(continuation) The tune was used to chant the 133rd Psalm. This Psalm is about brotherhood and unity and is one of 15 songs of degrees or ascents. It was sung by pilgrims returning to Jerusalem to ascend the steps of the temple.

The Say Brothers hymn seems to express a Christian hope for returning to the Holy Land. Its origin in the 1850's is coincidental to the growing interest in the USA of building Zion and restoring Israel. Due to the common themes, one possibility is that a folk chanting of the 133rd Psalm predated and inspired this hymn.

In Sept 1976 a Sephardic Rabbi chanted this Psalm to me using the Battle Hymn tune with a plaintive tone. He described it as the correct way to chant the Psalm, but I did not ask him about the history of the tune.