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Studies in Hymns
The Young Person's Guide to the Hymnbook
Greek Hymns of the Early Church
by Wayne S. Walker
Andrew, age twelve, and Seth, age ten, were sitting at their desks
in the family room working on their homeschool studies. Andrew was
trying to do a little elementary translating from the Greek New Testament
for his foreign language lesson, while Seth was struggling with some long
division. When the boys' dad, a minister, came in to check on them,
Andrew asked him a question. "Dad, since Greek was the universal
language of New Testament days, did the apostles speak Greek on the day
of Pentecost when they preached to the multitudes?"
Dad replied, "Well, the Bible says that they spoke in tongues, so
they probably spoke in several different languages. Their native tongue
would have been Aramaic, the common language of Palestine in the first
century, but, as you say, Greek was the universal language of the
civilized world at that time, so it is likely that many of them also knew
Greek."
Seth spoke up. "Well, when Christians sang hymns in the first
century, did they sing them in Aramaic or Greek or what?"
Dad sat down to explain. "We know from the New Testament, and can
infer from later writings of church leaders, that Christians of the first
century did sing in their worship, but we don't know precisely what songs
they sang or exactly how they sang them. Some have thought that their
singing may have probably sounded more like chanting, but all we know for
sure is that they were told to sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs,
as we read in Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16.
"It's thought by some that the singing of the early church may have
reflected two influences, in addition to any direct revelation from God
through inspired teachers. The first of these influences was the Hebrew
Psalms of Old Testament temple rites, and the second was Greek songs
composed in honor of their gods, heroes, and famous men. It's possible,
then, that these two influences may have suggested to primitive
Christians a style in which new songs of praise to Christ might be sung.
Some believe that certain passages in the New Testament may contain
fragments of early hymns, like Ephesians 5:14; Philippians 2:5-11; I Timothy 3.16; 6:15ff; II Timothy 2:11ff; Revelation 4:11; 5:12.
"It is true that the earliest hymns that we have any specific record
of were written in Greek."
Andrew had another question. "How did Greek come to be the
universal language in the first century?"
Dad answered, "Greek was the universal language of the civilized
world from before the time of the church's beginning until around A.D.
500, and it's continued to be the primary language for Eastern or
Orthodox churches through the middle ages and into modern times. In Galatians
4:4, Paul said that in the fullness of the time, God sent forth His Son.
This simply means that God providentially prepared all things so that
Jesus came at just the right time for His message of salvation reach the
widest possible audience. One way in which God did this was through
Alexander the Great, who's prophesied in Daniel 2:32, 39 (the belly and
thighs of bronze in Nebuchadnezzar'
"Ancient Greece is often considered the beginning of Western
civilization. However, Greece never became a united nation in ancient
times, but remained a group of small, independent, and often warring
states. They could work together when presented with a common threat, as
attack by the Persians under Xerxes (Ahasuerus of the book of Esther),
but usually they spent most of their time fighting one another. One of
the states of northern Greece, Macedon, was ruled by a man named Philip,
who made Macedon the first strong, united nation in European history. He
was succeeded by his son Alexander, who had studied under the Greek
philosopher Aristotle. A lover of Greek art, literature, and philosophy,
Alexander embarked on an ambitious program of conquest to spread Greek
culture as far as he could. First, he conquered and united Greece
itself, then moved into Asia Minor, down through Syria to Egypt, and
finally west to Persia. He died at the age of 33 in 323 B.C., but in
that short time had succeeded in making most of the civilized world a
Greek-speaking society. This common language aided the spread of the
gospel and growth of the church by providing a more rapid means of
communication than at previous times."
Seth, who by this time had abandoned his math and was listening
attentively to Dad's discourse on Greek, wanted to know if any of the
hymns in Greek from those days still survived.
Dad went to his library, pulled out a book on the history of hymns,
and responded, "It's believed that the earliest surviving hymn text in
Greek is the 'Phos Hilaron.' The author is unknown. It's sometimes
attributed to Sophronimus the Patriarch, who lived about A.D. 629, but he
probably only catalogued it because it was quoted by Basil of Caesarea in
the late 300's as an old, anonymous hymn in his day. It's thought that
it must have existed in the late second or early third century, perhaps
as early as around A.D. 150-200. It's sometimes called the 'Lamplighting
Hymn' because it's assumed that it was sung at evening services when
lamps were being lighted. The most common English translation was made
in 1834 by John Keble as 'Hail, Gladdening Light.' Here are the words:
1. Hail, gladdening Light, of His pure glory poured,Who is immortal
Father, heavenly blest;
Highest and holiest—Jesus Christ our Lord! Alleluia! Alleluia!
2. Now are we come to the sun’s hour of rest; All times are ordered in
Thy Word alone,
Therefore the day and night Thy glories own. Alleluia! Alleluia!
3. The lights of evening now around us shine; We hymn Thy blest humanity
divine;
Worthiest art Thou at all times to be sung, Alleluia! Alleluia!
4. By grateful hearts, with undefilèd tongue, Son of our God, Giver of
life, alone!
Therefore shall all the worlds Thy glories own. Alleluia! Alleluia!
Most of our books that contain the hymn use a tune (Sarum) composed in
1868 by Joseph Barnby and originally intended for another hymn, William
W. How's 'For All The Saints.'"
"Another hymn which dates from about the same period of time and
often vies with 'Hail, Gladdening Light' as the earliest known Christian
hymn was written by Titus Flavius Clemens, better known as Clement of
Alexandria, who lived from around 160 to 215. He had been a Platonist
philosopher, and some believe that he was identified with an early sect
of Christians known as Gnostics. About A.D. 200 he penned a prose work
'Paidagogos' or 'The Tutor' to which he appended a poem of thanksgiving
and praise to Christ. It was translated in 1846 by Henry Martyn Dexter
as 'Shepherd of Tender Youth.' Here are the words:
1. Shepherd of tender youth, Guiding in love and truth Through devious
ways;
Christ our triumphant King, We come Thy Name to sing, Hither our
children bring To shout Thy praise.
2. Thou art our holy Lord, O all subduing Word, Healer of strife.
Thou didst Thyself abase That from sin’s deep disgrace Thou mightest
save our race And give us life.
3. Thou art the great High Priest; Thou hast prepared the feast Of
heavenly love;
While in our mortal pain, None calls on Thee in vain; Help Thou dost not
disdain, Help from above.
4. Ever be Thou our guide, Our shepherd and our pride, Our staff and
song;
Jesus, Thou Christ of God, By Thy perennial Word Lead us where Thou hast
trod, Make our faith strong.
5. So now, and till we die, Sound we Thy praises high And joyful sing;
Let all the holy throng Who to Thy church belong, Unite to swell the
song To Christ, our King.
Our books which use the song have a tune (Kirby Bedon) composed in 1887
by Edward Bunnett.
"As we move on in time, the so-called Oxyrhynchus Hymn to the
Trinity, ascribed to Alypius, comes from the late third century, but into
the fourth century, we have a hymnwriter named Gregory Nazianzen. One of
his hymns that has survived was translated by John Brownlie as 'O Light
That Knew No Dawn.'
"One of the earliest known standard forms of hymns was the
troparion, a short stanza inserted in a psalm; independent troparia date
from the time of Leo I in the mid 400's. Two known authors of troparia
were Anthimus and Timocles. Sophronimus the Patriarch of Jerusalem, whom
I mentioned earlier, wrote two cycles each of ten troparia. The
troparion was succeeded by the kontakion, a practical homily or metrical
sermon derived from Syriac poetry with a number of stanzas and a refrain.
It developed in the 400's and 500's. Two well-known authors of kontakia
were Romanos in the reign of Anastasius I who died in 518 and Germanus
around 718, but the best-known was Synesius of Cyrene. He had been a
Neo-Platonist philosopher before his conversion and was later made bishop
of Ptolemais in Cyrene. About 410 he wrote Ten Odes in the form of
kontakia, the last of which was translated by Allan William Chatfield in
1875 as 'Lord Jesus, Think On Me.' Look at these words:
1. Lord Jesus, think on me And purge away my sin;
From earthborn passions set me free And make me pure within.
2. Lord Jesus, think on me, With care and woe oppressed;
Let me Thy loving servant be And taste Thy promised rest.
3. Lord Jesus, think on me Amid the battle’s strife;
In all my pain and misery Be Thou my Health and Life.
4. Lord Jesus, think on me Nor let me go astray;
Through darkness and perplexity Point Thou the heavenly way.
5. Lord Jesus, think on me When flows the tempest high;
When on doth rush the enemy, O Savior, be Thou nigh!
6. Lord Jesus, think on me That, when the flood is past,
I may th’eternal brightness see And share Thy joy at last.
7. Lord Jesus, think on me That I may sing above
To Father, Spirit, and to Thee The strains of praise and love.
Almost all books use a minor-key tune (Southwell) from 1579 attributed to
William Damon, but I prefer a more gentle and reflective tune (Dulce
Domum) composed by Robert Steele Ambrose.
"From this same general time comes another hymn, whose text is taken
from the Liturgy of St. James, which seems to have found its earliest
form under Cyril of Jerusalem who flourished around 347. This particular
hymn, 'Sigesato Pasa Sarx Broteia,' appears to date from the fifth
century, and was translated in 1864 by Gerard Moultrie as, 'Let All
Mortal Flesh Keep Silence.'
"Even though Latin began to replace Greek as the universal language
of Europe after the fall of Rome, the Eastern or Orthodox churches,
through which much of the civilization of the first four centuries was
preserved during the dark ages, continue to use Greek. By the end of the
seventh century, the kanon had replaced the kontakion as the primary form
of hymn in Greek speaking churches. Kanons are Byzantine liturgical
odes, nine in number based on the nine Biblical canticles of the Greek
church developed after the Trullian Council of 691-692. Some of the
leading writers of kanons were Andrew of Crete from the late 600's and
the early 700's; Cosmas of Jerusalem; Kasia who lived around 810; and St.
Nilus of the 11th century. However, the two most famous come from the
Mar Saba monastary in the wilderness of Judea outside of Jerusalem. The
first was John of Damascus who also lived in the late 600's and early to
mid-700's. Around 750 he wrote Eight Odes in his work 'The Golden
Canon,' the first of which was translated in 1853 by John Mason Neale as,
'The Day of Resurrection.
1. The day of resurrection! Earth, tell it out abroad; The Passover of
gladness, the Passover of God.
From death to life eternal, from earth unto the sky, Our Christ hath
brought us over, with hymns of victory.
2. Our hearts be pure from evil, that we may see aright The Lord in rays
eternal of resurrection light;
And listening to His accents, may hear, so calm and plain, His own “All
hail!” and, hearing, may raise the victor strain.
3. Now let the heavens be joyful! Let earth the song begin! Let the
round world keep triumph, and all that is therein!
Let all things seen and unseen their notes in gladness blend, For Christ
the Lord hath risen, our joy that hath no end."
A lot of books use a tune (Lancashire) composed in 1835 by Henry T.
Smart, originally intended for Reginald Heber's 'From Greenland's Icy
Mountains' but now more commonly associated with Ernest W. Shurtleff's
'Lead On, O King Eternal.' However, one of our books uses a tune
(Greenland) attributed by Johann Michael Haydn, Franz Josef Haydn's
younger brother, that I like better.
"John of Damascus had a nephew who came to live at Mar Saba and is
known as Stephen the Sabaite who lived in the mid- to late 700's and
early 800's. A fragment of a text by him, 'Kopon te kai Kamaton' has
been found. A hymn based upon it, originally said to be a translation by
John Mason Neale in 1862, though later Neal admitted that it was more a
paraphrase in his own words of some things that Stephen said than an
actual translation, is 'Art Thou Weary?' Consider these words:
1. Art thou weary, art thou languid, Art thou sore distressed?
“Come to Me,” saith One, “and coming, Be at rest.”
2. Hath He marks to lead me to Him, If He be my Guide?
In His feet and hands are wound prints And His side.
3. Hath He diadem, as monarch, That His brow adorns?
Yes, a crown in very surety, But of thorns.
4. If I find Him, if I follow, What His guerdon here?
Many a sorrow, many a labor, Many a tear.
5. If I still hold closely to Him, What hath He at last?
Sorrow vanquished, labor ended, Jordan passed.
6. If I ask Him to receive me, Will He say me nay?
Not till earth and not till Heaven Pass away.
7. Finding, following, keeping, struggling, Is He sure to bless?
Saints, apostles, prophets, martyrs, Answer, Yes!
In 1868 Henry Williams Baker composed a tune (Stephanos) specifically for
this hymn. Some hymnbooks that strive to update the language of older
hymns to more modern terminology have changed it to 'Are You Weary, Heavy
Laden?', but I happen to prefer the original. Even though we don't speak
Elizabethan English with 'thee' and 'thou' anymore, we can still
understand what it means when we sing older hymns and read from the King
James Version of the Bible.
"I need to go get some work done, so we'll close by looking at a
couple of later Greek hymns which are still used in some circles today.
A writer named Anatolius, about whom very little is known except that he
lived in the ninth century and was said to have been a pupil of Theodore,
is reputed to have produced over 100 hymns. One attributed to him,
dating from around 810 and in Greek entitled 'Ten Hemeran Diethlon,' was
translated in 1853 by John Mason Neale as 'The Day Is Past and Over.'
"A slightly later Greek hymnwriter was John the Hymnographer from
the 800's. His best-known hymn, entitled in Greek 'Phosteres Tes Aulou
Ousias,' is a cento from the Canon of 'The Bodiless Ones, Tuesday in the
Week of the First Tone' dating from around 840, and was translated in
1862 by John Mason Neale as 'Stars of the Morning, So Gloriously Bright.'
There may be other Greek hymns from this and subsequent times, but by
the Middle Ages Latin had become the universal language, so not as many
Greek hymns from that time are as well known."
Andrew asked, "I noticed that one name which has kept popping up
quite a bit in your explanation is John Mason Neale. Who was he?"
Dad said, "He was an Anglican minister who lived from 1818 to 1866
and was a scholar of ancient languages. He translated many of the older
hymns from Greek and Latin into English in such collections as Mediaeval
Hymns and Sequences and Hymns of the Eastern Church. As a result, his
name appears quite a bit in hymnbooks that have a lot of translations
from Greek and Latin."
As Dad was walking out the door, Seth called out, "That was really
interesting, Dad. Next time we're singing in church, I'm going to look
and see if any of the songs are from the ancient Greek."
Dad replied over his shoulder, "Unfortunately, the vast majority of
modern hymnbooks that most churches use today do not contain very many of
these ancient hymns. It seems that a lot of editors have decided to
jettison the past in favor of the 'what's happ'nin' now' songs under the
mistaken notion that the new is more 'relevant.' But go ahead and look
to see if you can find any."
Next in Series: The Young Person's Guide to the Hymnbook: Latin Hymns of the Medieval Church
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