We Three Kings of Orient Are
The first widely popular American Christmas carol, written by a priest and musician for a Christmas his young nieces and nephews
The year is coming to a close, so let's do some Christmas Friday Classic Hymns. I've already done a few of these over the years, so check out the ones I've already done before. But today I want to do one that wasn't really one of my favourites until the last few years, but now I really love this one, and I've been including it in our church Christmas carol programmes the last few years.
We Three Kings of Orient Are. What a cool song! What are your memories of the song? Do you have any new memories? Any particular thoughts on the song? Share them in the comments below. I'd love to hear how the song has impacted your life. Subscribe to the channel if you haven't already and let me get into the history of this.
The Story Behind "We Three Kings"
John Henry Hopkins Jr was born in Pennsylvania in 1820, and he was the son of a bishop in the Episcopal Church, a man who became the eighth presiding bishop, in fact, of the Episcopal Church. Hopkins himself graduated from the University of Vermont in 1839 and worked as a journalist for some time in New York City. He planned a career in law, but ended up changing course and studying theology a couple of years later.
After graduating from the General Theological Seminary, he then became a professor of music there. For years he served as a deacon. He was ordained as a deacon in 1850, and it was later in 1872 that he was ordained as a priest. For the next 19 years he served as a priest in various congregations and was well known. He actually ended up doing the address at President Ulysses Grant's funeral in the 1880s.
But it was during his time as a music instructor at the General Theological Seminary that he wrote We Three Kings. It was in the late 1850s - no one quite knows the date, but 1857 or 1858. He wrote it for a Christmas pageant. Most people think it was for his nieces and nephews and for their Christmas pageant that year.
Hopkins wrote the music and the words himself, and after it was performed there for the first time, he published it in a journal that he was working on as "A New Carol." As the song began to spread, it really became the first popular American Christmas carol. Most of the other popular carols were written in other parts of the world, and so this one is known as the Great American Christmas Carol.
Hopkins died in 1891 after a fruitful life of Christian service. His song continued to spread and spread and spread. It began being published in all sorts of hymnals and began to be praised by hymnal editors and music journalists, because really it is a special hymn and it has a particular feel to it that is unlike, I think, many of the others that we know and love. It's in a minor key, for one thing, and this gives it a very sort of edgy sound in the verses, and then it changes to a major key in the chorus, which makes it sound triumphant. It's really beautifully done.
What Do the Lyrics of "We Three Kings" Mean?
So let me take you through the words that he wrote.
Verse 1
The song is about the three kings. We three kings of Orient are, it begins - the Magi or the wise men from the east. He calls them the Three Kings of Orient. He pictures them bearing gifts. Of course, that's what Matthew 2 says. Some people have linked this to a verse in Psalm 72, which talks about kings of Tarshish and kings of Sheba bringing tribute. Many people believe that these were those very kings that had been prophesied. Because Matthew doesn't say that they were kings, he just says that they were Magi or wise men. But linking them to the prophesied kings of Psalm 72 seems like it might fit.
Bearing gifts we traverse afar. Field and fountain, moor and mountain. They are coming from far away - over fields and fountains and all over the place - to come and see this young boy who is the King of the Jews, following yonder star. Matthew 2, of course, has this picture of them seeing the star when it rose and coming to worship Him.
The Chorus
That star is the feature of the chorus. The chorus goes, O star of wonder, star of light, star with royal beauty bright. I love that - it's a wondrous thing and it's a star of light. Of course it's the light that guided them. It shone bright with a royal beauty. I love "royal beauty" - so it's not just any old star, it's the star that's leading them to see true royalty and to encounter the real King.
Westward leading, still proceeding. Of course, they came from the east, so it's leading them west as they proceed to the place where Jesus is.
Then, guide us to Thy perfect light. I like this because as much as the star is bright and shining, it's guiding them to the real light, the perfect light, which is Jesus Christ. Remember Jesus said, "I am the light of the world," and so that's what the star was all about - leading them to the real light in Jesus.
Now, originally, Hopkins wanted verses two, three and four to be sung by different singers representing the wise men. So verse one is everyone singing together. Verses two, three and four are the three different kings singing one at a time.
Verse 2
Verse two says this: Born a king on Bethlehem's plain, gold I bring to crown Him again. So it's the first king bringing gold. He's saying “this child in Bethlehem is born as a King!” Remember it was prophesied in Micah 5:2 that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem.
King forever, ceasing never, over us all to reign. So he was a King, but he brings this gold to crown this King again - although He's already King. Notice that he's not the one actually making Him King. He's already King, but he's crowning Him again. He'll be King forever, never ceasing. That reminds me of Isaiah 9, which talks about how the increase of His government, this King that would come, the increase of His government would never end.
So Jesus is always King - from their time, from always, from the beginning, but never ending. He'll be reigning over all of us, over us all to reign. So even this king knew that he came under Jesus. This is why Jesus is called the King of kings in Revelation - capital K "King" of lower-case k "kings." So that king, this man from the east, knew that they were underneath Jesus and they're all under Him.
Verse 3
Verse three is the next king singing: Frankincense to offer have I. Frankincense, of course, was used in temple worship and in priestly offerings.
Incense owns a deity nigh. That's a confusing sentence - it's not phrasing that we would use today. He's talking about how Christ is divine. He's a deity. He's not just an earthly King, but He is a divine King who has come near. This incense that he's bringing is to give Him glory, just as incense was burned in the tabernacle. You can read about that in Exodus 34.
Prayer and praising, voices raising, worshipping God on high. So this king wanted to praise and worship and join in all the voices worshipping this Jesus. All the angels, of course, were singing and he wanted to join in. That's what Christmas is about, isn't it? It's about worshipping God on high - worshipping Jesus who was God on high, who came and humbled Himself to be in a manger.
Verse 4
The fourth verse is the next king, the one bringing myrrh. Myrrh is mine, its bitter perfume breathes a life of gathering gloom. That's interesting - bitter perfume. Myrrh was used, of course, in burial preparations. Maybe this is kind of a foreshadowing of the death of Christ. A life of gathering gloom. Remember, Jesus didn't have an easy life. Not that He was gloomy and walked around miserable - I believe He was joyful. We see a lot of joy in Jesus wherever He went - but nonetheless, there was this shadow of grief over Him. Isaiah 53 calls Him the suffering servant and talks about Him being a man of sorrows. So maybe this myrrh represented the bitterness of the cross that He would have to endure as the Messiah.
Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying, sealed in the stone-cold tomb. Yes, this myrrh that he brought represented the bitterness of the life Christ would live, as He would sorrow and would deal with sorrow and He would sigh and be laid down in death into that tomb. Maybe you remember that Nicodemus brought bitter perfume - aloes and myrrh - for Jesus's burial.
So it takes a dark turn there. But I think it's important that it does, because it's telling the whole Jesus story.
Verse 5
Verse five is supposed to be everyone singing now, again, now that the three wise men have each sung their part. Then joining together, we sing this glorious resurrection at the end.
Glorious now behold Him arise, King and God and sacrifice. He's risen! He's risen! Behold that He's risen from the grave. He's not there in that tomb that verse four spoke of. Those three things - King and God and sacrifice - the gold was for Him as a King, the frankincense was for Him as a deity, and the myrrh was for Him as a sacrificial lamb, essentially someone giving up His life.
So they're bringing all three back here at the end. Alleluia, alleluia, sounds through the earth and skies. So all through the earth and skies there is this worship of the King, this baby who would die and then rise again as that one true God. I actually know a different line there at the end - "earth to heaven replies" - so the angels in heaven are singing Alleluia, and earth joins in and replies. I'm not sure which one was first, but I couldn't quite figure that out in my research.
Conclusion
What a beautiful song! It brought it to life for me, understanding these three different kings, each bringing their gifts and what each one represented. Isn't that an interesting way of looking at it?
So what do you think of the song? Is there a particular line or verse that means something to you as you listen to it today? Are you going to sing it at your church this Christmas? I definitely look forward to singing this with our congregation.
Before we sing it, I want to thank you for donating - many of you who donate on my Patreon, where I put downloads of all of the songs, if you're interested, as well as extra daily devotions there. If you haven't checked out my Daily Devotions, by the way, I hope you'll do that. If you like the way that I teach, you'll enjoy those. Thank you for your support on PayPal and in all those different ways. It really helps me to keep this ministry going at the same time as trying to lead my church in a pastoral capacity. God bless you for that.
Come, let's sing the song together and worship the God Most High.
References
Sources:
1. Hymnary.org - "We Three Kings of Orient Are" - https://hymnary.org/text/we_three_kings_of_orient_are
2. UMC Discipleship Ministries - "History of Hymns: We Three Kings" - https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-we-three-kings
3. Wikipedia - "We Three Kings" - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_Three_Kings
4. Wikipedia - "John Henry Hopkins Jr." - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Henry_Hopkins_Jr.
5. Songfacts - "We Three Kings Of Orient Are by John Henry Hopkins Jr." - https://www.songfacts.com/facts/john-henry-hopkins-jr/we-three-kings-of-orient-are
6. Hymnology Archive - "We Three Kings" - https://www.hymnologyarchive.com/we-three-kings
7. St. John's Episcopal Church - "We Three Kings: A Brief History" - https://www.stjcsh.org/blog/we-three-kings-a-brief-history/
8. Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology - "John Henry Hopkins, Jr." - https://hymnology.hymnsam.co.uk/j/john-henry-hopkins,-jr
