William Chatterton Dix – What Child Is This?

English hymnist William Chatterton Dix wrote several Christmas songs.  Though he was professionally known as a marine insurance broker, he was passionate about writing hymns and carols.  His most famous works include To You, O Lord, Our Hearts We Raise, As with Gladness Men of Old, and What Child Is This?  It was thought that the latter was paired with the tune of Greensleeves, a traditional English folklore song, thanks to the efforts of John Stainer.

Side Note: I’ve chosen to use the lyrics from Version 1, which is said to be adapted from Dix’s poem The Manger Throne.  Version 1 contains more versions of Refrain that I would like to explore for this review.  See more details at https://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/what_child_is_this_version_1.htm.

Note to new users: This is a different kind of review site!  Read About the Berean Test and Evaluation Criteria prior to reading this review.

1. What message does the song communicate?

This song contains the usual elements: shepherds (who aren’t guarding Jesus), singing angels (who are probably not singing), visiting kings, gifts, Mary, and baby Jesus.  It tells us that Jesus is the King of kings, the Christ, and Mary’s son.  It also references the cross as the reason why we celebrate Christmas, that Christ was born to die for us.

Score: 9/10

2. How much of the lyrics line up with Scripture?

Most of it agrees with Scripture, except the guarding shepherds and singing angels.

This song is public domain.

[Verse 1]

What Child is this who, laid to rest
On Mary’s lap is sleeping?

This question is answered in Refrain 1.

Whom Angels greet with anthems sweet,

“Anthem” means a song or hymn of praise or gladness.  If we examine the text in Luke 2:13, the angels are speaking, not singing.  Which word does Dix mean by “anthem”, song or hymn?  The answer is in Refrain 1, line 2.  It comes from the Koine Greek word “legó”, which means “to say”.  That doesn’t mean that angels can’t sing (Job 38:7’s “morning stars” could be seen as angels), but the text doesn’t say that they sang.

As for the Koine Greek term Aineo (to praise), according to Bible Study Tools, praiseworthy singing is a possible translation for this word.  However, no major translation translates it with singing in mind.

While shepherds watch are keeping?

The shepherds were watching their flocks by night before the angels arrived (Luke 2:8-9).

[Refrain 1]

This, this is Christ the King,

The angels called this child “Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11).

Whom shepherds guard and Angels sing;

I don’t recall any Scripture that stated the shepherds guarded baby Jesus.  Also, the angels weren’t singing.  See Luke 2:13.

Haste, haste, to bring Him laud,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.

Mary gave birth to Jesus (Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:18-25, and Luke 1:26-38), who was praised by the angels (Luke 2:14) and shepherds (Luke 2:15-20).

[Verse 2]

Why lies He in such mean estate,
Where ox and ass are feeding?

Great question!  The answer, of course, is that there wasn’t room in the inn (Luke 2:7).  It is heavily assumed that animals were present, feeding while they perhaps observed (and possibly worshipped) Jesus.

Good Christians, fear, for sinners here
The silent Word is pleading.

That is, the Word pleads that we remember the reason for the season, outlined in Refrain 2.

[Refrain 2]

Nails, spear shall pierce Him through,
The cross be borne for me, for you.

Jesus was born to die for us (Isaiah 53:1-12, Matthew 20:28, Mark 10:45, John 1:29, John 3:16, John 19:30, Acts 4:12, Acts 20:28, Romans 5:6-10, Romans 6:23, 1 Corinthians 1:30, 1 Corinthians 6:20, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Galatians 1:3-4, Galatians 3:13, Ephesians 1:7, Colossians 2:14, 1 Timothy 2:6, Titus 2:14, Hebrews 9:12, Hebrews 9:15, Hebrews 9:22, Hebrews 9:26, 1 Peter 1:17-21, 1 Peter 2:24, 1 Peter 1:18-19, 1 John 1:7, 1 John 2:1-2, and Revelation 5:9).

Hail, hail the Word made flesh,

As stated in John 1:14, the Word, Jesus, became one of us.

The Babe, the Son of Mary.

Repeats Refrain 1, line 4.

[Verse 3]

So bring Him incense, gold and myrrh,
Come peasant, king to own Him;

To “own” in this context is not about possessing Christ as property.  Rather, it means “to acknowledge to be true, valid, or as claimed”.  I talked about the peasant shepherds in Verse 1 and Refrain 1.  Jesus had other visitors, including wise men, kings, who offered Jesus gifts of incense, gold and myrrh (Matthew 2:11).

The King of kings salvation brings,

This baby is both King of kings (1 Timothy 6:13-16, Revelation 17:14, and Revelation 19:11-16) and Savior (see Refrain 2, lines 1 and 2).

Let loving hearts enthrone Him.

That is, to place on a throne in our hearts, or to allow Christ to rule over us via surrender (Psalm 43:5, Isaiah 64:8, Matthew 10:38, Matthew 11:28-30, Matthew 16:24, Mark 8:34-38, Mark 10:28, Luke 9:23, Luke 14:27, John 15:1-11, Romans 6:13, Romans 12:1-2, Galatians 2:20, Philippians 2:5-8, Hebrews 11:6, James 4:7-10, and 1 Peter 5:6).

[Refrain 3]

Raise, raise a song on high,
The Virgin sings her lullaby.

There’s disagreement about whether or not Mary’s Magnificat in Luke 1:46-55 was sung or stated.  Either way, it’s likely that Mary sang to Jesus.

Joy, joy for Christ is born,

Christ’s birth is a joyous event, celebrated initially by the angels (Luke 2:14) and annually by Christians today.

The Babe, the Son of Mary.

Repeats Refrain 1, line 4.

Score: 8/10

3. How would an outsider interpret the song?

Unbelievers will easily recognize this as Christian, even if it wasn’t drummed in their heads during the Christmas season.  It talks about angels, Jesus, and the cross, all pointers towards Christianity.  They probably aren’t aware that the angels don’t sing nor does this affect their interpretation.  The word “sinner”, though normally thought of as a person who makes a mistake, is contrasted with “Christian”, defining it as an unbeliever.  Fair enough.

Score: 10/10

4. What does this song glorify?

While it glorifies God that this song faithfully represents much of the events surrounding the Christmas accounts, its singing angels and guarding sheep are not Biblically factual or strongly supported, somewhat veiling it.

Score: 8/10

Closing Comments

William Chatterton Dix’s What Child Is This? is a decent Christmas classic.  Almost all of it faithfully adapts the classic accounts of Jesus’ birth in Matthew and Luke, glorifying God except for the guarding shepherds and singing angels.  Despite these issues, unbelievers should not have trouble interpreting it as the nativity “story”.

If it could be sung as “shepherds watch and angels say”, it might be useful for corporate worship.

Final Score: 8.5/10

Artist Info

Track: What Child Is This? (listen to Christ Tomlin’s version of this song)

Artist: William Chatterton Dix

Album:  N/A

Genre: Christmas, Hymn

Release Year: 1865

Duration: N/A

Agree?  Disagree?  Don’t be shy or have a cow!  Calmly and politely state your case in a comment, below.

Updates:

10/25/2022 – Upon recent information from Heather’s comment on Joseph Mohr’s Silent Night, I updated my commentary on the singing angels. While this rose section 1’s score, the overall rating is unaffected.