Scripture Verse

God shall come from Teman, and the Holy One from the thick and shady mountain of Paran. Habakkuk 3:3 (Septuagint)

Introduction

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John M. Neale (1818–1866)
Wikipedia

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Words: Cos­mas the Me­lo­dist, 8th Cen­tu­ry (Ῥάβ­δος ἐκ τῆς ῥίζ­ης Ἰεσ­σαὶ). Trans­lat­ed from Greek to Eng­lish by John M. Neale, Hymns of the East­ern Church (Lon­don: Spot­tis­woode, 1862).

Music: Schroe­der Her­mann R. Sch­roe­der, in Great Hymns of the Church Com­piled by the Late Right Re­ver­end John Free­man Young, ed­it­ed by John H. Hop­kins (New York: James Pott, 1887), num­ber 106 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tune:

If you know where to get a good pic­ture of Schroe­der (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

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Cosmas the Melodist

Lyrics

Rod of the Root of Jesse,
Thou, Flow­er of Ma­ry born,
From that thick sha­dy moun­tain
Cam’st glo­ri­ous forth this morn:
Of her, the ev­er vir­gin,
Incarnate wast Thou made,
The im­ma­te­ri­al Es­sence,
The God by all ob­eyed!
Glory, Lord, Thy ser­vants pay
To Thy won­drous might to­day!

The Gen­tiles’ ex­pec­ta­tion,
Whom Ja­cob’s words fore­tell,
Who Sy­ria’s pride shall van­quish,
Samaria’s pow­er shalt quell;
Thou from the Root of Ju­dah
Like some fair plant dost spring,
To turn old Gen­tile er­ror
To Thee, its God and King!
Glory, Lord, Thy ser­vants pay
To Thy won­drous might to­day!

In Ba­laam’s an­cient vi­sion
The east­ern seers were skilled;
They marked the con­stel­la­tions,
And joy their spi­rits filled;
For Thou, bright Star of Ja­cob,
Arising in Thy might,
Didst call these Gen­tile first-fruits
To wor­ship in Thy light.
They, in ho­ly re­ver­ence bend,
Gifts ac­cep­ta­ble pre­sent.

As on a fleece des­cend­ing
The gen­tle dews distill,
As drops the earth that wa­ter,
The vir­gin didst Thou fill.
Tarshish and Ethiopia,
The Isles and Ar­aby,
And Me­dia, leagues with She­ba,
Fall down and wor­ship Thee.
Glory, Lord, Thy ser­vants pay
To Thy won­drous might to­day!