The Story of "O Come, O Come, Emanuel" and the "O Antiphons"

The story behind the hymn "O Come, O Come, Emanuel" stretches back at least to the 700s AD and perhaps back to around 500 AD or even earlier. This article tells that story, including explaining the hidden acrostic in the original prayers, and provides a devotional for the seven days preceding Christmas.

O Come, O Come Emanuel: Christ as Emanuel, God with us

O Antiphon for December 24

Latin:

O Emmanuel, Rex et legifer noster,

exspectatio Gentium, et Salvator earum:

veni ad salvandum nos, Domine, Deus noster.

English:

O Emmanuel, our king and our lawgiver,

the hope of the nations and their Saviour:

Come and save us, O Lord our God. 

O Come, O Come Emanuel

Latin:

Veni veni, Emmanuel

captivum solve Israel,

qui gemit in exsilio,

privatus Dei Filio.

Gaude! Gaude! Emmanuel,

nascetur pro te Israel!

 
English:

O come, O come, Emmanuel,

and ransom captive Israel,

that mourns in lonely exile here

until the Son of God appear.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emanuel

shall come to thee, O Israel.

 

Scripture references: Isaiah 7:14

 

 

O Come, O Come Emanuel: Christ as King of the Nations

O Antiphon for December 23

Latin:

O Rex Gentium, et desideratus earum,

lapisque angularis, qui facis utraque unum:

veni, et salva hominem,

quem de limo formasti.

English:

O King of the nations, and their desire,

the cornerstone making both one:

Come and save the human race,

which you fashioned from clay. 

O Come, O Come Emanuel

Latin:

Veni, veni, Rex Gentium,

veni, Redemptor omnium,

ut salvas tuos famulos

peccati sibi conscios.

Gaude! Gaude! Emmanuel,

nascetur pro te Israel!

 

English:

O come, Desire of the nations, bind

in one the hearts of all mankind;

bid every strife and quarrel cease

and fill the world with heaven's peace.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emanuel

shall come to thee, O Israel.

Scripture references: Isaiah 2:4; 9:6

 

 

O Come, O Come Emanuel: Christ the Morning Star

O Antiphon for December 22

Latin:

O Oriens,

splendor lucis aeternae, et sol justitiae:

veni, et illumina sedentes in tenebris, et umbra mortis.

English:

O Morning Star,

splendour of light eternal and sun of righteousness:

Come and enlighten those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death. 

O Come, O Come Emanuel

Latin:

Veni, veni O Oriens,

solare nos adveniens,

noctis depelle nebulas,

dirasque mortis tenebras.

Gaude! Gaude! Emmanuel,

nascetur pro te Israel!

 English:

O come, Thou Dayspring, come and cheer

our spirits by thine Advent here;

disperse the gloomy clouds of night

and death's dark shadow put to flight.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emanuel

shall come to thee, O Israel.

 

Scripture references: Isaiah 9:2; 60:1-2

 

O Come, O Come Emanuel: Christ as the Key of David

O Antiphon for December 21

Latin:

O Clavis David, et sceptrum domus Israel;

qui aperis, et nemo claudit;

claudis, et nemo aperit:

veni, et educ vinctum de domo carceris,

sedentem in tenebris, et umbra mortis.

English:

O Key of David and sceptre of the House of Israel;

you open and no one can shut;

you shut and no one can open:

Come and lead the prisoners from the prison house,

those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.

O Come, O Come Emanuel

Latin:

Veni, Clavis Davidica,

regna reclude caelica,

fac iter tutum superum,

et claude vias inferum.

Gaude! Gaude! Emmanuel,

nascetur pro te Israel!

English:

O come, Thou Key of David, come,

and open wide our heav'nly home,

make safe the way that leads on high,

and close the path to misery.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emanuel

shall come to thee, O Israel.

 

Scripture references: Isaiah 9:7; 22:22; 42:7

 

O Come, O Come Emanuel: Christ as the Root of Jesse

O Antiphon for December 20

Latin:

O Radix Jesse, qui stas in signum populorum,

super quem continebunt reges os suum,

quem Gentes deprecabuntur:

veni ad liberandum nos, jam noli tardare.

 

English:

O Root of Jesse, standing as a sign among the peoples;

before you kings will shut their mouths,

to you the nations will make their prayer:

Come and deliver us, and delay no longer. 

O Come, O Come Emanuel

Latin:

Veni, O Iesse virgula,

ex hostis tuos ungula,

de specu tuos tartari

educ et antro barathri.

Gaude! Gaude! Emmanuel,

nascetur pro te Israel!

 

English:

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free

thine own from Satan’s tyranny.

From depths of Hell thy people save

and give them vict'ry o'er the grave.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emanuel

shall come to thee, O Israel.

Scripture references: Isaiah 11:1, 10

O Come, O Come Emanuel: Christ as the Lord

If you haven't read the first post in this series, please do; it'll help you make sense of the rest.

 

For those of you who don't know, an antiphon is a response by the choir or the congregation to a Psalm or another passage of Scripture read or sung during a liturgy. The antiphon is often a Gregorian chant.

 

O Antiphon for December 19

Latin:

O Adonai, et Dux domus Israel,

qui Moysi in igne flammae rubi apparuisti,

et ei in Sina legem dedisti:

veni ad redimendum nos in brachio extento. 

English:

O Adonai, and leader of the House of Israel,

who appeared to Moses in the fire of the burning bush

and gave him the law on Sinai:

Come and redeem us with an outstretched arm. 

O Come, O Come Emanuel

Latin:

Veni, veni, Adonai,

qui populo in Sinai

legem dedisti vertice

in maiestate gloriae.

Gaude! Gaude! Emmanuel,

nascetur pro te Israel!

 

English:

O come, o come, Thou Lord of might,

who to thy tribes on Sinai's height

in ancient times did give the law,

in cloud, and majesty, and awe.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emanuel

shall come to thee, O Israel.

 
Scripture references: Isaiah 11:4-5; 33:22

O Come, O Come Emanuel: Christ the Wisdom of God

I talked about my favorite Advent hymn, “O Come, O Come Emanuel,” in my earlier post “Death at Christmas.” If you haven’t read that, I’d encourage you to do so. This year, I want to take the next week to talk about that hymn and its origins.

“O Come, O Come Emanuel” comes from the “O Antiphons” used in the Latin liturgy probably since the early 500s AD. Each of the Antiphons begins with “O” followed by a title of the Messiah from the Old Testament. One Antiphon was used in the liturgy in the eight days leading up to Christmas, with the final Antiphon said on Christmas Eve.

The titles of the Messiah form an acrostic: if you take the first letter from each of them, and then read them backwards, you get Ero cras, Latin for “I am coming tomorrow.” (We would do them in the opposite order, but for the medieval mind, once you start the word you need to be able to pronounce it straight through, so you need the first letter on the night before Christmas.)

I will be publishing the O Antiphons in order, in Latin and English, with the appropriate verse from “O Come, O Come Emanuel” and the biblical reference, each day leading up to Christmas Eve. For those of you who are Christians and are preparing for the celebration of Christ’s coming, these would work well in your devotions

O Antiphon for December 18

Latin:

O Sapientia, quae ex ore Altissimi prodiisti,

attingens a fine usque ad finem,

fortiter suaviter disponens que omnia:

veni ad docendum nos viam prudentiae.^[6]

English:

O Wisdom, coming forth from the mouth of the Most High,

reaching from one end to the other,

mightily and sweetly ordering all things:

Come and teach us the way of prudence. 

O Come, O Come Emanuel

Latin:

Veni, O Sapientia,

quae hic disponis omnia,

veni, viam prudentiae

ut doceas et gloriae.

Gaude! Gaude! Emmanuel,

nascetur pro te Israel!

 English:

O come, Thou Wisdom, from on high,

and order all things far and nigh;

to us the path of knowledge show,

and teach us in her ways to go.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emanuel

shall come to thee, O Israel

 Scripture references: Isaiah 11:2-3; 28:29