Advent: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

Because Christmas is coming, I’ve decided to take a break from my daily review of modern worship songs and focus on Christmas hymns for a month. I’ve started with Advent.

Advent hymns emphasize waiting, longing, and preparation, while Christmas hymns celebrate fulfilment, joy, and Christ’s birth.

Today’s hymn is O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

I wonder is this the most well-known Advent hymn? It’s certainly one of the first ones that comes to my mind. It’s interesting that Enya covered it. Enya, from Donegal here in Ireland, had her first hit with Orinoco Flow back in 1988. Here are some other hits that she had since:

Anyway, what about the hymn? O Come, O Come, Emmanuel is one of the oldest and most beloved Advent hymns, originally written in Latin as Veni, Veni, Emmanuel and later translated into English in the 19th century. The text dates back to the 8th or 9th century, with the melody emerging in the 15th century. The text draws on Isaiah 7:14 and Matthew 1:23, emphasizing the prophecy of Emmanuel, “God with us”

Isaiah 7:14
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.

Matthew 1:22-23
²² All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ²³ “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).

Throughout the Old Testament, prophecies about the coming of Jesus were given. Some were quite explicit, and others were more like little hints, which the New Testament writers related to events in the life of Jesus. And in the Old Testament, sometimes the prophets themselves struggled to understand their own prophecies.

1 Peter 1:10-12
¹⁰ Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, ¹¹ trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow. ¹² It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.

Here are the hymn’s lyrics.

1 O come, O come, Immanuel,
and ransom captive Israel
that mourns in lonely exile here
until the Son of God appear.
Refrain:
Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel
shall come to you, O Israel.

2 O come, O Wisdom from on high,
who ordered all things mightily;
to us the path of knowledge show
and teach us in its ways to go. Refrain

3 O come, O come, great Lord of might,
who to your tribes on Sinai's height
in ancient times did give the law
in cloud and majesty and awe. Refrain

4 O come, O Branch of Jesse's stem,
unto your own and rescue them!
From depths of hell your people save,
and give them victory o'er the grave. Refrain

5 O come, O Key of David, come
and open wide our heavenly home.
Make safe for us the heavenward road
and bar the way to death's abode. Refrain

6 O come, O Bright and Morning Star,
and bring us comfort from afar!
Dispel the shadows of the night
and turn our darkness into light. Refrain

7 O come, O King of nations, bind
in one the hearts of all mankind.
Bid all our sad divisions cease
and be yourself our King of Peace. Refrain

Some might wonder what’s meant by “captive Israel”. They had conflicts with various nations throughout the Old Testament, but like the rest of the world, they had much deeper spiritual problems. They awaited the Messiah. And when he came, some welcomed him, and others didn’t. At a secular level, things got worse for Israel, particularly after AD 70. But soon, much of the world was worshipping the God of Israel. And we mustn’t forget that most of the New Testament Christians and their leaders were Jewish.

Perhaps, you could also apply the first verse to the present time, with God’s people, both Jews and Gentiles awaiting the second coming of Jesus. Many Jewish people have accepted the Messiah. I think especially of Bob Dylan, whose Christian albums had a huge impact on me back in 1980. And thankfully, generally speaking, Jewish people and Christians have a much better relationship now than they had in centuries gone by. I think of verse 7 where it speaks of sad divisions ceasing.

Here are a few more notable versions of the hymn: