Poetry sung to the praise of God and for the mutual encouragement of believers. Hymns and songs are not clearly distinguished in Scripture, but the NT contains examples of possible early Christian hymns.
Hymns are sung to the praise of God's name
Psalm 40:3; Romans 15:8–11 Because of Jesus Christ the Gentiles are now called upon to join with God's people in praising God. See also Deuteronomy 32:43; 2 Samuel 22:50; Psalm 18:49, Psalm 117:1; Hebrews 2:12
He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD.
For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of God’s truth, to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs, so that the Gentiles may glorify God for His mercy. As it is written: “Therefore I will praise You among the Gentiles; I will sing hymns to Your name.” Again, it says: “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people.” And again: “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and extol Him, all you peoples.”
Christians are to sing hymns together for mutual encouragement
1 Corinthians 14:26 See also Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16 “Psalms” refers to the OT psalms (see Luke 20:42; Luke 24:44; Acts 1:20; Acts 13:33) some of which may have been set to music by Christians. “Psalm” could also describe a song newly composed for Christian worship (see 1 Corinthians 14:26 where “hymn” translates Greek “psalmos”).
What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a psalm or a teaching, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. All of these must be done to build up the church.
Examples of singing hymns
By Jesus Christ and his disciples
Matthew 26:30 parallel Mark 14:26
By Paul and Silas in prison
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.
Examples of hymns
The Benedictus: Zechariah's song of thanksgiving at the birth of his son, John the Baptist
See also Luke 1:68–79
The Magnificat: Mary's song of praise as the future mother of the Lord
The Nunc Dimittis: Simeon's response to seeing the child Jesus
Other examples of possible early Christian hymns
Romans 11:33–36; Ephesians 5:14; Philippians 2:6–11; Colossians 1:15–20; 1 Timothy 3:16
Related themes
Dictionary of Bible Themes © 1999 Martin Manser, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, via Bible Aquifer. Formatted for this site, with Scripture from the Berean Standard Bible.