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"Go Down Moses" is an American Negro spiritual. It describes events in the Old Testament of the Bible, specifically (Exodus 8:1 ): "And the LORD spake unto Moses, Go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me", in which God commands Moses to demand the release of the Israelites from bondage in Egypt. The opening verse as published by the Jubilee Singers in 1872:
In the song "Israel" represents the African-American slaves while "Egypt" and "Pharaoh" represent the slavemaster. Going "down" to Egypt is derived from the Biblical origin; Moses was up on the mountain of God when God commanded him to go to Egypt ((Exodus 3:1-12 )). Also, the Bible generally recognizes Egypt as being at a lower altitude than Jerusalem and other core areas of Israelite territory; thus, going to Egypt means going "down"〔For example, in (Genesis 42:2 ) Jacob commands his sons to "go down to Egypt" to buy grain〕 while going away from Egypt is "up".〔In (Exodus 1:10 ), Pharaoh expresses apprehension that the Hebrews would join Egypt's enemies and "go up (away ) from the land"〕 In the context of American slavery, this ancient sense of "down" converged with the concept of "down the river" (the Mississippi), where slaves' conditions were notoriously worse, a situation which left the idiom "sell () down the river" in present-day English.〔(Phrases.org.uk )〕 =="Oh! Let My People Go"== Although usually thought of as a spiritual, the earliest recorded use of the song was as a rallying anthem for the Contrabands at Fort Monroe sometime before July 1862. Early authorities presumed it was composed by them.〔''The Continental Monthly'', Vol II, pp. 114-113, "We are indebted to Clark's ''School-Visitor'' for the following song of the Contrabands, which originated among the latter, and was first sung by them in the hearing of white people at Fortress Monroe, where it was noted down by their chaplain, Rev. L.C. Lockwood."〕 Sheet music was soon after published, titled "Oh! Let My People Go: The Song of the Contrabands", and arranged by Horace Waters. L.C. Lockwood, chaplain of the Contrabands, stated in the sheet music the song was from Virginia, dating from about 1853.〔Lockwood, "Oh! Let My People Go", p. 5: "This Song has been sung for about nine years by the Slaves of Virginia."〕 The opening verse, as recorded by Lockwood, is: The Lord, by Moses, to Pharaoh said: Oh! let my people go. If not, I'll smite your first-born dead—Oh! let my people go. Oh! go down, Moses, Away down to Egypt's land, And tell King Pharaoh To let my people go. Sarah Bradford's authorized biography of Harriet Tubman, ''Scenes in the Life of Harriet Tubman'' (1869), quotes Tubman as saying she used "Go Down Moses" as one of two code songs fugitive slaves used to communicate when fleeing Maryland. Tubman began her underground railroad work in 1850 and continued until the beginning of the Civil War, so it's possible Tubman's use of the song predates the origin claimed by Lockwood. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Go Down Moses」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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