An anonymous hymn in Latin entitled “Gloriosi Salvatoris” (“of the glorious Savior”), it comes from the Antwerp Breviary, 1446, and the Meissen Breviary, Liege, C. 1510. John M. Neale (1818-1866; see Biographies), who translated it in his Mediaeval Hymns, 1851, claimed that it was the first rendering in English and said concerning the original, “A German hymn on the Festival of the Holy Name of Jesus.” It is based on Acts 4:12, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

The version SDAH uses was adapted by Robert F. Neill and printed in the New Saint Basil Hymnal. This version, however, is a translation of the first line only of the original hymn, which directs the rulers of the nations to settle their differences by humbly submitting to the King of kings. The remaining five stanzas enlarge on the different aspects of the name of Jesus: name of gladness, name of adoration, name of music and wisdom, name exalted and strong, and finally a name to be written in the heart. The present hymn is therefore not to be credited to Neale, except the first line only.

While it is basically a hymn extolling the name of Jesus, the language forcefully reminds us that ideally the rulers of the nations could profit by giving their allegiance to “Christ the head.”

ST. LEONARD is a typical German chorale of the late seventeenth century, most often attributed to Johann Christoph Bach, the second cousin of the great J. S. Bach. It was printed in Neuvermehrtes Meiningisches Gesangbuch (New Enlarged Meiningen Hymnal), 1693, and later taken up by many other German collections.

Johann Christoph Bach was born December 8, 1642, at Arnstadt, near Erfurt, now East Germany. At the age of 23 he became organist at Eisenach, and stayed there until his death on March 31, 1703, 38 years later. He was bold for his time in the use of daring harmonies, and he excelled in writing vocal music. A setting he made of Revelation 12:7-12 for two choirs of five voices each, plus strings, bassoon, trumpets, tympani, and organ, was performed by J. S. Bach at Leipzig on a scale that profoundly impressed his peers.

📖 Reference: Companion to the Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal by Wayne Hooper and Edward E. White. Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1988.