To the Name of Our Salvation

Representative Text

1 To the name of our salvation
laud and honour let us pay,
which for many a generation
hid in God's foreknowledge lay,
but with holy exultation
we may sing aloud to-day.

2 Jesus is the name we treasure,
name beyond what words can tell;
name of gladness, name of pleasure,
ear and heart delighting well;
name of sweetness passing measure,
saving us from sin and hell.

3 'Tis the name that whoso preacheth
speaks like music to the ear;
who in prayer this name beseecheth
sweetest comfort findeth near;
who its perfect wisdom reacheth
heavenly joy possesseth here.

4 Jesus is the name exalted
over every other name;
in this name, whene'er assaulted,
we can put our foes to shame:
strength to them who else had halted,
eyes to blind, and feet to lame.

5 Therefore we in love adoring
this most blessed name revere,
holy Jesu, thee imploring
so to write it in us here,
that hereafter heavenward soaring
we may sing with angels there.

Source: Ancient and Modern: hymns and songs for refreshing worship #819

Translator: J. M. Neale

John M. Neale's life is a study in contrasts: born into an evangelical home, he had sympathies toward Rome; in perpetual ill health, he was incredibly productive; of scholarly tem­perament, he devoted much time to improving social conditions in his area; often ignored or despised by his contemporaries, he is lauded today for his contributions to the church and hymnody. Neale's gifts came to expression early–he won the Seatonian prize for religious poetry eleven times while a student at Trinity College, Cambridge, England. He was ordained in the Church of England in 1842, but ill health and his strong support of the Oxford Movement kept him from ordinary parish ministry. So Neale spent the years between 1846 and 1866 as a warden of Sackvi… Go to person page >

Notes

Gloriosi Salvatoris. [Holy Name of Jesus.] This anonymous hymn, possibly of the 15th century, is given from the Meissen Breviary, cir. 1510, in Daniel, i. No. 449, in 6 stanzas of 3 double lines, and headed, "In festo S. Nominis Jesu." Dr. Neale's text, in 7 stanzas of 6 lines, is given in his Hymni Ecclesiae, 1851, p. 165, from the Liége Breviary. In his Mediaeval Hymns, 1851, he claims for his translation that it was the first rendering into English, and says concerning the original, “A German hymn on the Festival of the Holy Name of Jesus." All that can be said of its date is that it is clearly posterior to the Pange Lingua of St. Thomas, which it imitates." [Rev. W. A. Shoults, B.D.]
Translations in common use:—
1. To the Name that brings salvation. By J. M. Neale. Appeared in his Mediaeval Hymns, 1st edition 1851, p. 142, in 6 stanzas of 6 lines, and again in later editions. It is included, sometimes abbreviated, in the Scottish Episcopal Hymn Book, 1858; the Parish Hymn Book, 1863-75; the People's Hymnal 1867; the Hymnary, 1872, and others. In the American Hymns & Songs of Praise, New York, 1874, it is abridged to 4 stanzas, and begins, "Jesus is the Name we treasure." Another arrangement, beginning, "Name of Jesus, Name of pleasure," is in the Hymns for the Chapel of Harrow School, 1857.
2. To the Name of our salvation. This translation, which was given in Hymns Ancient & Modern, 1861, is based upon the above translation by Dr. Neale; but is so altered that only 10 lines of the 36 contained in the hymn remain unchanged. It was repeated in Kennedy, 1863; the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge Appendix, 1869; the Irish Church Hymnal, 1873; and others. In the Sarum, 1868, the Hymns Ancient & Modern text is somewhat altered. The Hymnal Companion gives Dr. Neale's translation with variations from several hymn-books.
3. Name of our triumphant Saviour. By R. C. Singleton, written in 1867, and published in his Anglican Hymn Book, 1868.
4. To the Name that speaks salvation. By J. Ellerton, made for and first published in the S. P. C. K. Church Hymns, 1871.

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Timeline

Instances

Instances (1 - 23 of 23)

AGO Founders Hymnal #46

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Ancient and Modern #819

Anglican Hymns Old and New (Rev. and Enl.) #779

Church Hymnal, Fifth Edition #117

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Church Hymnary (4th ed.) #471

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Common Praise (1998) #377

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Common Praise #610

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Complete Anglican Hymns Old and New #698

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CPWI Hymnal #265

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Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary #159

Hymns Ancient and Modern, New Standard Edition #121

Hymns and Psalms #80

Hymns for Today's Church (2nd ed.) #222

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Hymns of Glory, Songs of Praise #471

Hymns Old and New #523

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Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal #646

Sing Glory #72

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The Cyber Hymnal #6874

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The Hymnal 1982 #248

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The Hymnal 1982 #249

The Irish Presbyterian Hymbook #244a

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The Irish Presbyterian Hymbook #244b

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The New English Hymnal #470

Include 95 pre-1979 instances
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