Behold the Savior of Mankind

Representative Text

1. Behold the Savior of mankind
Nailed to the shameful tree!
How vast the love that him inclined
To bleed and die for thee!

2. Hark, how he groans! while nature shakes,
And Earth's strong pillars bend!
The temple's veil in sunder breaks,
The solid marbles rend.

3. 'Tis done! the precious ransom's paid;
Receive my soul, he cries;
See where he bows his sacred head!
He bows his head and dies.

4. But soon he'll break death's envious chain
And in full glory shine;
O Lamb of God, was ever pain,
Was ever love like thine!

Source: Hymns and Devotions for Daily Worship #357

Author: Samuel Wesley

Father of Samuel Wesley, John Wesley, and Charles Wesley. See also in: Hymn Writers of the Church… Go to person page >

Behold the Saviour of mankind. Samuel Wesley, sen. [Good Friday.] Written previous to the fire at his Rectory of Epworth, which was burnt down in 1709. At this fire John Wesley was saved from death by being rescued through the bedroom window by some of the parishioners. During the fire the manuscript of this hymn was blown into the Rectory garden, where it was subsequently found. It was first published in J. Wesley's Psalms & Hymns, Charlestown, South Carolina, 1736-7, p. 46; also in the Wesley Hymns and Sacred Poems, 1739, in 4 stanzas of 4 lines; and again in the Wesleyan Hymn Book in 1780, revised edition, 1875, No. 22. From that collection it has passed into various hymnals both in Great Britain and America. The original contains 6 stanzas of 4 lines. Stanzas ii. and v. are usually omitted.

-- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Notes

Behold the Saviour of mankind. Samuel Wesley, sen. [Good Friday.] Written previous to the fire at his Rectory of Epworth, which was burnt down in 1709. At this fire John Wesley was saved from death by being rescued through the bedroom window by some of the parishioners. During the fire the manuscript of this hymn was blown into the Rectory garden, where it was subsequently found. It was first published in J. Wesley's Psalms & Hymns, Charlestown, South Carolina, 1736-7, p. 46; also in the Wesley Hymns and Sacred Poems, 1739, in 4 stanzas of 4 lines; and again in the Wesleyan Hymn Book in 1780, revised edition, 1875, No. 22. From that collection it has passed into various hymnals both in Great Britain and America. The original contains 6 stanzas of 4 lines. Stanzas ii. and v. are usually omitted.

-- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Tune

COMMUNION (Jenks)


WINDSOR (Tye)


MARTYRDOM (Wilson)

MARTYRDOM was originally an eighteenth-century Scottish folk melody used for the ballad "Helen of Kirkconnel." Hugh Wilson (b. Fenwick, Ayrshire, Scotland, c. 1766; d. Duntocher, Scotland, 1824) adapted MARTYRDOM into a hymn tune in duple meter around 1800. A triple-meter version of the tune was fir…

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Timeline

Media

The Cyber Hymnal #448
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Instances

Instances (301 - 387 of 387)

The Gospel Trumpeter #d15

The Harmonia Sacra. 14th ed. #d30

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The Harp #274

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The Harp. 2nd ed. #a274

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The Heart and Voice #142c

The Highway Hymnal #d34

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The Hymn Book of the African Methodist Episcopal Church #114

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The Hymn Book of the Free Methodist Church #92

The Joyful News Song Book; a Collection of Hymns for Evangelistic Services. Enlarged ed. #d15

The Knoxville Harmony of Music Made Easy #d8

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The Lecture-Room Hymn-Book #H63

The Lesser Hymnal #d27

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The Liturgy and Hymns of the American Province of the Unitas Fratrum #136

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The Lutheran Hymnal #176

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The Lyrica #100

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The Melodeon #110

The Methodist Hymn-Book with Tunes #193

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The Methodist Hymnal (Text only edition) #142

The Methodist Hymnal #136

The Methodist Hymnal #428

The Methodist Hymnal #136

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The Methodist Hymnal #142

The Methodist Pocket Hymn Book. 35th ed. #d31

The Methodist Pocket Hymn Book. Rev. #d32

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The Methodist Pocket Hymn-book, revised and improved #CCIX

The Methodist Protestant Church Hymnal #d36

The Millennial Harp #d47

The Mission Hymnal #d8

The National Baptist Hymn Book #d60

The National Baptist Hymn Book #ad60

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The National Baptist Hymnal #158

The New Christian Harp. 10th ed. #d23

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The New Harmonia Sacra #102b

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The New Hymn Book #30

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The New Jubilee Harp #S42

The Old Baptist Hymn Book #d34

The People's Praise Book or Carmina Sanctorum #d55

The Pilgrim's Harp #d16

The Primitive Hymns #d59

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The Primitive Methodist Church Hymnal #172

The Providence Selection of Hymns, Supplementary to Dr. Watts. #d34

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The Psalmist #224

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The Psalmist #224

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The Psalmody #204

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The Reformed Methodist Pocket Hymnal #I.79

The Reward, for Sunday Schools #d4

The Sacred Harp #292

The Sacred Lute #d31

The Sacred Lyre #d38

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The Sacred Lyre #98

The Saints' Harp #d120

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The Salvation Army Music #23

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The Sanctuary Hymnal, published by Order of the General Conference of the United Brethren in Christ #190

The Select Hymn and Song Book #d35

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The Seventh-Day Adventist Hymn and Tune Book #323

The Shenandoah Harmony #6A

The Soldier's Hymn Book #d9

The Song Book of the Salvation Army #68

The Songs of Zion #d21

The Songs of Zion #d20

The Southern Psalmist #d76

The Southern Psalmist. New ed. #d82

The Thanksgiving #d23

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The Tribute of Praise and Methodist Protestant Hymn Book #288

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The Tribute of Praise #288

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The Tribute of Praise #288

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The United Methodist Hymnal #293

The Victory #d38

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The Virginia Selection of Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual Songs #239

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The Voice of Praise #197

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The Wesleyan Methodist Hymnal #78

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The Wesleyan Sacred Harp #91

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The Wesleyan Sacred Harp #91

The Western Harp #d23

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The Wreath of Gems #11

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The Zion Songster #304

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The Zion Songster #304

Triune Hymnal #d20

Union Hymns #d47

Vestry Harp #d6

Virginia Selection of Psalms #d43

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Winnowed Hymns #112a

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Wyeth's Repository of Sacred Music #136

Pages

Exclude 378 pre-1979 instances
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