STUDY / LIVING THE CHRISTIAN LIFE / HYMNS
'Twas on that dark, that doleful night Hymn 1
Isaac Watts printed it in 1707 in Hymns and Spiritual Songs, Book III, no. 1, under 1 Corinthians 11:23.
WRITTEN BY
Isaac Watts 1674–1748
PRINTED
1707 Hymns and Spiritual Songs · no. 1
METRE
Long Metre 8.8.8.8 · 7 stanzas
WRITTEN ON
1 Corinthians 11:23 the verse printed above it
The hymn, and the Scripture in it
All 7 stanzas as Watts printed them, with the verses their lines echo beside them. Point at a line to join it to its verse; click to read the passage.
SHARED WORDSthe verse shares the line's wording ECHOproposed by an AI model, confirmed by a separate check Not the author's own notes
AMONG THE SCRIPTURES
The stanzas at the centre; around them, every book its heading and its echoes come from, Old Testament on the left and New on the right. Choose a stanza or a book.
a line echoes this verse its heading or an echo comes from here
STANZA I
'Twas on that dark, that doleful night
When powers of earth and hell arose
Against the Son of God's delight,
And friends betrayed him to his foes:
No line of this stanza quotes a verse closely; it is the hymn's own confession.
Where Watts found it
Watts printed the hymn under 1 Corinthians 11:23. The line that comes closest to it is marked.
For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread, 1 CORINTHIANS 11:23 · BEREAN STANDARD BIBLE READ 1 CORINTHIANS 11
Before the mournful scene began, He took the bread, and blessed, and brake: What love through all his actions ran! What wondrous words of grace he spake! STANZA II
Its place in the book
Book III of the hymn book, “Prepared for the Lord's Supper”, holds these hymns in this order: 48 hymns. This is number 1. Point at a tick to see the hymn; click it to open that hymn.
NO. 1 · ISAAC WATTS · THIS HYMN 'Twas on that dark, that doleful night
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