On the first night:
IT CAME TO PASS AT MIDNIGHT
Of yore didst thou show most wonders at night,
In the early watches of Pesaḥ night;
Abraham didst thou spur to triumph at night;
It came to pass at midnight.
Grar's king didst thou judge in a dream by night;
Thou didst stun Laban in the dark of night;
Israel fought an angel and won by night;
It came to pass at midnight.
Egypt's firstborn didst thou smite at midnight;
Their strength they found not when they rose at night;
Sisera didst thou rout through stars of the night;
It came to pass at midnight.
“On that night he saved Hezekiah, Hananiah and his companions, Daniel
from the lions’ den, and on that night Messiah and Elijah will appear, for it is,
written: The watchman said, Morning has come and also night . . .”
‘The division of the night into three watches continues throughout the biblical period. They were referred to in these terms: nmwowx WN, the first watch; aor nweRn, the middle watch; pan rrwpx, the morning watch (Lamentations 2:19; Judges 7:19; Exodus 14:24). The Roman division of the night into four watches was also known (Berakhoth 3b). The author of this poem uses the phrase nmwapxn wx in the sense of midnight, that is, at the beginning of the last watches, obviously because he maintains that the night consists of four watches.
‘The first two stanzas allude to Genesis 14:15; 20:3; 31:24, 42; 92:25. The expression bari qxbno wr is taken from Hosea 12:5.
ovine is identified with Upper Egypt (Jeremiah 44:1; Ezekiel 29:14), which was the original seat of the Egyptians. nbn their offspring (Genes 49:3; Joo! 2:22). nomin m1 nove the flight of the general who lived in Haro~ sheth-goyim (Judges 4:2; 5:20).
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