It says flatly that Moses freed these Egyptian slaves boldly and justly because slavery is wrong. Only a very obtuse listener can miss its point. 'Go Down, Moses' does not employ the undercurrent symbolism of 'Steal Away to Jesus' and other such poems. Commenting on the spiritual’s message, John Lovell, Jr., writes: 'When Israel Was in Egypt's Land' originally had twenty-four stanzas of which the Psalter Hymnal (as well as other modern hymnals) include four narrative stanzas and one stanza of application. Marsh's The Story of the Jubilee Singers with their Songs (1876). Often known by its refrain line, 'Go down, Moses,' the spiritual was also published in J. It was published in the Jubilee Songs (1872), made popular by the Jubilee Singers of Fisk University in their concert tours (see also PHH 356). This African American spiritual dates from before the Civil War.
