Sing 'Silent Night' in Spanish

'Noche de paz'

Silent Night, nativity scene in Compostela, Spain.
Miniature Nativity scene in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Spain.

Mark Freeth / Flickr

"Silent Night" is one of the world's most popular Christmas carols. It was originally written in German by Joseph Mohr, but it is now sung in multiple languages, including Spanish. Here are the most commonly used Spanish lyrics for "Silent Night," also known as "Noche de paz."

Notes on the grammar and vocabulary of the song follow the lyrics.

'Noche de paz' lyrics

Noche de paz, noche de amor,
Todo duerme en derredor.
Entre sus astros que esparcen su luz
Bella anunciando al niñito Jesús.
Brilla la estrella de paz,
Brilla la estrella de paz.

Noche de paz, noche de amor,
Todo duerme en derredor.
Sólo velan en la oscuridad
Los pastores que en el campo están
Y la estrella de Belén,
Y la estrella de Belén.

Noche de paz, noche de amor,
Todo duerme en derredor.
Sobre el santo niño Jesús
Una estrella esparce su luz,
Brilla sobre el Rey,
Brilla sobre el Rey.

Noche de paz, noche de amor,
Todo duerme en derredor;
Fieles velando allí en Belén
Los pastores, la madre también,
Y la estrella de paz,
Y la estrella de paz.

English Translation of Spanish 'Silent Night' Lyrics

Night of peace, night of love.
All sleep in the outskirts of the town.
Among the stars that spread their beautiful light
announcing the baby Jesus,
the star of peace shines,
the star of peace shines.

Night of peace, night of love.
All sleep in the outskirts of the town.
The only ones keeping watch in the darkness
are the shepherds in the field.
and the star of Bethlehem,
and the star of Bethlehem.

Night of peace, night of love.
All sleep in the outskirts of the town.
Above the holy baby Jesus
a star spreads its light.
It shines over the King,
it shines over the King.

Night of peace, night of love.
All sleep in the outskirts of the town.
The faithful are keeping watch there in Bethlehem,
the shepherds, the mother too,
and the star of peace,
and the star of peace.

Grammar and Vocabulary Notes

  • De: Note how the phrase noche de paz, literally meaning "night of peace," is used here, while in English we might say "peaceful night." It is very common in Spanish to use de in situations where "of" would be cumbersome in English.
  • Todo duerme: This phrase can be translated as "all sleep" or "everyone sleeps." Note that todo is treated as a collective noun here in that it takes a singular verb, much like the singular word gente is treated as a singular word even though it has the plural meaning of "people."
  • Derredor: You won't find this word listed except in larger dictionaries. In this context, it refers to the outskirts of an area, or the area surrounding something else.
  • Esparcen: The verb esparcir generally means "to spread" or "to scatter."
  • Bella: This is the feminine form of bello, meaning "beautiful." It modifies luz, which is in the previous line. We know that bella refers to luz because both words are feminine.
  • Anunciando: This is the gerund or present participle of anunciar, meaning "to announce." In the English translation, we probably see "announcing" taking the role of an adjective modifying "light." But in standard Spanish, gerunds act like adverbs, so anunciando points back to the previous verb, esparcen. There is an exception for poetry, where it isn't unusual for gerunds to take an adjectival role, as velando does in the final stanza.
  • Brilla: Brilla is a conjugated form of the verb brillar, which means "to shine." The subject of that verb here is estrella (star). Here, the subject comes after the verb for mostly poetic reasons, but it isn't unusual in Spanish to use a verb-subject word order like this one.
  • Velan: The verb velar isn't particularly common. Its meanings include staying awake and taking care of someone or something.
  • Oscuridad: Oscuridad can refer to the quality of being obscure, but it more often refers simply to darkness.
  • Pastores: A pastor in this context isn't a pastor, but a shepherd (although the word may also refer to a minister). In both English and Spanish, the word originally meant "shepherd," but its meaning was broadened to include people who were appointed to watch over a "flock" of believers. Pastor comes from an ancient Indo-European root meaning "to protect" or "to feed." Related English words include "pasture," "pester," and even "food" and "foster."
  • Santo: Santo is frequently used as a title before the name of a person to mean "saint." Through the process of apocopation (shortening), it becomes san before the name of male. In this context, since the baby Jesus wouldn't have been considered a saint, santo is better translated as "holy" or "virtuous."
  • Fieles: Fiel is an adjective meaning "faithful." Here, fieles functions as a plural noun. In nonpoetic speech, however, the phrase los fieles would have been used.
  • Belén: This is the Spanish word for Bethlehem.
Format
mla apa chicago
Your Citation
Erichsen, Gerald. "Sing 'Silent Night' in Spanish." ThoughtCo, Apr. 5, 2023, thoughtco.com/noche-de-paz-3079484. Erichsen, Gerald. (2023, April 5). Sing 'Silent Night' in Spanish. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/noche-de-paz-3079484 Erichsen, Gerald. "Sing 'Silent Night' in Spanish." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/noche-de-paz-3079484 (accessed March 29, 2024).