jewish dances
Preserved but no longer current.
David danced in certain religious processions (2 Sam, vi, 14). The people sang and danced before the golden calf (Exod. xxxn, 19). And in the book of Psalms (cl, 4) we read, "Praise Him with the timbrel and dance." Miriam the, sister of Moses, after the passage of the Red Sea, was followed by all the women with timbrels and dances (Exod. xv, 20).
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “jewish dances” mean?
David danced in certain religious processions (2 Sam, vi, 14). The people sang and danced before the golden calf (Exod. xxxn, 19). And in the book of Psalms (cl, 4) we read, "Praise Him with the timbrel and dance." Miriam the, sister of Moses, after the passage of the Red Sea, was followed by all the women with timbrels and dances (Exod. xv, 20).
Is “jewish dances” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.