O Come, O Come Emmanuel

When singing this hymn last weekend at St. Mark Presbyterian Church, some of us noticed the notes at the bottom of our new hymnals. In his book Then Sings My Soul Book 2, Robert J. Morgan went into a little more detail:

In the 800's, a series of Latin hymns were sung each day during Christmas Vespers from December 17 to 23.  Each of these hymns began with the word "O," and were called the "Great" or "O" Antiphons (the word antiphon meaning psalm or anthem).  These hymns were apparently restructured into verse from in the 1100's, and finally published in Latin in 1710.  In the mid 1800's, they were discovered by an English minister named John Mason Neale, who wove together segments of them to produce the first draft of "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel," which was published in 1851. . .

Veni veni, Emmanuel

captivum solve Israel,

qui gemit in exsilio,

privatus Dei Filio.

R: Gaude! Gaude! Emmanuel,

nascetur pro te Israel!

O come, O come, Emmanuel,

and ransom captive Israel,

that mourns in lonely exile here

until the Son of God appear.

R: Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel,

shall come to thee o Israel!

O come, Thou Wisdom, from on high,

and order all things far and nigh;

to us the path of knowledge show,

and teach us in her ways to go. R.

O come, o come, Thou Lord of might,

who to thy tribes on Sinai's height

in ancient times did give the law,

in cloud, and majesty, and awe. R.

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse's stem,

from ev'ry foe deliver them

that trust Thy mighty power to save,

and give them vict'ry o'er the grave. R.

O come, Thou Key of David, come,

and open wide our heav'nly home,

make safe the way that leads on high,

that we no more have cause to sigh. R.

O come, Thou Dayspring from on high,

and cheer us by thy drawing nigh;

disperse the gloomy clouds of night

and death's dark shadow put to flight. R.

O come, Desire of the nations, bind

in one the hearts of all mankind;

bid every strife and quarrel cease

and fill the world with heaven's peace.R⁵