I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.
1 Corinthians 14:15
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts unto God. Colossians 3:16
I wasn’t there when my mom taught a children’s class about “singing with understanding”, but I heard about it afterward. They were learning what the song “Night with Ebon Pinion” really means, and they were entirely eager to learn. The success of that class inspired this page, meant as a glossary of difficult or older words in hymns.
If we’re to teach and admonish one another through singing, shouldn’t we understand what’s being sung?
Glossary of terms found in hymns
New terms and definitions added occasionally. Let me know if you see a term you feel should be on the list!
| term | definition |
|---|---|
| art | Old English term for “are”, as in “you are” |
| brooded | to sit upon or cover, as a mother bird |
| doth | Old English term for “does” |
| Ebenezer | Eben-ezer; literally “stone of help”; the name given by Samuel to a memorial stone after God helped Israel defeat the Philistines (1 Samuel 7:12) |
| ebon pinion | black/dark wings |
| hither | to here |
| lo | “Look!”, to look |
| o’er | over |
| roll | a list of names, like a roll-call in school |
| shalt | Old English term for “shall” |
| tarry | to linger, wait, stay with |
| Thee | Old English term for “you” |
| Thou | Old English term for “you” |
| Thy | Old English term for “your” |
| vale | valley |
| wert | Old English term for “were” |
| yonder | “over there”, someplace distant |
The incapability to accomplish maternity tadalafil uk may be because of alcohol and smoking. Garlic Many people are reluctant to have garlic due to its rapid conversion to DHEA or dehydroepiandrosterone. viagra professional canada VigRx plus pill also contains Bioperine which helps further in treating the problem. brand viagra pfizer Generic is a cheap prescription drug Generic cialis usa online drugs work exactly the same but they cost lesser.