seems to be the development of physical excitement, and consequently courage, in the dancing warriors; secondarily, as magical ideas attach themselves, the aim of frightening the enemy by a demonstration of violence is added[287]. In the Old Testament there is no mention of the war-dance. But there was a solemn preparation for war, for it must be remembered that among the Israelites, as among other Semites, there was a religious element connected with the act of warfare. Warriors “consecrated” themselves before entering upon it (Isa. xiii. 3); the phrase for declaring war or entering upon a state of warfare is to “sanctify, or consecrate, war” (Mic. iii. 5, Jer. vi. 4); and battle was prepared for by sacrifice (1 Sam. xiii. 9, 10); moreover, after the battle the spoil, or part of it, was consecrated to Jahwe (1 Sam. xv. 21, 2 Sam. viii. 11, 1 Chron. xviii. 11). The Israelites, thus, entered battle under the protection of Jahwe; the religious element, therefore, was strongly emphasized. We proceed now to enumerate the instances in the Old Testament of dancing in celebration of victory. In Exod. xv. 20, 21 a dance with song accompanied by musical instruments is performed by women in celebration of victory: And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel (_tôph_) in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances. And Miriam chanted[288] to them, Sing to Jahwe, for He is greatly exalted, The horse and his rider hath He cast into the sea. Here the dancing and singing have clearly the single purpose of thanksgiving to Jahwe, for the victory is ascribed solely to Him; so that the passage presents the highest development of purpose for which this type of dance was performed. It is the same in Ps. lxviii. 11, 12 (12, 13 in Hebr.), where there is an obvious reference to the custom: “Jahwe giveth the word, the women that publish the tidings (_i.e._ of victory) are a great host; kings of armies flee; and she that tarrieth at home divideth the spoil[289].” True, there is no mention of singing and dancing here; but if, as we may well believe, it was so well known that the women who celebrated the victory did sing and dance, there was no need to specify it. In the example given in Judg. xi. 34 it is different, for the dancing and singing here are in honour of the victorious warrior. Jephthah, on his return from his victory over the Ammonites, is met by his daughter and other maidens (her companions are spoken of in verse 38) “with timbrels and with dances[290].” This is further illustrated by the well-known passage 1 Sam. xviii. 6, 7: