By Deborah Macomber, age 17
The author of this hymn was Jeremiah Rankin. He was born in 1828, and died in 1904.
Mr. Rankin said that this hymn was written in 1882 as a “Christian good-by.” No occasion or person requested this hymn. It was deliberately composed as a hymn on the origin of “good-by” which is short for “God with you.”
In Greek, God be with you is caivrw, which also means “God-speed.” God-speed was used as a general greeting of hello or good-by several years ago. It is translated several times in the Bible as “hail,” “farewell,” etc. Here are examples:
Matthew 28:9 And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him.
Luke 1:28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.
Acts 23: 30 And when it was told me how that the Jews laid wait for the man, I sent straightway to thee, and gave commandment to his accusers also to say before thee what they had against him. Farewell.
II Corinthians 13:11 Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.
We must be careful whom we say good-by to.
II John 10-11 If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: 11For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.
Jeremiah Rankin mentioned that he sent the first stanza of this song to two different composers, one well known, the other not so thoroughly educated in music. He selected the composition of the latter, and after a few minor changes, sang it in the first Congregational Church in Washington, D.C., of which he was pastor.
The composer chosen was William Tomer, born October 5, 1833. He served in the Civil War, afterwards becoming a schoolteacher in New Jersey. At the time he composed this, he was serving as music director at the Grace Methodist Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C.
As you sing this hymn, notice how each verse defines another meaning of “God be with You.”
Resources:
Osbeck, K.W. 101 More Hymn Stories. (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Kregel Publications, 1985). p. 97.
Osbeck, K.W. Amazing Grace. (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Kregel Publications, 1990). p. 67
Strong, James. The New Strong's Dictionary of Hebrew and Greek Words (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1997, c1996) G5463.
Swanson, J. Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains. electronic ed. (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997) GGK5897.
The Holy Bible: King James Version. Electronic edition of the 1769 edition of the 1611 Authorized Version. (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc. 1995).
