Early Christians singing hymn. Author: Paul S. Taylor, Christian Answers

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hymns and the Bible

Greek: ὕμνος —transliteration: humnos —meaning: hymn

The word “hymn” occurs in the following Bible verses:

“And after singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.” —Matthew 26:30; Mark 14:26

“Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” —Colossians 3:16

“speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord;” —Ephesians 5:19

“But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.” —Acts 16:25

The same Greek word is rendered to “sing praise” in Hebrews 2:12 NKJV.

The “hymn” which our Lord Jesus Christ sang with his disciples at the last supper is generally supposed to have been the latter part of the Hallel, including Psalms 113-118. It was thus a name given to a number of psalms taken together and forming a devotional exercise.

A cappella singing predominated in the early Church. Hymns combated heresy, taught doctrine, and expressed praise to God and confidence in Him.

The noun hymn is used only with reference to the services of the Greeks, and was distinguished from the psalm. The Greek tunes required Greek hymns.

New
“Hos Ephanerothe - An Early Christian Hymn”
This is an early Christian hymn quoted by Paul in 1 Timothy 3:16.
Length: 4 minutes

Pliny the Younger (lawyer, author, magistrate and executor of Christians for Ancient Rome, circa 61-113 AD) reports that Christians “were in the habit of meeting on a certain fixed day before it was light, when they sang in alternate verses a hymn to Christ, as to a god, and bound themselves by a solemn oath, not to any wicked deeds, but never to commit any fraud, theft or adultery, never to falsify their word, nor deny a trust when they should be called upon to deliver it up; after which it was their custom to separate, and then reassemble to partake of food… of an ordinary and innocent kind.”

Pliny’s letters are said to be “the earliest surviving Roman documents to refer to early Christians.” He reported to Emperor Trajan that, “I interrogated them whether they were Christians; if they confessed it I repeated the question twice again, adding the threat of capital punishment; if they still persevered, I ordered them to be executed.”

Examples of Early Church hymns

The so-called “Odes of Solomon” are a 1st-2nd century collection of early Christian hymns. These 42 anonymous hymns written in Syriac/Aramaic are believed to have been authored by a Jewish Christian living at the time of the Apostles (about 70-125 AD).

Examples translated into English by S.P.T. Prideaux, D.D.:

Early Christians singing hymns

“The Joy of the Lord” (Ode 7)

The Lord! The Lord! He is my joy,
In Him my heart does rest;
A ready help is He; my path
Is of all paths the best.

His very Self He did reveal
By His simplicity;
I sam Him and I trembled not,
He gracious was to me.

Though great, He made Himself like me,
in lowliness how kind!
My nature and my form He took
That I might learn His mind;
Was reckoned and became as I
That I might put Him on,
Nor turn from Him and leave the path
On which His feet have shone.

All-knowing He, the Incorrupt,
Creator, All in All,
My weakness saw ere I was born
And knew that I should fall;
All-wise He knew and pitied me
In His abounding grace,
Gave me to take His sacrifice
And plead before His Face.

Lift up your voices, then, ye Saints,
Your joyful news proclaim;
And ye who sing “The Lord shall come,”
Go out to greet His name;
Come forth, ye seers, behold Him nigh,
He stands before you now;
With harp and voice sing ye His love
And low before Him bow.

Hatred and jealousy are gone
And ignorance is fled,
The knowledge of our gracious Lord
On all around is shed;
Our hearts are with His sunshine filled,
Our tongues His power confess;
the whole creation lifts its voice
To hymn His loveliness.

Early Christians singing hymns

“Hope” (Ode 24)

As His praise is, so He made me;
As His goodness, so his gift;
As His mercies, so He raised me;
As His beauty, did uplift;
From the depths of hell He drew me;
All my foes He did abase;
From the mouth of death He took me;
Jusified me by His grace.

I believe in His Anointed,
For I saw He was the Lord;
Signs He showed me, light He sent me,
Gave to me His mighty sword
To subdue the people’s vauntings,
Make the mighty bow the knee,
Warring by His Word, and winning
By His power the victory.

As the chaff before the east wind
So He made my foes to fly;
I did praise Him—Hallelujah!
Hallelujah! Lord Most High.
Tho’ the son of His handmaiden,
Tho’ a servant, weak and frail,
In the Lord my hope is rooted,
And in Him I shall not fail.

The Priest (Ode 20)

Priest of the Lord am I,
Within His court I stand,
To Him I offer sacrifice
As He doth me command.
Not as men serve the flesh
Or in the world have part,
His sacrifice is righteousness
And purity of heart.

Blameless present thy soul;
Thy neighbour do not wrong;
Deceive him not, nor take for thine
What doth to him belong.
His life is as thine own,
Nor bought or sold can be;
His needs are thine, his weal [prosperity] and woe
Entrusted are to thee.

Freely be clothed with grace;
come, enter Paradise;
Make thee a garland from its tree
And let thy songs arise.
The Lord shall be thy rest,
His glory go before,
His kindness and His grace be thine
In truth for evermore.

Other early Christian hymns

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Article Version: January 9, 2026