Good Christian Men, Rejoice

Good Christian Men, Rejoice

{You have probably been enjoying Christmas music at church and on your radio since Thanksgiving – or not. For the next five days (December 20-25 excluding Saturday), I will be adding to your joy or misery by giving some context and historical background to a few of the most popular Christian Christmas hymns.}

The origins of this song are unknown. The most widely used version (see below) is a translation from Latin into English by John Mason Neal. There are fun folklore stories about the origin of the song. According to this account, the song came from German mystic Heinrich Seuse. He didn’t write it as much as he received it. According to his biography or autobiography, Seuse heard angels singing it and he was invited to join them in singing and dancing.

The song wasn’t used in church services for a long time for a couple of reasons. It was written in Latin, but not pure Latin. It was what is called macaronic Latin, a mixture of Latin with another language, in this case German. It also uses Latin that some would call “Dog Latin.” The wording would have been the kind of language of the street and the common man, not the language of high church music. It was also set to music suitable for dance. We see that in the account attributing it to Seuse. He said he was dancing with the angels.

The original Latin version would be translated in a literal form into English as:

In sweet rejoicing,
now sing and be glad!
Our hearts' joy
lies in the manger;
And it shines like the sun
in the mother's lap.
You are the Alpha and Omega!

A popular translation from the 1800’s retains some of the Latin and combines it with English. Here it is:

In dulci jubilo,
Let us our homage show!
Our heart's joy reclineth
In praesepio;
And like a bright star shineth
Matris in gremio.
Alpha es et O!

Here is how it is usually sung today:

Good Christian men, rejoice
With heart, and soul, and voice;
Give ye heed to what we say:
News! News!
Jesus Christ was born to-day:
Ox and ass before Him bow,
And He is in the manger now.
Christ is born today! Christ is born today.

Out of sensitivity to today’s culture, some modern hymnbooks have changed the first line from “Christian men,” to “Christian friends.” While I don’t like the motivation for this; I’m old school and still think using the masculine form of words is fine. However, looking at the original text of the song, it had no reference to men, women, or anyone in particular.

It is interesting to see how songs have evolved and changed through the centuries.

No matter where this song came from, and whatever wording you prefer, I hope you will heed its message and you will be found rejoicing that Christ was born.

Photo by Nico Smit on Unsplash