Let me start out by questioning the very supposition in the above title: did the angels in the Christmas story actually do any singing at all?
Here’s the relevant text from the translation I know best, the King James Version:
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, . . . And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. (Luke 2:9-10, 13-14)
To be fair, there are a few translations that do use the word “singing” instead of “saying,” but the vast majority don’t. Here’s the scoop on the actual Greek:
The word translated as “saying” in Luke 2:13 is λεγοντων (legontōn) from the root λεγω (legō). This is a very common word in Scripture, and it means “to speak or talk, with apparent focus upon the content of what is said.”
But what about the word translated as “praising”? Well:
The Greek word translated as “praising” is αινουντων (ainountōn) from the root αινεω (aineō), and in a general sense, it means “to speak of the excellence of a person, object, or event.” (this and above quoted in “Hark! The Herald Angels Said”? Clearing Up Misconceptions)
And (just to be a complete and total word nerd), that same word for “praising” is also used of the shepherds:
And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them. (2:20)
If you want to picture the angels as singing (which isn’t completely ruled out by the text), you need to have the same image of the shepherds. But I haven’t been able to find any traditional carols that include lines for those men to sing. They’re always the singees, not the singers, as it were. (Let me know if there are any singing shepherds by messaging me in the comments. I may be missing something obvious.)
If the angels probably didn’t sing, can we at least picture their voices as sweet and soft? Oh man! No, we absolutely can’t do anything of the kind. Once again let’s go back to the actual text: the shepherds are “sore [very] afraid” when the angel appeared. When you imagine the scene as it’s actually described you can’t blame the poor guys. Here they are, out in the middle of the night, in the fields, with no lights. It’s absolutely quiet—except for a few sheep bleatings. Some of them are probably asleep while others are “keeping watch over their flocks.” Then, “suddenly an angel appeared among them, and the landscape shone bright with the glory of the Lord.” It’s a dazzling, blinding blast, strong enough to light up the whole countryside, and in the middle of it is . . . a figure. Not a pretty, appealing creature, and not necessarily one with wings. A warlike figure, one might say, because when the angel’s cohorts appear they’re part of the “a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God:”1 That’s right: “armies of heaven.” They’re terrifying. But their appearance is probably pretty brief, since they have only one line to deliver: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will to men.” (If you’d like to read more about their message, go to my earlier post: “What Did the Angels Mean in their Words to the Shepherds?”)
That initial figure has given them very specific instructions: “And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.” One of these days I’ll do a whole post about the misconceptions around “no room for them in the inn” and “lying in a manger” ideas. I’ll just say here that the little rustic stable usually pictured in manger scenes probably isn’t accurate. Have you ever wondered, though, how the angel’s information was used by the shepherds? They seem to know exactly where to go:
And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. (Luke 2:15-16 KJV)
Surely there was more than one manger, or feeding trough, in the entire village! What did the shepherds do, go up and down the streets looking into everyone’s back yard? We don’t tend to ask these questions. But the angel seems to think that he’s given the shepherds enough information, or else why would he have said that the manger/swaddling clothes combo is a “sign,” something that points directly to the place where the Christ child has recently been born? There are lots of intriguing ideas out there on this subject, so for now I’d recommend this blog post: “How Did the Shepherds Know Where to Look?”
But this post started out asking about the nature of the angels’ message as portrayed in Christmas music. I was prodded into this subject by a selection that my own choir, the Cherry Creek Chorale in the Denver area, is singing for our Dec. 2021 concert: “Sweetest Music, Softly Stealing,” with lyrics by someone named G. W. Brindley. No one seems to know anything about him; his text shows up in a 1916 songbook Carols Old and Carols New: For Use at Christmas and Other Seasons of the Christian Year. I’ll post the full lyrics at the end of this post, as I will for another piece: “There Is Faint Music.” These settings are truly beautiful, and I don’t want to spoil anyone’s enjoyment of them by my carping on, of all things, biblical accuracy! So perhaps you can imagine that the singing is coming from Mary in lullabies to her newborn. Both texts could (sort of) support that view if you squint pretty hard, and there’s nothing to the contrary in the Gospel accounts. (I feel a post about Mary coming on, too. She’s quite an impressive person in her own right.)
Here are the two versions out there by contemporary composers of “Sweetest Music.”
First, the one we’re singing, by Elaine Hagenberg:
And here’s another version by Brad Nix (sadly not a live performance):
Both composers have cut quite a bit from the words. Here are the complete lyrics:
Sweetest music, softly stealing
Thro’ the silence of the night;
To the shepherds, now revealing,
Christ is born, the Source of light.
Chorus
Glory unto God the Father,
Who hath sent His only Son,
That He may all nations gather
Round His feet and make them one.
Now in David’s ancient city
He is born, the angels say;
God the Father, full of pity,
Sends His Son to you today. Chorus
Shepherds, to the stable hasten,
There your Saviour Christ is born,
Son of Mary, lowly maiden,
On this first glad Christmas morn! Chorus
He from highest heav’n descending
Comes on earth your woes to heal,
That your ev’ry want attending,
Love of God He may reveal. Chorus
And here’s another “soft music” piece, this by contemporary composer Dan Forrest, with lyrics from a completely unknown author, Nancy Buckley. The composer says that his publisher happened upon the lyrics and suggested that Forrest use them. I have been unable to find out anything further myself:
Here’s the complete poem:
There is faint music in the night,
And pale wings fanned by silver flight;
A frosty hill with tender glow
Of countless stars that shine on snow.
A shelter from the winter storm,
A straw-lined manger, safe and warm,
And Mary crooning lullabies,
To hush her Baby’s sleepy sighs.
Her eyes are rapt upon His Face,
Unheeded here is time and space;
Her heart filled with blinding joy,
For God’s own Son–her little Boy!
1Both quotations in this paragraph are from The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
