(a) Te Deum laudamus may be translated we praise thee O God. But the more obvious translation is we praise Thee as God, especially as it comes with we acknowledge Thee to be the Lord. The two Latin phrases are exactly parallel, so that if it is to be We praise Thee, O God, it should also be we acknowledge Thee O Lord.
Now the acknowledgement of the Godhead and Lordship of Christ was very likely to be stated in an early Hymn, far more than the acknowledgement that God is God. The Titles—God, Lord, Father {70} everlasting—which are here acknowledged, appear to be suggested by Isaiah ix. 6. For there the Lord of Hosts which is wonderful in counsel (Isaiah xxviii. 29) is expressed as Wonderful, Counsellor, and is followed by The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father. It is a passage acknowledged to refer to Christ, who is therefore recognised as Lord of Hosts (being wonderful in Counsel), Mighty God, Everlasting Father.
(b) Line 3. S. John (xii. 39-41), referring to our Saviour's rejection, quotes Isaiah vi. and adds These things said Isaiah when he saw His glory, and spake of Him. This reference to Isaiah's vision, when he saw the Lord sitting upon a throne and heard the Seraphim sing the Ter-Sanctus, will be a sufficient justification of the use of line 3 in an address to Christ.
(c) Line 5. As to the inclusion of the three Persons of the blessed Trinity in a doxology at the close of this Stanza, it is quite usual in Christian Hymns of all ages to guard the thought of the equality of the Persons of the Godhead by means of a doxology. As an instance we may quote Conditor alme siderum (Hymns A. and M. 45).
The position of the doxology in this Canticle should be noticed. We know of no other instance of its being placed at the close of the first, or anywhere but at the close of the last, Stanza. The reason for this variation seems to be that the last Stanza here has to some extent the nature of a prayer.
The following Greek hymn, attributed to St Basil, was printed by Archdeacon France in Preces Veterum {71} cum Hymnis Coaevis as of the 2nd, or at latest the 3rd, century:
phos ilaron agias doxes
athanatou patros
ouraniou agiou makaros
iesou Christe
elthontes epi tou eliou dusin
idontes phos esperinon
umnoumen
patera kai uion kai agion pneuma theou
axios ei en kairois umneiothai
phonais osiais
uie theou zoen o didous
dio o kosmos se doxazei
AMHN.
Keble's well-known translation (Hail, Gladdening Light) is to be found in Hymns Ancient and Modern, No. 18, as well as in Lyra Apostolica. The transition in the address from Christ to the Holy Trinity, and back again, presented no difficulty: rather it is a very suitable recognition of the Divine nature of Jesus.
Te Deum is evidently a Latin composition, and the exact meaning of its words and phrases must be sought in the Latin form of it.
Some various readings and translations may be worthy of notice.