Dance In The Old Testament – Pt.1

As early as the beginning of all creation, at the start of time as we know it, movement had a key and central role in being used as a means by which God Himself carried out His plans and purposes upon the earth; to create the earth. “In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” The word “moved” comes from the Hebrew “racaph”, (raw-khaf); a primitive root; to brood; by implication, to be relaxed; flutter, move, shake. (Strong’s h7362). According to the Cambridge Dictionary, “dance” can be defined as; “to move the body and feet to music or to move quickly and lightly”. It carries the same meaning as the word “flutter”; “to make a series of quick delicate movements up and down or from side to side, or to cause something to do this; to shake; swing; vibrate”. This is the first mention in the Bible of a dance movement as ministry.

The second instance of a dance movement being in relation to God is found in Gen.18:2. It says, “And he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground…” The word “bowed” comes from the Hebrew “shachah” (shaw-khaw’) – a primitive root; to depress, i.e. prostrate (especially reflexive, in homage to royalty or God); bow (self) down, crouch, fall down (flat), humbly beseech, do (make) obeisance, do reverence, make to stoop, worship. Like Abraham, the patriarch of our faith, we, the saints of God today, still bow as we worship in the Presence of God.

Other instances of Hebrew words describing dance movements in the Old Testament as given in the Make His Praise Glorious Dance Manual from Eagles International Training Institute are as follows:  Ealats (h5970) – to jump for joy, exult, rejoice, triumph (I Chron.16:32); “Giyl” (h1523) – to spin around, with violent or sudden motion (Is. 65:19); “Pazaz” (h6339) – to spring, as if separating the limbs (II Sam. 6:16), “Nathar” (h5425) – to jump, shake off, untie ((Psa. 146:7); “Dalag” (h1801) – to spring (Psa. 18:29); “Halijkah” (h1979) – walking in procession, march, caravan (Psa. 68:24); “Raqad” (h7540) – to stamp; to spring about wildly for joy (I Chron. 15:29); “Mechowlah” (h4246) – a dance (Ex. 15:20); “Machowl” (h4234) – a round dance (Psa. 149:3); “Karar” (h3769) – to dance; whirl about (II Sam. 6:14); “Chagag” (h2287) – to move in a circle or march in a sacred procession (Ex. 12:14); “Barak” (h1288) – to kneel; to bless God as an act of adoration (Psa. 34:1); “Yadah” (h3034) – to use/hold out the hand; to revere or worship with extended hands (Psa. 92:1); and last, but not least, “Towdah” (h8426) – extension of the hands, avowal; a choir of worshippers (Lev. 7:12-15).

Because all of the human race was, and is, created by God, there is within each soul an innate creative ability to be expressive of our emotions and also our worship. It may not be in the dance for everyone, but the dance is one of the ways that man can express and release his emotions. In the Old Testament, dance was an integral aspect of society, as mentioned by Dr. Hardy in her book, Let the Nations Rejoice, pg.111. After their exodus from Egypt, the nation of Israel developed various traditions and God also instructed the institution of three formal Feasts: (1) The Passover, (2) The Feast of Harvest or Pentecost and, (3) The Feast of Tabernacles; all of which included aspects of dance; (taken from Rejoice, A Biblical Study of the Dance by Debbie Roberts; pp.65-78). In addition, when praise and worship became more structured and formalised in Israel, dance became established as part of the activities in the Tabernacle of David and later in the Tabernacle of Solomon.