This song was first published in
1588 as "Es Ist ein Ros' Entsprungen," a medieval Christmas
carol. It originally had twenty-three
stanzas, each comparing Mary to a rose.
This idea came from a mystical rose tradition associated with a verse in
the Song of Solomon, “I am the rose of
Sharon” (2:1).
When the Reformation rolled across
You may be wondering, “Who is this
fellow, Jesse?”
Jesse, the father of David, first
appears in the Bible in I Samuel 16. He
had eight sons, seven of whom were rejected as the choice for the king of
Eventually, David’s kingdom was cut down like a tree, leaving behind the stump of Jesse. About thirty generations after David, Jesus was born as King of the Jews. This is why we now sing about Christ as the shoot who came out of the stump of Jesse.
Lo! How a Rose E’er Blooming
Lo, how a Rose e’er blooming
From tender stem hath sprung!
Of Jesse’s lineage coming,
As men of old have sung.
It came, a flow’ret bright,
Amid the cold of winter,
When half spent was the night.
Isaiah ’twas foretold it,
The Rose I have in mind;
With Mary we behold it,
The virgin mother kind.
To show God’s love aright,
She bore to men a Savior,
When half spent was the night.
This Flow’r, whose fragrance tender
With sweetness fills the air,
Dispels with glorious splendor
The darkness everywhere.
True man, yet very God,
From sin and death He saves us,
And lightens every load.
And lightens every load.
O Savior, Child of Mary,
Who felt our human woe,
O Savior, King of glory, Who dost
Our weakness know;
Bring us at length we pray,
To the Bright courts of heaven
And to the endless day!
What to do:
✞ Do you know Jesus as your Savior, King of glory? If not, accept Him today.
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