Classic Hymns and Their Stories
Puzzle 58 · Across Languages and Borders · Page 84 in print
Now Thank We All Our God
Rinkart’s hymn of thanks appeared in print in 1636, before the severe epidemic that struck Eilenburg the following year.
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The words
Beaumont
Geoffrey Beaumont, composer of GRACIAS.
Eilenburg
The town where Rinkart served.
Famine
The shortage of food described in his biography.
Frank Weir
The musician named on the 1957 Folk Mass recording.
Gifts
The blessings named in the first stanza.
Gracias
Beaumont’s alternative tune for this text.
Gratitude
The hymn’s expression of thanks.
Guidance
The help requested when the singer is perplexed.
Johann Cruger
The composer associated with the hymn’s lasting tune.
Martin Rinkart
The German hymn writer.
Mother's Arms
The image of care at the beginning of life.
Peace
The blessing requested in the second stanza.
Plague
The epidemic that struck his town.
Refugees
The displaced people who crowded into Eilenburg.
Sirach
Sirach (Ecclesiasticus), classed with the Apocrypha in the cited source, supplies the passage behind the first two stanzas.
Sources
- Nun danket alle GottChris Fenner et al., Hymnology Archive
- Now Thank We All Our GodMartin Rinkart, translated by Catherine Winkworth, public-domain hymn text via Hymnary