Who Translated Lirik How Great Thou Art Into Indonesian?

I nerd out over hymn histories sometimes, and 'How Great Thou Art' is a classic case of a song evolving across languages. The original Swedish poem 'O Store Gud' was by Carl Gustav Boberg. Stuart K. Hine later made the famous English adaptation called 'How Great Thou Art'. For Indonesian, though, there's no single universally credited translator everyone points to; multiple Indonesian hymnals contain versions that differ slightly in wording and attribution.

In my research classes we learned a couple of reliable ways to track down who translated a specific version. First, examine the hymn book or song sheet where you found the lyrics — publishers usually include translator credits or copyright statements. For widely used Indonesian hymnals like 'Kidung Jemaat', the front pages list contributors and sometimes song-specific translators. Second, consult online repositories: Hymnary.org is surprisingly thorough for international hymn translations, and WorldCat can help you locate a hymnal edition that might include credits. Finally, if it’s a recorded version, check the liner notes or the YouTube/streaming description — musicians often acknowledge translators and arrangers there.

A useful tip: compare the Indonesian wording to Hine’s English text. Many Indonesian versions are actually adaptations of Hine rather than direct translations from Swedish. If the lines match Hine’s structure, the Indonesian translator likely worked from the English. If you want, paste the Indonesian first verse here and I’ll try tracing which source it most likely used — sometimes a single distinctive phrase is enough to pin down the chain of translation.

I still get a little thrill when that chorus kicks in at church — that swell of "How great thou art" translated into our language always lands differently. To be clear on the genealogy: the hymn began as 'O Store Gud' written in Swedish by Carl Gustav Boberg in 1885, and the famous English version most of us know was translated and adapted by Stuart K. Hine in the mid-20th century. When it comes to Indonesian, things get a bit murkier because there isn't just one universally credited translator—several congregations and hymnals have slightly different Indonesian renderings, often titled 'Betapa Besar Tuhanku' or similar.

If you want the exact translator for the particular Indonesian lyric you have, the fastest route is to check the physical source: hymnals, sheet music, or the liner notes of a recording. Indonesian hymnals like 'Kidung Jemaat' usually list the translator and copyright info on the page with the song or in the hymnal's front matter. If the line is missing there, try online hymn databases like Hymnary.org (they often list translations and credits), WorldCat for older hymnals, or the credits on a CD/YouTube upload — performers sometimes include translator names in descriptions. It's also worth asking a church music director or librarian; I’ve found that a friendly organist often knows the origin story of a beloved hymn better than any search engine.

I ran into this exact curiosity a few years back while cataloging church music for a small community choir, and half the versions we sang seemed to trace back to adaptations of Stuart Hine's English text rather than directly from Boberg's Swedish. So depending on whether the Indonesian you're seeing mirrors the English phrasing, its immediate source might be Hine, even if a local translator adapted it further into Indonesian. If you want, tell me the first line of the Indonesian version you have and I’ll help look up likely sources — I enjoy this kind of detective work.

I love how songs travel — 'How Great Thou Art' started as 'O Store Gud' (Carl Gustav Boberg) and became famous in English through Stuart K. Hine as 'How Great Thou Art'. In Indonesian, the hymn shows up in several versions (commonly titled something like 'Betapa Besar Tuhanku'), and there isn’t always a single credited translator across all hymnals and recordings.

If you want the specific translator for the exact Indonesian lyrics you have, the best thing I do is look at the source: the hymnal page, the CD booklet, or the music publisher’s credit. Indonesian hymnals frequently print translator names in the song entry or in the front matter. When that fails, I check Hymnary.org and library catalogs to find hymnbook editions that might list who did the translation. Another quick trick: compare the Indonesian text to Stuart Hine’s English lines — many Indonesian versions are adaptations of his English text, so the translator might have been working from Hine rather than from Swedish.

If you share the first verse or where you saw the lyrics (which hymnal or which recording), I can help dig a bit — I’ve tracked down translations this way for other songs and it’s kind of fun.