JESUS CHRIST >> Birth
SDAH 141
What child is this, who, laid to rest,
On Mary`s lap is sleeping?
Whom angels greet with anthems sweet,
While shepherds watch are keeping?
Text
1
What child is this, who, laid to rest,
On Mary`s lap is sleeping?
Whom angels greet with anthems sweet,
While shepherds watch are keeping?
Refrain
This, this is Christ the King,
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing:
Haste, haste to bring Him laud,
The babe, the son of Mary.
2
Why lies He in such mean estate
Where ox and ass are feeding?
Good Christian, fear: for sinners here
The silent Word is pleading.
3
So bring Him incense, gold, and myrrh,
Come, peasant, king, to own Him,
The King of kings salvation brings,
Let loving hearts enthrone Him.
Hymn Info
Biblical Reference
(a) Luke 2:5, 7, 13 (b) John 1:14 (c) Matt 2:12
Author
William C. Dix (1837-1898)
Year Published
c. 1865
Hymn Tune
GREENSLEEVES
Metrical Number
8.7.8.7.Ref.
Tune Source
English Folk Melody
Theme
BIRTH OF JESUS CHRIST
Hymn Score
Piano Accompaniment
Notes
Get to know the hymns a little deeper with the SDA Hymnal Companion. Use our song leader’s notes to engage your congregation in singing with understanding. Even better, involve kids in learning this hymn with our homeschooling materials.
William Chatterton Dix (1837-1898; see SDAH 123) wrote this about 1865. It is taken from “The Manger Throne,” a longer poem he wrote for the Christmas season, after reading Matthew 2:1-12. Other hymns by Dix in SDAH are No. 123, “As With Gladness Men of Old,” and No. 167, “Alleluia! Sing to Jesus!”
GREENSLEEVES appeared in New Christmas Carols, 1642, with a carol for New Year’s, “The old year now away is fled.” Much earlier, the registers of the Stationers’ Company, London, September 1580, recorded a license to one Richard Jones, “A New Northern Dittye of the Lady Greene Sleeves.” The same day a license was issued to Edward White for “A Ballad, Being the Ladie Greene Sleeves Answere to Donkyn His Frende.” Twelve days later another version, with sacred words, was recorded: “Greene Sleeves moralized to the Scripture, declaring the manifold benefits and blessings of God bestowed on sinful man.” The fact that it appeared in several versions over so short a time period indicates a popularity dating much earlier. William Shakespeare made mention of the GREENSLEEVES tune in The Merry Wives of Windsor.
The arrangement used in SDAH is from the Episcopal Hymnal 1940.
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