When Mary Had Come, the Lord Jesus to Seek

DESCRIPTION: "When Mary she came, the Lord Jesus to seek" after the crucifixion, the earth quakes. An angel tells her Jesus has risen. He meets the disciples and tells them what they should do, then goes up into heaven. A "man in white raiment" say he will return
AUTHOR: Edward W. Billups? (The Sweet Songster)
EARLIEST DATE: 1854 (The Sweet Songster)
KEYWORDS: religious Jesus death | resurrection
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Roberts/Agey-InThePine #108, "Our Lord Has Risen" (1 text, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: Edward W. Billups, _The Sweet Songster: A Collection of the Most Popular and Approved Songs, Hymns, and Ballads_, Arrowood Brothers, 1854, p. 300, Hymn 260, "(no title)" (1 text)
NOTES [675 words]: Hymns in The Sweet Songster are mostly unattributed, but a few have a name in brackets by the hymn number, e.g. #262 is marked "Hymn 262. C.M. [WATTS" -- implying that it is by Isaac Watts. Since this song is attributed to "[Billups," I assume he is claiming authorship.
Hymnary.org does not include this piece; as of November 9, 2023, it lists only one song by Billups, "Bleeding Hearts Defiled by Sin." John Julian's magisterial A Dictionary of Hymnology doesn't have an entry on him. I couldn't find any biographical information on the Internet, either (though I confess to not trying very hard). I'm amazed that anyone managed to remember the piece; it certainly wasn't widely published!
The version in The Sweet Songster is twelve verses; the Roberts/Agey text has nine, corresponding to #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #8, #9, #11, #12.
This looks to me as if it was composed by a man who had heard a lot of sermons but didn't actually read the Bible to write the hymn. Examples:
-- "When Mary had come, the Lord Jesus to seed, At the dawn of the day, on the first of the week" -- Matthew 28:1 says "After the sabbath, on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb." Mark 16:1 says that it was "after the sabbath" that Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome brought spices. Luke 24:1 says that "they" (unnamed) brought spices. John 20:1 says that Mary Magdalene (only) went to the tomb "while it was still dark."
-- "With spices and ointments of richest perfume." As we say, Mark and Luke mention spices (no ointment). This makes me think more of John 19:39, though, where, after Joseph of Arimathea has begged the body of Jesus, Nicodemus brings "a mixture of myrrh and aloes."
-- "And as she approached, the earth then did quake": This seems to be from Matthew; Matthew 27:51 says that the earth shook when Jesus died, and Matthew 18:2 describes a "great" earthquake as the women approach the tomb; this is not paralleled in the other gospels
-- "An angel descended and rolled back the stone, From the door of the tomb, and he sat thereupon": Matthew 16:2 says an angel rolled back the stone and sat non it. Mark 16:4 says it was rolled back already when they got there, and a young man (not an angel) sitting there. Luke 24:2 also says the stone was already rolled away, and they meet TWO men in dazzling clothing. John 20:1 says that the stone had been "taken" away before Mary got there.
-- "His face was like lightning, his raiment like snow": More like Matthew 28:3 than Mark 16:5 or Luke 24:4
-- "He said to the woman, Fear not": Matthew 28:5 says "Do not be afraid"; in Mark it is "Do not be amazed," and Luke and John are not paralleled
-- "He has risen, as he prophesied" -- Matthew 28:6, Mark 16:6, both say "He has risen"; so do most texts of Luke 24:6, though two important manuscripts omit (D and most of the early Latin translations. Some recent English translations have omitted the words in Luke, but they're in the King James version, and most recent translations include them). Only Luke 24:6-7 explicitly says that Jesus foretold this, and it doesn't use the word "prophesied."
-- "Why seek ye the living, in tombs of the dead?" -- Luke 24:5, "Why do you seek the living among the dead."
-- "See, here's the place where he laid": Matthew 28:6, Mark 16:6
-- "Go tell his disciples": Matthew 28:7 (Mark 16:7 says "his disciples and Peter")
-- "He goeth before you into Galilee": Matthew 28:7, Mark 16:7 say Jesus will meet them in Galilee; Luke says he stayed in Jerusalem
-- "Go teach all nations," etc.: This is based on Matthew 28:19; the other gospels don't use the same words
-- "I am with you always to the end": Again, from Matthew only: Matthe 28:20, the end of that gospel
-- "He rose from the earth... two men, in white raiment, 'Why do you gaze?'": Luke 24:51 mentions Jesus's ascension, but most of this, including the men in white raiment, are from Acts 1:1-11. The bit about the Judgment Day is not from Acts; presumably it's the Gospel According to Billups. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.7
File: RAInP108

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song List

Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or Discography