What Child Is This? is a Christmas carol by William Chatterton Dix, an English insurance manager who wrote the words in 1865 while recovering from a serious illness. It was first printed with the old English tune Greensleeves in 1871. The carol asks the question the shepherds must have asked at the manger and answers it: This, this is Christ the King. Its middle stanza looks ahead to the cross, and its last calls everyone, peasant and king, to bring their gifts, echoing Matthew 2:11: "they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh."
William Chatterton Dix (1837-1898) spent his working life managing a marine insurance company in Glasgow. In 1865 he fell gravely ill and was confined to bed for months, battling depression as well as sickness. During his recovery he read the Bible deeply and wrote some of the best-loved hymns of the century, including As with Gladness Men of Old and Alleluia! Sing to Jesus. What Child Is This? comes from a longer Christmas poem he called The Manger Throne. Six years later, the editors of Christmas Carols New and Old set three of its stanzas to Greensleeves, a melody already centuries old, and the pairing stuck. The carol is now far more popular in the United States than in Britain. Its shape is simple: a question, then an answer. Who is this baby? Why is He in a stable? What should we do about Him? Below are the words as first printed and the 12 KJV passages behind them.
What Child Is This?: the words
Verse 1
What Child is this, who, laid to rest,
On Mary's lap is sleeping?
Whom Angels greet with anthems sweet,
While shepherds watch are keeping?
This, this is Christ the King,
Whom shepherds guard and Angels sing:
Haste, haste to bring Him laud,
The Babe, the Son of Mary!
Verse 2
Why lies He in such mean estate,
Where ox and ass are feeding?
Good Christian, fear: for sinners here
The silent Word is pleading:
Nails, spear, shall pierce Him through,
The Cross be borne, for me, for you:
Hail, hail, the Word made flesh,
The Babe, the Son of Mary!
Verse 3
So bring Him incense, gold, and myrrh,
Come peasant, King to own Him;
The King of kings, salvation brings;
Let loving hearts enthrone Him.
Raise, raise, the song on high,
The Virgin sings her lullaby:
Joy, joy, for Christ is born,
The Babe, the Son of Mary!
Words: William Chatterton Dix, 1865, three stanzas taken from his longer poem The Manger Throne. First printed with the Greensleeves melody in Christmas Carols New and Old, edited by Henry Ramsden Bramley and John Stainer (London, 1871), carol 14. Stanzas 2 and 3 are copied from that collection's printed text (Internet Archive scan); stanza 1 is printed under the music there and follows the standard transcription (Hymnary.org, Wikipedia), checked against the visible words of the scan. Many American hymnals repeat This, this is Christ the King as a refrain after every stanza. Public domain.
What Child is this? The manger, the shepherds and the angels
1. Luke 2:7
"And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn."
Laid to rest, on Mary's lap is sleeping. Luke tells the birth of Jesus in a single plain sentence: she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. No angels appear in this verse, no star, no crowd. Just a young mother, strips of cloth and a feeding trough. Dix pictures the next quiet moment, the baby asleep on Mary's lap. The carol's opening question makes sense here. Nothing in the scene looks like a king. You need someone to tell you who this child really is.
2. Luke 2:16
"And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger."
While shepherds watch are keeping. After the angels left, the shepherds did not debate what they had heard. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. Dix's refrain repeats their urgency: Haste, haste to bring Him laud. Laud is an old word for praise. The shepherds were the first visitors at the manger, ordinary working men on the night shift, considered unreliable witnesses by many in their day. God sent the news of His Son to them first. The carol invites us to do what they did: hurry to Jesus and praise Him.
3. Luke 2:13-14
"And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."
Whom Angels greet with anthems sweet. When the first angel finished announcing the birth, suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. This is the anthem Dix has in mind. Heaven could not stay silent about what God had done. The angels' song gives glory to God first and then announces peace for people. Every Christmas carol, including this one, is an attempt to join that first anthem sung over the fields of Bethlehem.
4. Luke 2:11
"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord."
This, this is Christ the King. The carol's answer to its own question comes straight from the angel's announcement: For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. Christ is not a surname. It is the Greek form of Messiah, the anointed King promised to David's family. The angel also called Him Saviour and Lord. Dix doubles the word this, as if pointing at the baby: this one, lying here, is the King. The child on Mary's lap is the One the prophets had been waiting for.
Why lies He in such mean estate? The silent Word and the cross
5. John 1:14
"And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."
Hail, hail the Word made flesh. Dix takes his title for Jesus from the opening of John's Gospel: And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. The Word is the eternal Son of God, through whom all things were made (John 1:3). At Christmas He became a human being, with a body that needed feeding and sleep. That is why the carol can call Him the silent Word. The One who spoke the universe into being lay in a manger unable to say a single word. God's greatest message to the world came first as a baby who could not yet talk.
6. 2 Corinthians 8:9
"For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich."
Why lies He in such mean estate? Mean here means poor and lowly, not cruel. Paul gives the answer: though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich. The King of heaven chose a stable among animals, where ox and ass are feeding, rather than a palace. It was not an accident of crowded inns. It was the shape of His whole mission. He came down to the lowest place so that no one would be too poor, too low or too ashamed to come to Him.
7. Isaiah 53:7
"He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth."
The silent Word is pleading. Dix may be thinking of Isaiah's picture of the suffering servant: he was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter. At His trial Jesus stayed silent before His accusers (Matthew 27:12-14). Yet that silence pleaded for sinners more powerfully than any speech. Good Christian, fear: the carol asks us to feel the weight of this. The baby in the manger was born to be the Lamb who would carry our sins without a word of complaint.
8. John 19:34
"But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water."
Nails, spear shall pierce Him through. It is startling to sing about the cross in a Christmas carol, but Dix refuses to separate the manger from Calvary. John records what happened after Jesus died: But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water. The swaddling clothes of Bethlehem pointed ahead to the grave clothes of Jerusalem. The cross be borne for me, for you: the line makes the cross personal. Christmas is good news because of what this child grew up to do for us.
So bring Him incense, gold and myrrh: let loving hearts enthrone Him
9. Matthew 2:11
"And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh."
So bring Him incense, gold, and myrrh. Dix's third stanza turns from the shepherds to the wise men. When they found the child, they fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. Christians have long seen meaning in each gift: gold for a king, frankincense for God, myrrh for a death and burial. The carol does not leave the gifts in the past. It tells us to bring our own. What we give Jesus is not money first, but loving hearts that make Him King. See our page on the three wise men for more.
10. Revelation 19:16
"And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS."
The King of kings salvation brings. The baby the shepherds found will one day be seen as Revelation describes Him: And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. Dix holds the two pictures together: the helpless child and the conquering King. The King of kings did not come to collect taxes or raise armies. He came bringing salvation. That is why the carol can say Let loving hearts enthrone Him. His kingdom begins wherever someone gladly gives Him the throne of their life.
11. Psalms 72:11
"Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him."
Come peasant, King to own Him. To own here means to acknowledge, to confess Him as yours. Psalm 72 is a prayer for the ideal king, and it looks ahead to a day when all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him. At the manger, both ends of society came: poor shepherds and rich foreign sages. Dix's line calls everyone in between. There is no one too poor to be welcomed by Jesus and no one too powerful to need to bow before Him. Christmas levels the ground at the foot of the manger.
12. Luke 1:46-47
"And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour."
The Virgin sings her lullaby. Dix imagines Mary singing her baby to sleep. Luke gives us the song she actually sang months earlier, when she visited her cousin Elisabeth: My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. Mary's song, often called the Magnificat, praises God for lifting up the humble and filling the hungry. It would make a fitting lullaby for the child who would do exactly that. The carol ends with Joy, joy, for Christ is born, and Mary was the first to feel that joy.
A short prayer
Lord Jesus, I ask the question the shepherds asked: what Child is this? And I confess the answer: You are Christ the King, the Word made flesh. Thank You for lying in such mean estate, becoming poor for my sake, and for bearing the cross for me. I bring You what I have, not gold or incense, but a loving heart; take the throne of my life. Let me hurry to You as the shepherds did and sing with Mary, rejoicing in God my Saviour. In Your name, Amen.
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Frequently asked questions
Who wrote What Child Is This?
William Chatterton Dix (1837-1898), an English hymn writer who managed an insurance company in Glasgow, wrote the words in 1865. They come from his longer poem The Manger Throne. Dix also wrote As with Gladness Men of Old. The music is Greensleeves, a traditional English melody known since the 1500s. The two were first printed together in Christmas Carols New and Old (1871), edited by Henry Ramsden Bramley and John Stainer.
Is What Child Is This the same tune as Greensleeves?
Yes. The carol is sung to Greensleeves, a folk tune that was already famous in Shakespeare's time; it is mentioned twice in The Merry Wives of Windsor. A popular legend says King Henry VIII wrote it, but there is no evidence for that, and the tune's style points to a later date. The pairing of Dix's words with Greensleeves was made by the editors of Christmas Carols New and Old in 1871.
What does mean estate mean in What Child Is This?
In the line Why lies He in such mean estate, mean is an older English word for poor, humble or lowly, and estate means condition or position. The question is: why is the King lying in such a poor place, a stable where ox and ass are feeding? The carol's answer is that He came to plead for sinners and bear the cross, as 2 Corinthians 8:9 says: though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor.
Is What Child Is This in the public domain?
Yes. Dix's words date from 1865 and were first published in 1871, and Greensleeves is a traditional melody, so the carol's words and tune are in the public domain. Modern arrangements and recordings, such as those by popular artists, are copyrighted as arrangements, but the traditional words on this page can be freely printed and sung.
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: Silent Night · Away in a Manger · The Three Wise Men · We Three Kings · The Christmas Story in the Bible · O Little Town of Bethlehem · Christmas · Isaiah 7:14 Meaning
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