The “Mary” in the song* is undoubtedly Miriam, Moses’ sister. She’s traditionally identified with the one who placed the infant Moses in the basket in the Nile (although she’s not identified as such in the Bible).
the song is pretty clearly referring to this:
The Song of the Sea is sometimes called one of the oldest preserved bits in the account.
So there’s no anachronism. “Mary” was on the scene when the Pharoah’s army got drowned.
I think you’re missing what’s going on. It’s not meant to be a history retelling. It’s weaving different Bible stories together to express a theme of hope and deliverance. Both a spiritual deliverance, but also a temporal deliverance from slavery. Mary is the Mary who listened to Christ and ‘chose the better portion,’ but she’s also the listener-presumably other slaves. Pharaohs army is indeed the army that chased Moses, but also the slave owners and their foremen.
It also combines hope and deliverance messages from Noahs story, Lazarus (Mary’s dead brother and the only time we see Christ cry), and Paul’s imprisonment. All are redemption stories about how eventually God will save their souls and also their bodies from both spiritual and physical bondage.
That’s my impression of the song too. I didn’t express it quite as well.
Mary acknowledges Christ as the Messiah.
It all ties into the most powerful scripture of the New Testament. It’s the core message of the Christian Church.
John 11:25 King James Version (KJV)
25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
Yes, but the reference to Mary rejoicing about the Pharaoh is undoubtedly referring to Miriam. “Miriam” and “Mary” are the same name, just with slight variations. As I say, I’m not familiar with the song, but even if it’s mainly referring to Jesus’ mother, it’s invoking the story of the earlier Miriam/Mary in these lines. as I say, there’s no anachronism.
You might also have a look at this about conflating the two Marys:
My understanding is that the song doesn’t refer to Miriam or Mary the Mother of Jesus. It refers toMary of Bethany, the sister of Lazarus. That’s also why various versions of the Negro spiritual includes the lines “Martha, don’t you mourn” or “tell Martha not to mourn” (i.e., Martha is the other sister). I would think “weeping” and Mary and Jesus is going to be readily identifiable with the Lazarus story.
There’s some discussion here. But I think the idea is really as simply as reminding people (in the narrative, Mary the grieving sister) that God protects his people and punishes his enemies. Which makes some sense as a Negro spiritual, although it does seem a bit odd with reference to Lazarus.
Edit: I don’t know why it would be an anachronism, though.
I haven’t had a chance to read the lyrics, but it still seems that, whether the bulk of the song is referring to a different Mary or not, the reference to Pharoah’s army being drowned in an unmistakable reference to Exodus, well before the time of Jesus. Why even bring that up, were it not due a sort of stream-of-consciousness thing because Mary and Miriam have the same name, and it’s referring to death?
Yes: it’s the past participle (as well as past tense) of drownd, an archaic variant of drown.
“Drownd” and “drownded” are considered nonstandard forms in modern “standard English”, which uses the more familiar “drown” and “drowned”. But “drownded” is still common in various English dialects, not only African-American Vernacular English but, for example, Surrey dialect in the UK.
You haven’t read the lyrics, but you know who the name refers to?
The other explanations are correct. The song has nothing to do with Miriam the sister of Moses. The Mary referred to is Mary of Bethany, the sister of Martha, who is also referenced in the lyrics, and of Lazarus.
The lyrics are indeed a kind of free association, but that doesn’t mean that the lyrics are referencing Miriam. Remember this is a slave spiritual. The singers weren’t experts on the etymology of biblical names. If they meant Miriam they would have said Miriam.
There is no anachronism because the song is referencing different incidents, not just Exodus. Mary and Martha are included in the lyrics because they mourned their brother Lazarus. They are symbolic of the present day slaves mourning their lot. Exodus is referenced to remind the slaves that those who made the Israelites slaves were destroyed, so they shouldn’t despair.
You simply can’t take slave spirituals literally. There is no reason to suppose the Mary the song was intended to be Miriam. In any case, why would Miriam be weeping?
I don’t think there’s any question that the reference to Pharaoh’s army is a reference to Exodus. For obvious reasons, the singers of early Negro spirituals identified with the enslaved Israelites. I speculate that they found some comfort in the ending of that particular story. I don’t think it’s likely that the link comes from the similarity in name (although it’s possible); I think the link is between mourning your lot in life and the promise of divine deliverance.
I already pointed out that slaves were not linguistic experts, and would have no reason to link Miriam the sister of Moses with Mary the sister of Lazarus. Unless Miriam is referred to as Mary in a version of the Bible available to slaves they wouldn’t connect the two. And Miriam isn’t referred to as weeping; in Exodus she leads the rejoicing:
The fact that Mary is a form of the name of Moses’ sister is a coincidence and has no thematic link to the song.
