Come, O thou Traveller unknown
Come, O thou Traveller unknown. Charles Wesley* (1707-1788).
First published in Hymns and Sacred Poems (1742) in fourteen 6-line stanzas under the title ‘Wrestling Jacob’, based on Jacob’s encounter with the angel in Genesis 32: 24-32. It is also indebted to Matthew Henry’s Commentary of 1708, which Charles Wesley used throughout his life.
John Wesley* included the hymn in the 1780 Collection of Hymns for the use of the People called Methodists, omitting stanzas 5 and 7 of the original:
’Tis all in vain to hold Thy Tongue,
Or touch the Hollow of my Thigh:
Though every Sinew be unstrung,
Out of my Arms thou shalt not fly;
Wrestling I will not let Thee go
Till I Thy Name, Thy Nature...
If you have a valid subscription to Dictionary of Hymnology, please log inlog in to view this content. If you require a subscription, please click here.
Cite this article
MLA style (see MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing, 3rd Ed.)
. "Come, O thou Traveller unknown."
The Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology. Canterbury Press. Web. 7 Feb. 2025.<
http://www.hymnology.co.uk/c/come,-o-thou-traveller-unknown>.
Chicago style (see The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th Ed.)
. "Come, O thou Traveller unknown."
The Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology. Canterbury Press, accessed February 7, 2025,
http://www.hymnology.co.uk/c/come,-o-thou-traveller-unknown.