LSB #372 "O Jesus Christ, Thy Manger Is"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Luke 2:4-16, John 1:14, Matthew 20:28, John 17:23

Luke 2:4-16:  "4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.  6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.  7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

"8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear.  10 And the angel said to them, 'Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.'  13 And suddenly there was with the angels a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!'

"15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, 'Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.'  16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger."

John 1:14:  "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth."

Matthew 20:28:  "'even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'"

John 17:23:  "'I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.'"

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The Luke 2 text briefly shows up in the first verse, mostly just to set the scene:  "O Jesus Christ, / Thy manger is / My paradise at which my soul reclineth."  Immediately following this are the lines "For there, O Lord, / Doth lie the Word / Made flesh for us; herein Thy grace forth shineth," which is from John 1:14.

The second verse starts with the lines "He whom the sea / And wind obey," which could come from a number of Biblical sources, none of which are cited.  Jesus calms storms in Matthew 8:23-27 (with parallel accounts in Mark 4:35-41 and Luke 8:22-25) and in John 6:16-21 (where he also walks on water).  Since the hymn is talking about Jesus specifically, one of those two is probably the main referent, but calming the raging sea also shows up in the Psalms: 65:7, 89:9, and 107:29.  The second verse continues with "Doth come to serve the sinner in great meekness," which is from Matthew 20:28.  The next two lines are from John 17:23:  "Thou, God's own Son, / With us art one," although equally applicable is Matthew 1:23, which quotes Isaiah 7:14:  "'Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel' (which means, God with us)."  The name Immanuel is also mentioned in the hymn's third verse.

"Fred til Bod" (TLH #8)

I hadn't heard this tune before, and it's to that unfamiliarity that I'm attributing the handful of notes that aren't spot-on.

"Up through Endless Ranks of Angels"

Around the time of Ascension Day a few months ago, I happened to be transcribing hymns about the Ascension.  I found a few musical/textual connections in "Up through Endless Ranks of Angels," sung to the tune "Ascended Triumph."

The beginning of the first and third musical phrases (which are the same) ascends:

In the first verse, the lines sung to these ascending phrases mention Christ's Ascension:  "Up through endless ranks of angels" and "To His heav'nly throne ascending."

The fifth musical phrase descends:

and in the first verse, the line there is "Christ looks down upon His faithful."  Instead of pairing of an ascending musical phrase with a line about Christ's Ascension, this is sort of the opposite: a line about Christ's looking down, sung to a descending phrase.

LSB #371 "Let Our Gladness Banish Sadness"

I'm introducing a slight format change with this post.  From now on, I'll be putting in the verse divisions within the Biblical citations.

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Luke 2:1-16; John 1:1-4, 14; Galatians 4:4; Matthew 2:1-7

Luke 2:1-16:  "1 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.  2 This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria.  3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town.  4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.  6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.  7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

"8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear.  10 And the angel said to them, 'Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.'  13 And suddenly there was with the angels a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!'

"15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, 'Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.'  16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger."

John 1:1-4:  "1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  2 He was in the beginning with God.  3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.  4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men."

John 1:14:  "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth."

Galatians 4:4:  "But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law."

Matthew 2:1-7:  "1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, 'Where is he who has been born king of the Jews?  For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.'  3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.  5 They told him, 'In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: 6 "And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel."'"

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The Luke 2 text is the main referent in the hymn, and while the other Biblical texts cited also deal with the Christmas story, they don't seem to be mentioned very specifically in the hymn.  The only one I could really make a case for is the Matthew 2 text.  The "wise men from the east" might be referred to in the beginning of the second verse: "Whom the sages / And the ages / Eagerly awaited."

Again, like many other Christmas hymns, "Let Our Gladness Banish Sadness" portrays the angels singing ("Angels proudly / Herald loudly / In their songs elated"), but in the Luke 2 text, they're "saying, 'Glory to God in the highest....'"

"Herr Jesu Christ, mein's" (TLH #7)

I skipt #6 for a variety of reasons:  I wasn't familiar with it; I couldn't really get a good sense of the tune when I tried playing through it; and it's not strophic, so 1) it didn't seem very hymn-like to me and 2) I think recording it would have been more difficult.

So here's "Herr Jesu Christ, mein's," the tune for #7: "As We Begin Another Week."  I'm not familiar with this hymn, but I am familiar with the tune.

"See, the Lord Ascends in Triumph"

During the Ascension Day service a few months ago, I found a lot of musical/textual connections in hymns about the Ascension.  Appropriately, in "See, the Lord Ascends in Triumph" (sung to the tune "Rex gloriae" ["The King of Glory" in Latin]), there are phrases about ascending and lifting sung to this ascending phrase (which is both the first and seventh musical phrase):

Phrases in the hymn that mention ascending or lifting and that are sung to this phrase include "See, the Lord ascends in triumph," "And the portals high are lifted," "While He lifts His hands in blessing," "He our Enoch, is translated" (the next line is "To His everlasting home"), "He has raised our human nature," and "By our mighty Lord's ascension."

About a week and a half after I sang this hymn in church, I transcribed the text, and I noticed something else.  The third verse ends with the lines "He our Enoch, is translated / To His everlasting home," the second half of which is sung to this phrase:

The "home" in the text is sung to a G note, and since the hymn is in G major, this is the tonic note, the "musical home" of the tune.

LSB #370 "What Child Is This"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Luke 2:1-20, Matthew 2:1-11, Philippians 2:5-8, Isaiah 53:3-6

Luke 2:1-20: "In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.  This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria.  And all went to be registered, each to his own town.  And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.  And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.  And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

"And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear.  And the angel said to them, 'Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.'  And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!'

"When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, 'Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.'  And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.  And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.  And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.  But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.  And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them."

Matthew 2:1-11:  "Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying 'Where is he who has been born king of the Jews?  For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.'  When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.  They told him, 'In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: "And you, O Bethlehem, in the last of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.'"

"Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared.  And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, 'Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.'  After listening to the king, they went on their way.  And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was.  When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.  And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him.  Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh."

Philippians 2:5-8:  "Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.  And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."

Isaiah 53:3-6:  "He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.  Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.  But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.  All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned - every one - to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all."

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The text is public domain:

What child is this, who, laid to rest,
On Mary's lap is sleeping?
Whom angels greet with anthems sweet
While shepherds watch are keeping?
This, this is Christ the king,
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing;
Haste, haste to bring Him laud,
The babe, the son of Mary!

Why lies He in such mean estate
Where ox and ass are feeding?
Good Christian, fear; for sinners here
The silent Word is pleading.
Nails, spear shall pierce Him through,
The cross be borne for me, for you;
Hail, hail the Word made flesh,
The babe, the son of Mary!

So bring Him incense, gold, and myrrh;
Come, peasant, king, to own Him.
The King of kings salvation brings;
Let loving hearts enthrone Him.
Raise, raise the song on high,
The virgin sings her lullaby;
Joy, joy, for Christ is born,
The babe, the son of Mary!

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The first verse is the most straightforward, as far as Biblical references go.  Luke 2 is the only text is draws from.  The beginning of the second verse also draws from this text, extrapolating about the rustic scene based on there being "no place for them in the inn."

The lines "Nails, spear shall pierce Him through, / The cross be borne for me, for you" seem to come from both the Philippians and Isaiah texts listed.  The core of this sentiment in the hymn comes from this part of Isaiah:  "he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed."  The "chastisement" of "nails [and] spear" is present in this verse, and the "peace" brought to us is the "salvation" in the next verse.  (The "King of kings" appellation comes from Revelation 19:16, which isn't cited.)  The Philippians text mentions the cross specifically ("he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross") where the Isaiah text is more general.  The Philippians text is also the source of "the Word made flesh," although it phrases it as "born in the likeness of men."  The hymn's "the Word made flesh" actually bears more resemblance to the first part of John 1:14:  "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us."

The beginning of the third verse ("So bring Him incense, gold, and myrrh") refers to the visit of the magi in the Matthew text.

I'd also like to point out that - like some other Christmas hymns - "What Child Is This" has the "angels sing[ing]," where in the Luke text, they're simply "saying, 'Glory to God in the highest....'"

"Erhalt uns, Herr" (TLH #5)

I'm kind of surprised I hadn't already recorded this tune because it's used for a number of hymns.  I compared the TLH versions with the LSB versions and discovered that in TLH, the penultimate note (excepting the "Amen" cadence) has a sharp where in LSB, it's a natural.

"A Hymn of Glory Let Us Sing"

Ascension Day was a few months ago, and one of the hymns in the service was "A Hymn of Glory Let Us Sing."  About a week after that, I transcribed the LSB and LW versions.  Between singing it and transcribing it, I found a few musical/textual connections.

The tune to which the hymn is sung is "Lasst uns erfreuen," and the first two phrases (which are the same) ascend:

Appropriately, some of the text sung to these ascending phrases mentions Christ's Ascension.  The first two lines of the third verse are "To them the shining angels cry, / 'Why stand and gaze upon the sky?'" and the first two lines of the fourth verse are "'You see Him now, ascending high / Up to the portals of the sky.'"  To some degree, this applies to the first line of the sixth verse too:  "O risen Christ, ascended Lord."

The LW version has a verse that the LSB version doesn't, and its first two lines also mention an ascent:  "O Lord, our homeward pathway bend / That our unwearied hearts ascend."

LSB #369 "Where Shepherds Lately Knelt"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Luke 2:1-16, Isaiah 9:1-7

Luke 2:1-16: "In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.  This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria.  And all went to be registered, each to his own town.  And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.  And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.  And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

"And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear.  And the angel said to them, 'Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.'  And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!'

"When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, 'Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.'  And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger."

Isaiah 9:1-7: "But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish.  In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.

"The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined.  You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil.  For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian.  For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire.  For to us a child in born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore.  The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this."

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The Luke text is the main referent for the hymn text, informing most of the first two verses.  The conceit of the hymn is someone's visiting the manger after the shepherds ("Where shepherds lately knelt and kept the angel's word / I come in half-belief, a pilgrim strangely stirred"), so it's an imagined scenario rather than anything taken directly from the Bible.

The Isaiah text is referred to in the third verse.  It's even mentioned specifically:  "How should I not have known Isaiah would be there, / His prophecies fulfilled?"  Later in the verse, Jesus is called "the Prince of Peace," a name that's also from Isaiah 9.

"Wunderbarer König" (TLH #4)

This is the first hymn from TLH that I hadn't heard before I recorded it (although it is in LW [#206] and LSB [#907]); I'm sure it won't be the last.

I recorded this in advance (just for the sake of it), so I did the bass parts too.  I'm glad I did because I really like them.  I think I might start recording more of these in advance because it just seemed to work better.

"Beautiful Savior"

Near the end of May, in catching up in my reading, I read the Portals of Prayer devotion for March 28.  The prayers for that particular month employed verses from various hymns, and the prayer for that day was the fourth verse of "Beautiful Savior":

Beautiful Savior,
Lord of the nations,
Son of God and Son of Man!
Glory and honor,
Praise, adoration
Now and forevermore be Thine!

While reading this, I could hear the melody in my head, and I became curious about how "forevermore" was sung with the tune, so I lookt up the hymn in my hymnal.

The tune to which "Beautiful Savior" is sung is titled "Schönster Herr Jesu."  A brief sidenote:  "Schönster Herr Jesu" is basically the same sentiment as "Beautiful Savior," just in German.  "Schönster" is actually a superlative, so it'd be "Most beautiful Lord Jesus."

I went through the text and the music and confirmed the suspicion I'd had while reading the fourth verse:  "forevermore" is the longest word in the hymn when counting by note values.

Here's the musical phrase to which "Now and forevermore be Thine" is sung, with the notes to which "forevermore" is sung indicated in brackets:

"Forevermore" encompasses a quarter note, a dotted half note, an-other quarter note, and a half note, which - altogether - last seven beats.  The word in the hymn that describes the longest period of time lasts for a longer number of beats than any other word.  The second highest is "adoration" in the previous line, with six beats (four quarter notes and one half note).

LSB #368 "Angels We Have Heard on High"

Biblical citation in the hymnal:  Luke 2:7-20

Luke 2:7-20:  "And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

"And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear.  And the angel said to them, 'Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.'  And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!'

"When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, 'Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.'  And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.  And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.  And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.  But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.  And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them."

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The text is public domain:

Angels we have heard on high,
Sweetly singing o'er the plains,
And the mountains in reply,
Echoing their joyous strains. 

Gloria in excelsis Deo.
Gloria in excelsis Deo.

Shepherds, why this jubilee?
Why your joyous strains prolong?
What the gladsome tidings be
Which inspire your heav'nly song? 

Gloria in excelsis Deo.
Gloria in excelsis Deo.

Come to Bethlehem and see
Him whose birth the angels sing;
Come, adore on bended knee
Christ the Lord, the newborn King. 

Gloria in excelsis Deo.
Gloria in excelsis Deo.

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Because there's only one Biblical text cited, I don't have much to say about this one.

Like a lot of the Christmas hymns, "Angels We Have Heard on High" has the angels "singing," but in the Luke text, they're "saying."

I'd always thought that "Gloria in excelsis Deo" meant "Glory to God in the highest" because that's what's in the Luke text, but then I lookt into the Latin.  If I understand my Latin textbook correctly, "excelsis" is actually just a positive adjective (acting as a substantive), not a superlative.  "Gloria in excelsis Deo" is something like "Glory to God in the high [heavens].  "Glory to God in the highest" would be "Gloria in excelssisimis Deo."

For what it's worth, "gloria" is a first declension feminine noun in the nominative case, and "Deo" is a second declension masculine noun in the dative case.  The nominative form is deus.  "In" is just a preposition, and "excelsis" (and "excelssisimis") is a plural substantive adjective in the ablative case.

Last Christmas, I realized that I've been hearing - and saying - "Gloria in excelsis Deo" with incorrect pronunciation my whole life.  I'd always heard "excelsis" pronounced with a -ch- sound and with the i pronounced as a long e.  There isn't a -ch- sound in Latin; a c is always pronounced as a k.  If I have my phonetics right, the i is pronounced as a short i here.