All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name is a hymn of praise written by Edward Perronet, an English preacher who worked with John and Charles Wesley, and first published in 1779-1780. Every verse calls a different group, angels, martyrs, Israel, Gentile sinners and every tribe on earth, to crown Jesus as Lord of all. The phrase comes straight from Peter's sermon in Acts 10:36: preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:). In America it is usually sung to Coronation, one of the oldest American hymn tunes still in use.
Edward Perronet was the son of a vicar and for some years one of John Wesley's traveling preachers. He was outspoken, and he eventually broke with the Wesleys and became pastor of an independent chapel in Canterbury. He wrote many hymns, but only one is remembered, and it has been sung on every continent. The structure is simple and powerful. Each verse summons someone new, from the angels in heaven to every kindred on this terrestrial ball, and each ends with the same command: crown Him Lord of all. Three great tunes carry it: Miles Lane in England, Coronation by the Massachusetts carpenter Oliver Holden in America, and the joyful Diadem. Below are six verses as printed in 1825, then 12 KJV passages that show why Christ alone deserves the crown.
All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name: the words
Verse 1
All hail the power of Jesus' name!
Let angels prostrate fall:
Bring forth the royal diadem,
To crown Him Lord of all.
Verse 2
Crown Him, ye martyrs of your God,
Who from His altar call;
Extol the stem of Jesse's rod,
And crown Him Lord of all.
Verse 3
Ye chosen seed of Israel's race,
A remnant weak and small;
Hail Him who saves you by His grace,
And crown Him Lord of all.
Verse 4
Ye Gentile sinners, ne'er forget
The wormwood and the gall;
Go, spread your trophies at His feet,
And crown Him Lord of all.
Verse 5
Let every kindred, every tribe
On this terrestrial ball,
To Him all majesty ascribe,
And crown Him Lord of all.
Verse 6
O that with yonder sacred throng,
We at His feet may fall;
There join the everlasting song,
And crown Him Lord of all!
Words: Edward Perronet (1726-1792); the first verse appeared in the Gospel Magazine (London) in November 1779 and the full hymn in April 1780; the order and wording used by most hymnals come from John Rippon's Selection of Hymns (1787). Text copied from James Montgomery's The Christian Psalmist (Glasgow, 1825), hymn 230, Christ the Lord of all, pp. 199-200 (Internet Archive scan), with pronouns for Christ capitalized throughout; checked against Gospel Hymns Nos. 1 to 6 (1894), hymns 334 and 729, which print verses 1, 5 and 6 and read And crown Him in verse 1. Tunes: Coronation (Oliver Holden, 1793), Diadem (James Ellor, 1838) and Miles Lane (William Shrubsole, 1779). Public domain.
Let angels prostrate fall: the name above every name
1. Hebrews 1:6
"And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him."
The hymn begins with the angels: Let angels prostrate fall. Hebrews shows that the angels were commanded to worship Christ from the start: And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him. When God brought His Son into the world, at Bethlehem, the angels bowed. That is one of the strongest proofs in the New Testament that Jesus is God, because angels worship God alone (Revelation 22:8-9). To prostrate oneself means to lie face down. Perronet starts at the top of creation and shows its mightiest beings on their faces before Jesus.
2. Revelation 5:11-12
"And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing."
John saw the angels doing exactly what the first verse commands. He heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. Bring forth the royal diadem, Perronet writes. A diadem is a royal crown. The angels give the Lamb seven kinds of praise, a full crown of worship, because He was slain. The crown is not given to Christ in spite of the cross but because of it.
3. Philippians 2:9
"Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:"
Why does the hymn hail the power of Jesus' name? Paul explains: Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name. Wherefore points back to what came before: Christ humbled Himself to death on a cross (Philippians 2:8). Because He went lowest, God lifted Him highest. In the Bible a name stands for a person's character and authority. The name of Jesus is above every king, every power and every other name that can be named. To hail it is to welcome and honor the One who carries it. See our page on names of Jesus.
4. Acts 4:12
"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."
The power of Jesus' name is not only royal authority; it is saving power. When Peter and John were arrested for healing a lame man in that name, Peter told the council, Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. The leaders wanted the apostles to stop speaking in the name of Jesus. Peter replied that this name was the only hope for anyone. Perronet's hymn celebrates both sides of that power: the name before which angels bow and the name by which sinners are saved.
Martyrs, the stem of Jesse, and Israel's remnant
5. Revelation 6:9
"And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:"
The second verse calls on the martyrs: Crown Him, ye martyrs of your God, who from His altar call. The line comes from John's vision: I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held. They cry out to God for justice, and they are given white robes and told to rest a little longer. Martyrs are those who gave their lives rather than deny Christ. They have the most right of anyone to crown Him, because they trusted Him with everything. Perronet invites them to lead the coronation.
6. Isaiah 11:1
"And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:"
Extol the stem of Jesse's rod. The odd phrase comes from Isaiah's prophecy of the Messiah: And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots. Jesse was the father of King David. By Isaiah's day David's royal family tree seemed to have been cut down to a stump. Isaiah promised that a new shoot would grow from it, a King filled with the Spirit of the LORD. Jesus is that shoot, the Son of David (Matthew 1:1). The hymn calls Him the stem of Jesse's rod to remind us that the Lord of all is also the promised King of Israel.
7. Romans 11:5
"Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace."
The third verse is addressed to the Jewish people: Ye chosen seed of Israel's race, a remnant weak and small; hail Him who saves you by His grace. Paul speaks of this remnant in Romans 11: Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. Paul himself was one of them, an Israelite who had come to believe in Jesus as the Messiah. The hymn honors God's faithfulness to Israel and calls Jewish believers to crown their own King. Salvation for Israel, as for everyone, is by grace, not by birth or by works.
8. Revelation 2:10
"Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life."
The martyrs who crown Christ have first been crowned by Him. Jesus told the suffering church in Smyrna: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. Revelation 4:10 shows the elders casting their crowns before the throne. The pattern is the same in every age: Christ gives His faithful people crowns, and they give the crowns back to Him. In the hymn's fourth verse, Go, spread your trophies at His feet, sinners do the same with whatever honors they have. Nothing we receive is ours to keep for our own glory. It all belongs at His feet.
Every kindred, every tribe: crown Him Lord of all
9. Psalms 22:27
"All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee."
Let every kindred, every tribe on this terrestrial ball, to Him all majesty ascribe. A thousand years before Christ, the psalm that begins My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me ends with this promise: All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee. The psalm moves from the agony of the cross to worldwide worship. Perronet's terrestrial ball is simply the globe, the whole earth. The hymn is missionary in spirit: it will not be finished until every people group crowns Christ.
10. Acts 10:36
"The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:)"
The refrain of every verse, crown Him Lord of all, comes from Peter's first sermon to Gentiles, in the house of the Roman officer Cornelius: The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:) Peter had just learned that God shows no partiality between nations. Jesus is not Lord of the Jews only, or of one race, class or culture. He is Lord of all. That is why the fourth verse turns to Ye Gentile sinners, and why the fifth reaches every tribe. See our Bible verses about Jesus as King.
11. Revelation 19:16
"And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS."
When John saw Christ return, he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. The title was used by emperors of Babylon and Persia, the most powerful rulers of their age. Revelation gives it to Jesus alone. Every earthly crown is temporary; His is not. When the hymn says to crown Him Lord of all, it is not giving Jesus a title He lacks. It is joining in what will be openly true one day before the whole world. For a related hymn on the same theme, see Crown Him with Many Crowns.
12. Colossians 1:18
"And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence."
And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. Preeminence means first place. Paul's phrase in all things is Perronet's Lord of all. Christ is first in creation, first in the church and first in the resurrection, and God's purpose is that He should be first in every area of life. The hymn is sung with joy, but it carries a challenge. To crown Him Lord of all means that no part of my life, work, money, relationships or plans is kept back from His rule.
A short prayer
Lord Jesus, all hail the power of Your name. The angels fall before You, the martyrs crown You, and the whole creation will one day confess that You are Lord. Thank You for the name above every name and the only name by which I can be saved. I spread my trophies at Your feet; nothing I have is mine to boast in. Be Lord of all in my life, first in every part of it. And let me one day join the sacred throng around Your throne and crown You Lord of all forever. Amen.
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Frequently asked questions
Who wrote All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name?
Edward Perronet (1726-1792), an English preacher who traveled with John Wesley before becoming pastor of an independent chapel in Canterbury. The first verse was printed in the Gospel Magazine in November 1779 and the full hymn in April 1780. John Rippon revised and rearranged it in 1787, and most hymnals follow his version.
What tune is All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name sung to?
Three tunes are common. Coronation, by Oliver Holden of Charlestown, Massachusetts (1793), is the usual American tune and one of the oldest American hymn tunes still sung. Diadem, by James Ellor (1838), repeats the words crown Him. Miles Lane, by William Shrubsole (1779), is the traditional English tune.
What does terrestrial ball mean?
Terrestrial means of the earth, and ball means sphere or globe. On this terrestrial ball simply means on planet earth. The verse calls every kindred and every tribe in the whole world to give Christ all majesty, echoing Psalm 22:27 and Revelation 5:9.
Is All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name in the public domain?
Yes. Edward Perronet's words (1779-1780), John Rippon's revisions (1787) and the tunes Coronation, Diadem and Miles Lane all date from the 18th and early 19th centuries, so the hymn is in the public domain in the United States. Modern arrangements may have their own copyright.
Sources: All Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (KJV), public domain in the United States. References were checked against the KJV text from bible-api.com.
Related: Crown Him with Many Crowns · Holy, Holy, Holy · Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee · Names of Jesus · Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing · Jesus as King · Worship · Jesus Is God
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