A carol originally with Latin text set to a Gregorian chant dating back to the 9th Century AD. Translated into English by the great exiled British scholar/missionary John Mason Neale in the 1850's. Each verse of the original carol is one of the 7 "O Antiphons" (O come...) ceremonially recited during Advent Vespers leading up to Christmas. Each Antiphon heralds the coming Savior/Messiah, addressing Him by a different name in each verse, Emmanuel being Hebrew for "God is with us."