The Story Behind 'All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name'

The story behind All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name belongs to Edward Perronet, an English preacher who wrote it around 1779. The hymn's great theme is a coronation: "Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord of all." It has been sung so widely, across so many churches, that it earned an affectionate title — the National Anthem of Christendom.

Who wrote it?

Edward Perronet came from a devout family and, as a young man, worked closely with John and Charles Wesley in the evangelical revival. He was zealous and outspoken — qualities that eventually put him at odds with the Wesleys over questions of church order, and he parted ways with them. Like Robert Robinson and others, Perronet reminds us that the people God uses to write our hymns were real, sometimes difficult, and not always easy to get along with.

The hymn's opening stanza was published in 1779, with the fuller text following in 1780.

A coronation for every people

The structure of the hymn is a series of summons. Each verse calls a different company to come and crown Christ. "Ye chosen seed of Israel's race" — crown Him. "Ye ransomed from the fall" — crown Him. The angels prostrate before the throne — crown Him. "Let every kindred, every tribe, on this terrestrial ball, to Him all majesty ascribe, and crown Him Lord of all."

That widening scope is why the hymn feels like an anthem. It is not content to have one congregation praise Christ; it will not rest until every nation and every rank of creation has laid its crown at His feet.

The tune that crowned it

In America the words are most often married to "Coronation," written by the carpenter and composer Oliver Holden in 1793 — one of the oldest American hymn tunes still in regular use. The British favourites, "Miles Lane" and "Diadem," each build the repeated line "crown Him, crown Him" into a rising climax. The tunes differ, but they all reach for the same effect: the sound of a whole assembly pressing forward to honour a king.

Why the story matters

There is a particular humility hidden inside this triumphant hymn. To "crown Him Lord of all" is to hand over your own crown — your independence, your right to rule your own life. The martyrs who "flung" their crowns before Him, named in one verse, did so with their lives. Singing the hymn is a small rehearsal of that same surrender: acknowledging that the One being crowned has a claim on everything, including us.

The final verse looks ahead to the day the whole redeemed church will do together what we now do in part: "We'll join the everlasting song, and crown Him Lord of all."

Sitting with it at home

If you would like to study this hymn slowly, our All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name Deep-Dive Study sets the full public-domain text beside the scriptures of Christ's kingship and reflection questions for a week of readings, with a short life of Edward Perronet.

You might also enjoy the story behind Amazing Grace or our list of five public-domain hymns every family should know.