"In Silent Pain the Eternal Son"

Back in October when I wrote a post about the Biblical sources for "In Silent Pain the Eternal Son," I noticed a small musical feature in the hymn.

The fifth line of the first verse is "Uplifted for the word to see," sung to this phrase from the tune "Reality":

"Uplifted" is sung with an ascending melisma (Bb C D D), which musically gives a sense of the word's meaning.

When I lookt at the hymn again in order to write this post, I noticed something else.

The third line of the first verse is "In darkened day His work is done," and "His work is done" is sung to a cross inscription:

Together, this text and the musical image of the cross recall John 19:30:  "When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, 'It is finished,' and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit."

There's a similar effect in the seventh line of the second verse (sung to the same melody): "He loved us to the uttermost."  Here, "the uttermost" combined with the musical image of the cross echoes Philippians 2:8:  "And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."

LSB #432 "In Silent Pain the Eternal Son"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Matthew 10:34-39, 27:45-54; 1 Peter 2:24

Matthew 10:34-39:  "34 'Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth.  I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.  35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.  36 And a person's enemies will be those of his own household.  37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.  38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.  39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.'"

Matthew 27:45-54:  "45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour.  46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, 'Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?' that is, 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?'  47 And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, 'This man is calling Elijah.'  48 And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink.  49 But the others said, 'Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.'  50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.

"51 And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.  And the earth shook, and the rocks were split.  52 The tombs also were opened.  And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, 53 and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many.  54 When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, 'Truly this was the Son of God!'"

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."

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Since the hymn is about Jesus' crucifixion, the second text from Matthew (27:45-54) seems to be the main referent, although there aren't many textual similarities between it and the hymn.  The darkness mentioned in verse 45 is present in the hymn's first verse: "In darkened day His work is done."  1 Peter 2:24 appears at the end of the first verse and the beginning of the second: "For in His body on the tree / He carries all our ill. // He died that we might die to sin / And live for righteousness."

Jesus' coming to bring a sword in Matthew 10:34 is at the beginning of the hymn's third verse: "For strife He came to bring a sword."  Later in the third verse, there's the line "For in His hand He holds the stars," which seems to come from Revelation 1:16: "In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength."