Hi, Alexander! Recently you wrote in a message to Ardith Hinton:
OK, "God rest you merry, sir." But not OK, ;-) I am still have
a vague understanding of this phrase. Write it in other words.
The OED doesn't define this phrase, apart from its components, and I had to think about it too. I must confess that although I am quite comfortable with 17th century English, I often find Shakespeare's works a bit of a stretch.
The best translation I can come up with is "God keep/maintain you in a state of happiness/joy". This seems appropriate if the gentlemen in the song rejoice whilst they & other Christians are celebrating the birth of Jesus.
Nowadays people would be more inclined to say "God bless you", which isn't exactly the same... as Dallas remarked... but uses even fewer words. :-)
--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+
* Origin: Wits' End, Vancouver CANADA (1:153/716)