Hymn

The hymn in biblical usage denoted a song of praise addressed to God, distinguished in the New Testament from psalms (psalmoi) and spiritual songs (ōdai pneumatikai) in the triad of worship music mentioned in Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16. The Greek hymnos carried the sense of a formal song of divine praise, and the verb hymneō (to sing a hymn) appears in Matthew 26:30 and Mark 14:26 for the singing of the Hallel psalms (Psalms 113–118) at the conclusion of the Passover meal—the final act of Jesus and his disciples before Gethsemane.

The New Testament letters preserve what are widely believed to be fragments of early Christian hymns: Philippians 2:6–11 (the kenosis hymn), Colossians 1:15–20 (the cosmic Christ hymn), 1 Timothy 3:16, and the doxologies of Revelation. These suggest that hymn-singing was among the earliest and most characteristic practices of Christian worship. The exhortation to sing with grace in your hearts to the Lord (Colossians 3:16) makes hymn-singing both a communal act and an inward disposition of gratitude, with the sung word of Christ dwelling richly in the congregation.