GENERAL NOTE: This text draws on one of the oldest Lutheran chorales, a paraphrase and expansion of Psalm 124 that appeared in the 1524 Erfurt Enchiridion. It was designated as a hymn for the Lutheran church, which explains its stance of relentless persecution by “enemies,” doubtless meant to be understood here (with multiple references to “heresy”) principally as the Roman Catholic church. The hymn’s first stanza and last two stanzas are presented intact as the first and last movements of the cantata; the inner movements quote or paraphrase the inner stanzas.

¹ In older German, the expression “wo nicht” was a synonym for “wenn nicht” (“unless,” “if not”).

² The verb “zufallen” had a wide variety of meanings in older German. Here it seems to be employed as a synonym for “einfallen” in its sense of “to engage.”

³ “Unser Sache” here apparently refers to “unser Kriegssache” (“our cause in battle/war”).

⁴ “Der Feinde List” here apparently refers to “der Feinde Kriegslist” (“the enemies’ stratagem in battle/war”).

⁵ “Anfahen” is an older-German alternate spelling of “anfangen.”

⁶ “Menschenwitz” is an older-German synonym for “menschliche Weisheit” (“human wisdom”), corresponding to the Latin “sapientia humana.”

⁷ “Billig” is employed here in one of its older-German senses, as a synonym for “angemessen” in the sense of “properly.”

⁸ “Most High” is a name used frequently in the Hebrew Bible for the Lord God of Israel.

⁹ The language of this line is taken from Luther’s rendering of Job 5:13, “[Gott] stürzt der Verkehrten Rat” (“God subverts the scheme of the perverse”).

¹⁰ This is a reference to Adam and Eve’s being enticed by the “serpent” (understood as the devil) to disobey God in the garden of Eden. In the Luther Bibles of Bach’s day, Genesis 3:1 reads “Und die Schlange war listiger denn alle Tiere auf dem Felde, die Gott der HERR gemacht hatte, und sprach zu dem Weibe: Ja, sollte Gott gesagt haben, ihr sollt nicht essen von allerlei Bäumen im Garten?” (“And the serpent was more cunning than all beasts of the field that the LORD God had made, and said to the woman [Eve], Yes, [well,] shall God [really] have said, You [plural] shall not eat from all manner of trees in the garden?”).

¹¹ That is, in Lutheran theology, of undermining faith.

¹² This is a Christian analogy to the Exodus narrative, recalled in Psalm 136, of God leading his people Israel “with a mighty hand” through the parted “sea of reeds” (Luther Bibles, “Schilfmeer”) and through the wilderness into the Promised Land, Canaan.

¹³ That is, protection and thus salvation.

¹⁴ “Seelengut” refers not to the soul’s goods and possessions but to its goodness; the (older-German) expression is loosely synonymous with “gutmütigkeit” (“good-naturedness”).

¹⁵ “Satan’s kingdom” contrasts with what the New Testament, in most English translations, calls “the kingdom of God” or “the kingdom of heaven.”

¹⁶ In older German, “Christi Schifflein” (“Christ’s little/darling ship) was a synonym for “the church”; the same went for the expression “Petri Schifflein” (“[the apostle] Peter’s little/darling ship”).

¹⁷ The language and sentiments of this line are derived from Acts 9:24, which in the Luther Bibles of Bach’s day reads “Es ward Saulus kund getan, dass sie ihm nachstelleten” (“It was made known to Saul [who had just become a follower of Jesus] that they [‘the Jews’] lay in wait for him”).

¹⁸ In older German, “Deckel” was a synonym for “Deckmantel” (“cloak”).

¹⁹ The word “Schalkheit” has come to mean “knavery” or “mountebankery,” but in the Luther Bibles it had a variety of other meanings, including “iniquity,” “sin,” and “evil.” This line of the hymn derives its sense from 1 Peter 2:16, which in the Luther Bibles of Bach’s day reads “ . . . als die Freien, und nicht, als hättet ihr die Freiheit zum Deckel der Bosheit, sondern als die Knechte Gottes” (“[Live/Act, you Christians,] as the freeborn, and [live/act] not as though you would have your freedom [to be used by you] for a cloak of wickedness, but [as though you would have your freedom] as the servants of God”).

²⁰ This line alludes to the Hebraism “zu einem aufwachen” (“to awaken for one”) employed, e.g., in Job 8:6, “So du rein und fromm bist, so wird er aufwachen zu dir” (“If you are pure and godly, then he [God] will awaken for you [i.e., God will bestir himself to help/protect you]”).

²¹ The more common verb to use with “chaff” in such a context would have been “verwehen” (‘to be scattered [by the wind]”), whose clipped form, “verwehn,” could easily have been used in place of this line’s “vergehn,” a clipped form of “vergehen” (“to pass away”). The poet presumably wished to allude to the sentiments of Matthew 3:12, which in the Luther Bibles of Bach’s day reads “Er hat seine Worfschaufel [or, ‘Wurfschaufel’] in seiner Hand; er wird seine Tenne fegen und den Weizen in seine Scheune sammeln, aber die Spreu wird er verbrennen mit ewigem Feuer” (“He [God] has his winnowing shovel in his hand; he will sweep [i.e., purge] his threshing floor and gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn up with eternal fire”).

²² “Wenn” is apparently being used here as a synonym for “wohingegen” (“whereas”).

²³ “Lahr” is an older-German spelling of “Lehre” (“teaching,” “doctrine”), often employed in poetry to accommodate rhymes.

²⁴ This line alludes to Lamentations 2:14, “Deine Propheten haben dir lose und törichte Gesichte gepredigt” (“Your prophets have preached lax and foolish visions to you [Daughter Zion]”).

²⁵ In older German, especially in the Luther Bibles, “verstören” was often employed as a synonym for “zerstören” (“to destroy,” “to crush”).

²⁶ “Wehren” is apparently used here in one of its older German senses, of “verhindern” (“get in the way of”) or “verbieten” (“to forbid”).

²⁷ “Neu geborn” or “neugeboren” were synonyms for “wiedergeboren” (“to be born/begotten again/anew”). The sense of this line and the next is derived from 1 Peter 1:3-4, which in the Luther Bibles of Bach’s day reads “Gelobet sei Gott, und der Vater unsers Herrn Jesu Christi, der uns nach seiner grossen Barmherzigkeit wiedergeboren hat, zu einer lebendigen Hoffnung, durch die Auferstehung Jesu Christi von den Toten” (“Praised be God, and the father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in accordance with his great mercy has begotten us again/anew, unto a living hope, by the resurrection of [the crucified] Jesus Christ from the dead”).

²⁸ Most hymnbooks of Bach’s day gave “Lieb des Glaubens dein” (“love of your faith”), but some gave “Lieb des Glaubens rein” (“love of pure faith”).

²⁹ The word “Anschlag” had a wide variety of meanings in older German. In this line, “Anschläge” apparently signifies “designs,” “intentions” (i.e., “Anschläge” that can be good or evil), used as a sort of synonym for the “Gedanken” (“thoughts”) of the previous line.

³⁰ In modern German, “fechten” refers to fencing, but in older German it was also, among other uses, a synonym for “streiten” in its sense of “to fight.” The Luther Bibles of Bach’s day used forms of “fechten” in this way in 1 Corinthians 9:26 and 15:32.

³¹ “Trauen” is apparently being used here in one of its older-German meanings, as a synonym for “wagen” in its sense of “to put stock in.”

³² This “light” that becomes “bright” is Jesus, associated in 2 Corinthians 4:4 with “das helle Licht des Evangelii” (“the bright light of the gospel”).

³³ This line derives its sense from Mark 13:13, “Wer aber beharrt bis an das Ende, der wird selig” (“But whoever perseveres [in Christian faith] until the end [of one’s state of moral probation], he will become blessed [with eternal salvation]”).