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Bible Dictionaries
Hymn
Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament
or HYMN
1. Introductory.—In the earliest period the terms ‘hymn’ (ὕμνος) and ‘to hymn’ (ὑμνεῖν) seem to have covered practically every kind of composition which was sung or rhythmically recited in Christian worship or the Christian assemblies.
In Colossians 3:16 and Ephesians 5:19 the three terms ὑμνος (‘hymn’), ψαλμός (‘psalm’), and ᾠδή (‘song’) are found together as descriptive of the acts of praise offered to God in the early Christian assemblies. ‘While the leading idea of ψαλμ. is a musical accompaniment, and that of ῦμν. praise to God, ᾠδή is the general word for a song, whether accompanied or unaccompanied, whether of praise or on any other subject. Thus it was quite possible for the same song to be at once ψαλμός, ὕμνος, and ᾠδή (Lightfoot on Colossians 3:16).
Specifically hymns came in course of time to be distinguished from psalms (i.e. the canonical Bk. of Psalms* [Note: It is possible that in Colossians 3:16, Ephesians 5:19 the term ψαλμός is similarly restricted in meaning,] ) and canticles (‘poetical extracts from Holy Scripture which are incorporated among the Psalms in the Divine office’† [Note: Chr. Ant. i. 284.] ). This, of course, applies to the period subsequent to the fixing of the Canon. But the earliest ecclesiastical hymns, in this sense, were not metrical.
The ecclesiastical canticles under the title of ᾠδαί immediately follow the Psalter in certain of the Greek uncials and in a large number of the Greek cursive MSS [Note: SS Manuscripts.] . Nine of them are now sung at Lauds in the office of the orthodox Greek Church. Codex A gives the following in the following order:‡ [Note: Swete, Introd. to the OT in Greek, p. 253 f.]
(1) Exodus 15:1-18 (‘song of Moses in Exodus’); (2) Deuteronomy 32:1-43 (‘Song of Moses in Deut.’); (3) 1 Samuel 2:1-10 (‘Prayer of Haonah’); (4) Isaiah 26:9-20 (‘prayer of Isaiah’); (5) Jonah 3:5-10 (‘Prayer of Jonah’); (6) Habakkuk 3:1-19 (‘Prayer of Habakkuk’); (7) Isaiah 38:10-20 (‘Prayer of Hezekiah’); (8) The Prayer of Manasseh; (9) Daniel 3:26-30; (10) Dn 3:52–88; (11) Magnificat; (12) Nunc Dimittis; (13) Benedictus; (14) Morning Hymn (= full form of Gloria in Excelsis).
2. Jewish Liturgical usage.—In the Temple services the Psalms naturally played a great part. For the daily service the order of the Psalms, which were sung to a musical accompaniment by the Levitical choir,§ [Note: Edersheim, Temple, etc. p. 143 f.] was as follows: 1st day of the week, Psalms 24; Psalms 2 nd, Psalms 48; Psalms 3 rd, Psalms 82; Psalms 4 th, Psalms 94; Psalms 5 th, Psalms 81; Psalms 6 th, Psalms 93; Sabbath, Psalms 92. Special Psalms were also used for special occasions.
It has been questioned whether psalmody formed an element in the early synagogue-service (see esp. Gibson, Expositor, July 1890, pp. 25–27). It is true that in the Mishna|| [Note: | Cf. esp. Meg. iv. 3.] the only elements explicitly recognized in the synagogue-service are: (1) the Shemaʽ; (2) prayer; (3) the reading of the Law; and (4) the reading of the Prophets, and the benediction. But we know from the NT that in addition to this the practice of translating and expounding the Scripture-lection was also in vogue; and it may be inferred that on certain special occasions the ‘Hallel,’ at any rate, was recited in the synagogues (see Hallel).¶ [Note: It is worth noting that the regular term employed in the Mishna is to ‘read’ (קרא) the Hallel. In the Temple-service it was sung. Cf. also the benediction said before Hallel, which was probably the composition of the Pharisees (‘who hast commanded us to read the Hallel’).] But it is difficult to believe that other parts of the Psalter were not also recited there. The internal evidence of the Psalms suggests that some at least were specially intended for synagogue use: esp. the ‘Hallelujah’ Psalms (105, 106, 107, 111, 112, 114, 116, 117, 118, 135, 136, 146–150).** [Note: * Cf. Cheyne, Origin of the Psalter, p. 14, note g, and p. 363 f. Psalms 146-150 form a well-defined group in the synagogue-liturgy, and are used in the daily morning service (cf. Singer, Heb.-Eng. Prayer-Book, p. 29 f.). Compare with this the custom in certain parts of the early Church of reciting the “Hallelujah’ Psalms daily. See Grunwald, Heber den Einfluss der Psalmen auf die Katholische Liturgie, Heft iii. p. 23.] However this may be, it is practically certain that a part, at least, of the sacred poetry of the OT, such as the Red Sea Song (Exodus 15), the special psalms for the days of the week, the Hallel, and possibly, also, the ‘Psalms of Degrees,’ would be known in Palestine in their Hebrew form in the time of Christ from their liturgical use in public worship, esp. in the Temple.†† [Note: † Cf. also the so-called Psalter of Solomon, which may have been intended ‘for public or oven liturgical use,’ and which almost certainly goes lack to a Hebrew original See ed. by Ryle and James, p. xci.] Examples of post-biblical poetry (Hebrew) of the early period (before the destruction of the Temple) are very rare. For an instance cf. Mishna, Sukkâ v. 4 (a liturgical piece).
3. The Evangelical Canticles.—The poetical pieces which we know as the Magnificat, Benedictus, Nune Dimittis, and Gloria in Excelsis (Angels’ song), and which are embodied in the first two chapters of the Third Gospel, are probably the earliest examples of Christian hymns. They are ascribed to the Virgin Mary, Simeon, Zacharias, and the Angels respectively; but it is more probable that they are to be regarded as original liturgical compositions, refleeting the piety and devotion of the early Jewish-Christian community in Palestine. Probably, too, they are translations from Hebrew originals, and were at first sung or chanted in Hebrew.* [Note: See an article by the present writer in ZNTW vi. p. 80 f. (Feb. 1905), on ‘The Gospel Narratives of the Nativity,’ etc.] The hymns themselves are obviously modelled on the psalm-poetry of the OT, some of which, as has been pointed out, would be generally familiar in its Hebrew form to the Aramaic-speaking Jews of Palestine in the time of Christ.† [Note: op. cit. p. 95.]
For details as to the dependence of these hymns on the OT see the commentaries (in particular, Plummer, Intern. Crit. Com. on ‘St. Luke’). Notice the prominence of the idea of a Messianic redemption from sin, which is characteristically Jewish-Christian (cf. Luke 1:77 with Plummer’s note; and cf. Matthew 1:21). For the poetical form and structure cf. esp. Briggs, The Messiah of the Gospels (1894), ch. ii., and New Light on the Life of Jesus (1904), ch. xiii. (the latter esp. valuable). The present writer finds himself in independent agreement with Briggs in regarding Matthew 1:20 b, 21 as a translation from a Hebrew poetical piece.‡ [Note: That a Hebrew original underlies these two verses is shown by the fact that the play upon words in v. 21 (Jesus shall save) can he elucidated only by Hebrew—not Aramaic—phraseology (יושִׁיעַ,יִשׁוּעַ).] According to the same scholar, the full number of poetical pieces given in Luke is seven, viz.: (1) The Annunciation to Zacharias (Luke 1:13-17); (2) the Annunciation to Mary (4 parts: Luke 1:28; Luke 1:30-33; Luke 1:35-38); (3) the Annunciation to the Shepherds (2 parts: Luke 2:10; Luke 2:12; Luke 2:14); (4) the Song of Elisabeth (Luke 1:42-45); (5) the Song of Mary (= Magnificat, Luke 1:46-55); (6) the Song of Zacharias (= Benedictus, Luke 1:68-79); (7) the Song of Simeon (= Nunc Dimittis, Luke 2:29; Luke 2:32, to which should be appended Luke 2:34-35). Of these all but No. (5) are trimeter poems; (5) is a pentameter poem, as is also Matthew 1:20 b. Matthew 1:21. Probably all go back to two long poems (a trimeter and pentameter), from which the above are extracts.
4. Other Hymns and Hymn-pieces.—(a) It has been suggested with some plausibility that the Prologue of the Fourth Gospel ‘is a hymn to the Logos, composed independently of the Gospel and prefixed to it.’§ [Note: for details Briggs, The Messiah of the Apostles (1895), pp. 495–515; he compares the above to the ‘credal hymn’ in 1 Timothy 3:14.] Here also Professor Briggs deteets a trimeter poem originally arranged in three parts.|| For other possible extracts from early Christian hymns in the NT, reference may here be made to ‘Hymn’ in Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible ii. p. 440 f.
In the Apocalypse, also, there are a number of songs (ᾠδαί) which may, perhaps, be regarded as traditional Jewish-Christian hymns (cf. Revelation 4:11; Revelation 5:9 f, Revelation 5:12 f, Revelation 11:17 f, Revelation 15:3 f.).
It is possible that the curious phrase, ‘Amen, come’ (Revelation 22:20), may be an acrostic reference to a Jewish hymn which is still sung in the synagogue (’En Kçtóhçnú, ‘There is none like our God,’ Singer, p. 167). This composition, in its present form, consists of 5 verses of 4 lines each. The initial letters of the lines of the 5 verses form the words אמן בא =‘, come.’|| [Note: | Cf. Schiller-Szinessy in the Ency. Brit., s.v. ‘Midrash’ (p. 286), and C. Taylor, Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, p. 78 f.; also an art. by the present writer in Church and Synagogue, iii. p. 41 f. (Jan. 1901).] A Hebraized form (הִמְנוֹן) of the Greek term ὑμνος occurs in the Midrash (cf. Ber. Rabba viii. 9 = a hymn to a king).
(b) The Hosanna-hymn, or cry of praise of Palm Sunday, with which Jesus was greeted on His last entry into Jerusalem,¶ [Note: Also afterwards by the children in the Temple, Matthew 21:15.] is given in various forms in the Gospels. In its simplest form it occurs in Mark 11:9 and John 12:13, which really give the cry of the multitude: הושע נא ברוך הבא בשם יהוה. The additions that occur in the other passages (τῷ νἱῷ Δαυείδ, Matthew 21:9; Matthew 21:15; and ἐν τοῖς ὑψίστοις, Matthew 21:9, Mark 11:10)** [Note: * Mark 11:10 will thus be a later addition. It is noteworthy that the original form without these additions occurs only in the Fourth Gospel. Lk. (19:38) omits ‘Hosanna’ and alters the Psalm-verse into, ‘Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord.’ See art. Hosanna.] seem really to be later amplifications due to liturgical influence, when ὡσαννά (which in its Hebrew form הושע־נא is really a cry addressed to God, ‘Save now!’) was misunderstood as a shout of homage or greeting = ‘Hail!’ or ‘Glory to.’ See Dalman, Words of Jesus (English translation), p. 220 f.
Cheyne’s explanation, Encyc. Bibl. s.v. ‘Hosanna,’ is hardly convincing. Lightfoot, in his interesting note on Matthew 21:12 (Horae Heb. ed. Gandell, ii. 274 f.), ingeniously paraphrases, ‘Save us, we beseech Thee, O Thou [who dwellest] in the highest,’ taking ἐν τοίς ὑψίστοις as a substitute for the Divine name. This is barely possible.
The Hosanna-cry (cf. Psalms 118:25 f.) and the palm branches naturally suggest the Feast of Tabernacles, with the ceremonies of which they were most closely associated (esp. in the ‘Hosanna’ processions of the Festival).* [Note: For a description of these see Dembitz, Jewish Services, etc., p. 323 f.] It seems, however, that such processions might be extemporized for other occasions of a joyous character (cf. 1 Maccabees 13:51, 2 Maccabees 10:7), and this was the case in the scene described in the Gospels.
Wünsche, indeed (Erläuterungen der Evangelien aus Talmud und Midrash, p. 241), supposes that a confusion has arisen in the Gospel accounts between Tabernacles and Passover; but this is unnecessary. It is noteworthy that there seem to be traces in the Midrash on the Psalms of the Messianic interpretation of Psalms 118:25.† [Note: also the citation of v. 22 ff. of the same Psalm in Matthew 21:42.]
Literature.—The most important contributions to the subject of NT hymnody are the works of Briggs above cited. Reference may also he made to artt. ‘Hosanna’ in the Jewish Encyc. and Encyc. Bibl. respectively; also to ‘Hymns’ in Encyc. Bibl.; ‘Hymn’ in Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible.; ‘Hymn,’ ‘Canticle,’ in Dict. Chr. Ant., and to ‘Kirchenlied i. (in der alten Kirche)’ and ‘Liturgische Formeln’ in PRE [Note: RE Real-Encyklopädie fur protest. Theologic und Kirche.] 3 [Note: designates the particular edition of the work referred] . Other references have been given in the body of the article.
G. H. Box.
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Hastings, James. Entry for 'Hymn'. Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdn/h/hymn.html. 1906-1918.
