Unless stated otherwise, my source for hymn texts and tunes is The Lutheran Service Book.

Wednesday, March 3, 2021

LSB #561 "The Tree of Life"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Genesis 3:1-15, 1 Peter 2:24, Revelation 22:1-3, 1 Corinthians 15:21-22

Genesis 3:1-15:  "1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made.

"He said to the woman, 'Did God actually say, "You shall not eat of any tree in the garden"?'  2 And the woman said to the serpent, 'We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, "You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die."'  4 But the serpent said to the woman, 'You will not surely die.  5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.'  6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.  7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked.  And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

"8 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.  9 But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, 'Where are you?'  10 And he said, 'I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.'  11 He said, 'Who told you that you were naked?  Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?'  12 The man said, 'The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.'  13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, 'What is this that you have done?'  The woman said, 'The serpent deceived me, and I ate.'

"14 The LORD God said to the serpent, 'Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beats of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.  15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.'"

1 Peter 2:24:  "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.  By his wounds you have been healed."

Revelation 22:1-3:  "1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month.  The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.  3 No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him."

1 Corinthians 15:21-22:  "21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.  22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive."

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The text from Genesis 3 is the basis of the first two verses, and "he shall bruise your head" from verse 15 is at the end of the hymn's third verse:  "To crush the ancient serpent's head!"

The passages from 1 Peter 2 and 1 Corinthians 15 are both in the third and fourth verses of the hymn, although 1 Peter 2:24 is clearer to see than 1 Corinthians 15:21-22.

The passage from Revelation is also in the fourth verse.