transforming the vocalists into eyewitnesses:
The Anthem begins: “O say can you see”; “O’er the ramparts we watched”; whereas Exodus introduces the Song with “Israel saw Egypt dead on the shore of the sea” (14:30). And “Israel saw the wondrous power which God had wielded against the Egyptians” (14:31).
Both accordingly focus twice on the visibility of morning: The Anthem opens with “O say can you see, by the dawn’s early light,” and then notes synonymously in the second stanza: “Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam in full glory reflected now shines in the stream.” Similarly, the Song notes, “At the morning watch, God looked down upon the Egyptian army from a pillar of fire and cloud and threw the Egyptian army into panic” (Exod. 14:24), then noting “at dawn the sea returned to its normal state” (Exod.14:27).
Both call the enemy “the foe” visualizing his dead on the shore: The Anthem begins its second stanza with “On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep, Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes.” The Song says: “And that the foe was seen dead on the shore of the sea” (Exod. 14:30). The Anthem and the Song underscore the foe’s arrogance: The Anthem says: “The foe haughty host”; whereas the Song quotes the “foe” arrogantly screaming his sevenfold murderous intentions “I, I, I, my, I, my, my” (Exod. 15:19).
Both focus listeners’ imaginations on the waters of the deep and the blowing of the wind in describing the battle: The Anthem notes “the mists of the deep” and “the breeze … fitfully blows” (second stanza); whereas the Song states: “The deeps covered them” (Exod. 15:4); “You made Your wind blow, the sea covered them” (Exod. 15:10).
The Civil-War added line in the middle underscores the ramifications for those saved: “By the millions unchained, who our birthright have gained”; whereas the middle of the Song states: “In Your love You lead the people You redeemed” (Exod. 15:13).
Finally, both paeans place their trust in a saving God.
The Anthem concludes before the final refrain with:
“Blest with vict’ry and peace, may the Heav’n rescued land
Praise the power that hath made and preserved us a nation,”
saying “our motto – ‘In God is our trust’ ”;[4] whereas the Song is introduced, proclaiming: “On that day, God rescued Israel from the hand of Egypt” (Exod. 14:30) and initiating the Song with: “They trusted in God” (Exod.14:31). As the Song begins so the Anthem ends.
Indeed, the title itself, “The Star-Spangled Banner,” coined by Key himself, harks back to Israel’s triumph over Amalek in the next scene, stating: “God is my banner” (Exod. 17:15).
Unbeknownst to the millions who proudly sing the Anthem. The Star-Spangled Banner serves as the American version of the liturgized biblical Song at the Sea: emblazoned in our memory; abiding on our lips; enduring in our heart.
[1] For the historical background, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Star-Spangled_Banner
[2] For the liveliness of the Song at the Sea, see Chapter 5 of Reuven Kimelman, The Rhetoric of Jewish Prayer: A Historical and Literary Commentary of the Prayer Book, Liverpool University Press, 2026.
[3] The first two stanzas also link ancient Israel with modern America.
Before the Lord we bow, the God Who reigns above,
And rules the world below, boundless in power and love.
Our thanks we bring in joy and praise, our hearts we raise
To Heaven’s high King.
The nation Thou hast blest may well Thy love declare,
From foes and fears at rest, protected by Thy care.
For this fair land, for this bright day, our thanks we pay,
Gifts of Thy hand.
Both stanzas reverberate with verses especially from Psalms.
[4] This is the origin of the Civil War expression, subsequently enshrined on American coinage, “In God we trust.”
SOURCE Brandeis University
CONTACT: Reuven Kimelman, 617-990-6248, kimelman@brandeis.edu