ᾠδή

From the study of Revelation 15:3

Range of meaning

ᾠδή means a song: a sung poem, hymn or ode, often sung in worship or to celebrate a victory. With a person's name in the possessive ('song of X') it can mean the song X sang or composed, or the song about X or about what X did.

Against the English

English 'the song of Moses and of the Lamb' is accurate. But English readers often do not hear the Exodus behind it. They may also take 'song of Moses' as an unknown title, or assume two different songs.

Used elsewhere in the period

Greek Exodus 15:1: 'Then Moses and the sons of Israel sang (ᾖσεν) this song (τὴν ᾠδὴν ταύτην) to God.' Revelation uses the same verb and noun together. The Greek Old Testament also calls Deuteronomy 32 a 'song' (ᾠδή, Deut 31:30; 32:44). Later Jewish tradition records that the Levites sang Deuteronomy 32 in the Temple at the Sabbath additional offering and Exodus 15 at the Sabbath afternoon offering (Babylonian Talmud, Rosh Hashanah 31a). Some rabbis read the Hebrew 'then Moses will sing' (Exod 15:1, a future-tense form) as a hint that Moses would sing again in the age to come (b. Sanhedrin 91b). Later Greek Bible manuscripts collect both songs among the 'Odes' attached to the Psalms.

From the study of Revelation 14:3

Range of meaning

ᾠδή is a sung song, especially a song of praise or celebration. καινός means new in kind or quality: fresh, not worn out, belonging to a new order. It is distinct from νέος, which means new in time or young, though the two words overlap.

Against the English

English "new song" usually suggests a recently written piece. Biblically, a "new song" answers a new saving act of God. It is new because what God has done is new, not because the tune is.

How it drifted

In modern church life "new song" mostly means new worship music, so the phrase can sound like a comment on repertoire.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Greek Old Testament (the Septuagint) uses ᾆσμα καινόν / ᾠδὴ καινή in Psalms 33:3; 40:3; 96:1; 98:1; 144:9; 149:1 and Isaiah 42:10, nearly always after a victory or deliverance and often with God's kingship over the nations. Judith 16:1 (13) has Judith sing a "new song" after the enemy is defeated. In Revelation the elders sing the first new song in 5:9 for the Lamb who "bought" a people; 15:3 has the victors sing "the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb", recalling the Red Sea song of Exodus 15.

From the study of Ephesians 5:19

Range of meaning

ᾠδή is the broadest Greek word for a song (secular, cultic, celebratory). πνευματικός means 'of or belonging to the Spirit', 'produced or prompted by God's Spirit' (BDAG). Paul contrasts it with what is merely natural or human (1 Corinthians 2:13–15; 12:1; 14:1).

Against the English

In modern English 'spiritual' means vaguely religious or inward, or names a genre ('spirituals', 'spiritual songs' as opposed to hymns).

How it drifted

The English word came to mean 'immaterial' or 'pious feeling', and lost its tie to God's Spirit as a person and power.

Used elsewhere in the period

The LXX uses ᾠδή often for Israel's songs (Exodus 15:1; Deuteronomy 31:30, 'the song of Moses'; many Psalm headings). In Revelation 5:9 and 15:3 the heavenly 'new song' is a ᾠδή. For Paul, πνευματικός is tied to the Spirit's gifts (1 Corinthians 12–14).