Come, O Thou Traveler Unknown

"Wrestling Jacob", also known by its incipit, "Come, O thou traveller unknown", is a poem and hymn on the nature of God which appears in some Protestant hymnals. The text is attributed to Methodist minister Charles Wesley.[1] It focuses on the change that can occur in one's own heart and is based on Genesis 32:24-32, which is the story of Jacob wrestling with an angel sent by God at Peniel.

Wrestling Jacob
Methodist Hymn
Other name"Come, O thou traveller unknown"
TextCharles Wesley
Based onGenesis 32:24–32
Meter8.8.8.8 (L.M.)
Melody"Candler" (Traditional Scottish), "Penuel" by William McDonald
Published1742 (1742)

It is sung to one of several tunes, including "Candler" (a traditional Scottish tune),[1] "Wrestling Jacob" (by Samuel Sebastian Wesley), "David's Harp" (by Robert King)[2] and Vernon (by Lucius Chapin).[3] It is hymn number 386 in The United Methodist Hymnal (set to "Candler"); hymn number 434(i) (to "Wrestling Jacob") and 434(ii) (to "David's Harp") in Hymns and Psalms, among others.

Isaac Watts, the "Father of English Hymnody", remarked that Wesley's poem was "worth all the verses that he himself had written."[4]

References
  1. Wesley, Charles (1989). "Come, O Thou Traveler Unknown". The United Methodist Hymnal. Nashville, TN: The United Methodist Publishing House. pp. 386–7. ISBN 0-687-43132-8. Retrieved 2014-09-16.
  2. Hymns and Psalms. London: Methodist Publishing House. 1983. p. 434. ISBN 0-946550-01-8.
  3. "VERNON (Chapin)". Hymnary.org.
  4. Young, Carlton (1993). Companion to the United Methodist Hymnal. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press. p. 295. ISBN 0-687-09260-4.
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