If I were to be asked for my first thought on hearing the word “Advent” it would be to think of one of my favourite carols, ”O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”.
So, with the season of Advent upon us I decided to dig deeper into the origins of this carol and to give some thought to the words. Turning to the internet I found some interesting facts.
First, the words of this carol are old, I mean really old. They date back 1200 years to monks worshipping in their monasteries in the 8th and 9th centuries. In those times the words would have been sung in Latin to a form of early music known as plainsong.
It wasn’t until the middle of the 19th century that those Latin words were translated into English. And at about the same time the now well known and loved tune became associated with the words – the tune now called “Veni Emmanuel”. But even this was not new – it was based on an old French folk tune from the 15th century.
Today more versions of the hymn have been written, words updated to be more modern and even new verses added. (If you look for the carol on YouTube you will find numerous versions!) In the version I have before me there are just five verses. Each verse uses a different descriptive term for Jesus. Each one is found in the Bible and speaks of the things his birth, life, death and resurrection accomplished.
In the next few weeks my aim is to share my thoughts on what each verse tells us about the advent of Emmanuel, ‘God with us”; about Christ’s coming, His arrival on earth.
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O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel;
That mourns in lonely exile here,
Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny;
From depths of hell Thy people save,
And give them victory o’er the grave.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer,
Our Spirits by Thine Advent here;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, Thou Key of David, come
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, O come, thou Lord of Might
Who to Thy tribes, on Sinai’s height,
In ancient times didst give the law,
In cloud, and majesty, and awe.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
All references are from the NKJV unless specified otherwise.
John Partis
bearing-kingdom-fruit.com
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