{
"bwv_num": "60",
"work_name": "O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort",
"work_occasion": "24th Sunday after Trinity",
"work_author": "",
"work_translators": "Michael Marissen & Daniel R. Melamed",
"links": {
"url_work": "http://BachCantataTexts.org/BWV60",
"url_translation": "file:///Texts/Translations/BWV060--TextandTranslation.docx",
"url_annotated": "file:///Texts/Annotated/BWV060--AnnotatedTranslation.pdf",
"url_qr_code": "file:///Texts/QRCodes/BWV060QRcode.png"
},
"movements": [
{
"mvt_num": "1",
"mvt_text_type": "mixed",
"mvt_texts": [
{
"text_language": "de",
"text_plain": "Furcht\nO Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort\nO Schwert, das durch die Seele bohrt,\nO Anfang sonder Ende!\nO Ewigkeit, Zeit ohne Zeit,\nIch weiss vor grosser Traurigkeit\nNicht, wo ich mich hinwende;\nMein ganz erschrocknes Herze bebt,\nDass mir die Zung am Gaumen klebt.\nHoffnung\nHerr, ich warte auf dein Heil.",
"text_html": "Furcht
O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort
O Schwert, das durch die Seele bohrt,
O Anfang sonder Ende!
O Ewigkeit, Zeit ohne Zeit,
Ich weiss vor grosser Traurigkeit
Nicht, wo ich mich hinwende;
Mein ganz erschrocknes Herze bebt,1
Dass mir die Zung am Gaumen klebt.2
Hoffnung
Herr, ich warte auf dein Heil.3"
},
{
"text_language": "en",
"text_plain": "Fear\nOh eternity, you word of thunder,\nOh sword that bores through the soul,\nOh beginning without end!\nOh eternity, time without time,\nI do not know, in the face of great sorrow,\nWhere I might turn.\nMy completely terrified heart quakes,\nSo that my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth.\nHope\nLord, I wait for your salvation.",
"text_html": "Fear
Oh eternity, you word of thunder,4
Oh sword that bores through the soul,5
Oh beginning without end!
Oh eternity, time without time,6
I do not know, in the face of great sorrow,
Where I might turn.
My completely terrified heart quakes,
So that my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth.
Hope
Lord, I wait for your salvation.7"
}
]
},
{
"mvt_num": "2",
"mvt_text_type": "poetry",
"mvt_texts": [
{
"text_language": "de",
"text_plain": "Furcht\nO schwerer Gang zum letzten Kampf und Streite!\nHoffnung\nMein Beistand ist schon da,\nMein Heiland steht mir ja\nMit Trost zur Seite.\nFurcht\nDie Todesangst, der letzte Schmerz\nEreilt und überfällt mein Herz\nUnd martert diese Glieder.\nHoffnung\nIch lege diesen Leib vor Gott zum Opfer nieder.\nIst gleich der Trübsal Feuer heiss,\nGenung, es reinigt mich zu Gottes Preis.\nFurcht\nDoch nun wird sich der Sünden grosse Schuld vor mein Gesichte stellen.\nHoffnung\nGott wird deswegen doch kein Todesurteil fällen.\nEr gibt ein Ende den Versuchungsplagen,\nDass man sie kann ertragen.",
"text_html": "Furcht
O schwerer Gang zum letzten Kampf und Streite!
Hoffnung
Mein Beistand ist schon da,
Mein Heiland steht mir ja
Mit Trost zur Seite.
Furcht
Die Todesangst, der letzte Schmerz
Ereilt und überfällt mein Herz
Und martert diese Glieder.
Hoffnung
Ich lege diesen Leib vor Gott zum Opfer nieder.
Ist gleich der Trübsal Feuer heiss,
Genung, es reinigt mich zu Gottes Preis.
Furcht
Doch nun wird sich der Sünden grosse Schuld vor mein Gesichte stellen.
Hoffnung
Gott wird deswegen doch kein Todesurteil fällen.
Er gibt ein Ende den Versuchungsplagen,
Dass man sie kann ertragen."
},
{
"text_language": "en",
"text_plain": "Fear\nOh difficult course toward [death,] the final struggle and strife!\nHope\nMy aid is already here;\nMy savior stands\nWith consolation, indeed, at my side.\nFear\nThe agony of death, the final pain,\nOvertakes and assails my heart\nAnd torments these [my] limbs.\nHope\nI lay this [my] body down before God as an offering.\nEven if the [refining] fire of tribulation is hot,\nEnough!—it [fire] purifies me, to God’s praise.\nFear\nBut now sin’s great guilt will place itself before my eyes.\nHope\nGod will nonetheless deliver no death sentence.\nHe sets a limit on the torments of temptation,\nSo that one can bear them.",
"text_html": "Fear
Oh difficult course8 toward [death,] the final struggle and strife!
Hope
My aid is already here;
My savior stands
With consolation, indeed, at my side.
Fear
The agony of death,9 the final pain,
Overtakes and assails my heart
And torments these [my] limbs.
Hope
I lay this [my] body down before God as an offering.
Even if the [refining] fire of tribulation10 is hot,
Enough!—it [fire] purifies me, to God’s praise.
Fear
But now sin’s great guilt will place itself before my eyes.
Hope
God will nonetheless11 deliver no death sentence.
He sets a limit on the torments of temptation,
So that one can bear them."
}
]
},
{
"mvt_num": "3",
"mvt_text_type": "poetry",
"mvt_texts": [
{
"text_language": "de",
"text_plain": "Furcht\nMein letztes Lager will mich schrecken,\nHoffnung\nMich wird des Heilands Hand bedecken,\nFurcht\nDes Glaubens Schwachheit sinket fast,\nHoffnung\nMein Jesus trägt mit mir die Last.\nFurcht\nDas offne Grab sieht greulich aus.\nHoffnung\nEs wird mir doch ein Friedenshaus.",
"text_html": "Furcht
Mein letztes Lager will mich schrecken,
Hoffnung
Mich wird des Heilands Hand bedecken,
Furcht
Des Glaubens Schwachheit sinket fast,
Hoffnung
Mein Jesus trägt mit mir die Last.
Furcht
Das offne Grab sieht greulich aus.
Hoffnung
Es wird mir doch ein Friedenshaus."
},
{
"text_language": "en",
"text_plain": "Fear\nMy deathbed will terrify me;\nHope\nThe savior’s hand will shield me [from Satan’s doubt-sowing].\nFear\nFaith’s weakness almost drowns [as when the apostle Peter walked on the water];\nHope\nMy Jesus bears the burden with me.\nFear\nThe open grave looks horrifying.\nHope\nBut for me it becomes a house of peace.",
"text_html": "Fear
My deathbed12 will terrify me;
Hope
The savior’s hand will shield13 me [from Satan’s doubt-sowing].
Fear
Faith’s weakness almost drowns [as when the apostle Peter walked on the water];14
Hope
My Jesus bears the burden with me.
Fear
The open grave looks horrifying.
Hope
But for me it becomes a house of peace."
}
]
},
{
"mvt_num": "4",
"mvt_text_type": "mixed",
"mvt_texts": [
{
"text_language": "de",
"text_plain": "Furcht\nDer Tod bleibt doch der menschlichen Natur verhasst\nUnd reisset fast\nDie Hoffnung ganz zu Boden.\n[Vox Dei/Christi]\nSelig sind die Toten.\nFurcht\nAch! aber ach, wieviel Gefahr\nStellt sich der Seele dar,\nDen Sterbeweg zu gehen!\nVielleicht wird ihr der Höllenrachen\nDen Tod erschrecklich machen,\nWenn er sie zu verschlingen sucht;\nVielleicht ist sie bereits verflucht\nZum ewigen Verderben.\n[Vox Dei/Christi]\nSelig sind die Toten, die in dem Herren sterben.\nFurcht\nWenn ich im Herren sterbe,\nIst denn die Seligkeit mein Teil und Erbe?\nDer Leib wird ja der Würmer Speise!\nJa, werden meine Glieder\nZu Staub und Erde wieder,\nDa ich ein Kind des Todes heisse,\nSo schein ich ja im Grabe zu verderben.\n[Vox Dei/Christi]\nSelig sind die Toten, die in dem Herren sterben, von nun an.\nFurcht\nWohlan! soll ich von nun an selig sein:\nSo stelle dich, o Hoffnung, wieder ein!\nMein Leib mag ohne Furcht im Schlafe ruhn,\nDer Geist kann einen Blick in jene Freude tun.",
"text_html": "Furcht
Der Tod bleibt doch der menschlichen Natur verhasst
Und reisset fast
Die Hoffnung ganz zu Boden.
[Vox Dei/Christi]15
Selig sind die Toten.
Furcht
Ach! aber ach, wieviel Gefahr
Stellt sich der Seele dar,
Den Sterbeweg zu gehen!
Vielleicht wird ihr der Höllenrachen
Den Tod erschrecklich machen,
Wenn er sie zu verschlingen sucht;
Vielleicht ist sie bereits verflucht
Zum ewigen Verderben.
[Vox Dei/Christi]
Selig sind die Toten, die in dem Herren sterben.
Furcht
Wenn ich im Herren sterbe,
Ist denn die Seligkeit mein Teil und Erbe?
Der Leib wird ja der Würmer Speise!
Ja, werden meine Glieder
Zu Staub und Erde wieder,
Da ich ein Kind des Todes heisse,
So schein ich ja im Grabe zu verderben.
[Vox Dei/Christi]
Selig sind die Toten, die in dem Herren sterben, von nun an.16
Furcht
Wohlan! soll ich von nun an selig sein:
So stelle dich, o Hoffnung, wieder ein!
Mein Leib mag ohne Furcht im Schlafe ruhn,
Der Geist kann einen Blick in jene Freude tun."
},
{
"text_language": "en",
"text_plain": "Fear\nBut death indeed remains abhorrent to human nature\nAnd almost drags\nHope completely to the ground.\n[Voice of God/Christ]\nBlessed are the dead.\nFear\nAh, but ah! How much peril\nPresents itself to the soul,\nIn going [along] its path to death!\nPerhaps the hellmouthwill make\nDeath terrifying to it [the soul]\nWhen it [the hellmouth] seeks to swallow it [the soul] up;\nPerhaps it [the soul] is already damned\nTo eternal ruin.\n[Voice of God/Christ]\nBlessed are the dead who die in the Lord.\nFear\nIf I die in the Lord,\nIs then the blessedness [of salvation] my portion and inheritance?\nThe body becomes, indeed, the food of worms!\nIndeed, if my limbs should turn\nInto dust and earth again,\nGiven that I am called a “child [deserving] of death,”\nThen [in decaying] in the grave I might, indeed, appear to [utterly] perish.\n[Voice of God/Christ]\nBlessed are the dead who die in the Lord, from this time onward.\nFear\nWell then, if I am to be blessed from this time onward,\nThen make your appearance again, oh Hope!\nMy body may rest in [death’s] sleep without fear [of eternal ruin];\nThe spirit can [then] cast a glance into that [coming] joy [of the resurrection].",
"text_html": "Fear
But death indeed remains abhorrent to human nature
And almost drags
Hope completely to the ground.
[Voice of God/Christ]
Blessed are the dead.
Fear
Ah, but ah! How much peril
Presents itself to the soul,
In going [along] its path to death!
Perhaps the hellmouth17will make
Death terrifying to it [the soul]
When it [the hellmouth] seeks to swallow it [the soul] up;
Perhaps it [the soul] is already damned
To eternal ruin.
[Voice of God/Christ]
Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord.
Fear
If I die in the Lord,
Is then the blessedness [of salvation] my portion and inheritance?
The body becomes, indeed, the food of worms!
Indeed, if my limbs should turn
Into dust and earth again,
Given that I am called a “child [deserving] of death,”18
Then [in decaying] in the grave I might, indeed, appear to [utterly] perish.
[Voice of God/Christ]
Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord, from this time onward.
Fear
Well then, if I am to be blessed from this time onward,
Then make your appearance again, oh Hope!
My body may rest in [death’s] sleep19 without fear [of eternal ruin];20
The spirit can [then] cast a glance into that [coming] joy [of the resurrection]."
}
]
},
{
"mvt_num": "5",
"mvt_text_type": "chorale",
"mvt_texts": [
{
"text_language": "de",
"text_plain": "Es ist genung;\nHerr, wenn es dir gefällt,\nSo spanne mich doch aus!\nMein Jesus kömmt;\nNun gute Nacht, o Welt!\nIch fahr ins Himmelshaus.\nIch fahre sicher hin mit Frieden,\nMein grosser Jammer bleibt danieden.\nEs ist genung, es ist genung.",
"text_html": "Es ist genung;21
Herr, wenn es dir gefällt,
So spanne mich doch aus!
Mein Jesus kömmt;
Nun gute Nacht, o Welt!
Ich fahr ins Himmelshaus.
Ich fahre sicher hin mit Frieden,
Mein grosser Jammer bleibt danieden.
Es ist genung, es ist genung.22"
},
{
"text_language": "en",
"text_plain": "It is enough;\nLord, if it is your will,\nThen do unharness me [from the yoke of this life’s burdens].\nMy Jesus is coming;\nGood night, now, oh world!\nI am going into the house of heaven.\nI am securely going there in peace;\nMy great misery will remain down here [on earth].\nIt is enough, it is enough.",
"text_html": "It is enough;23
Lord, if it is your will,24
Then do unharness me [from the yoke of this life’s burdens].25
My Jesus is coming;26
Good night, now, oh world!
I am going into the house of heaven.27
I am securely going there in peace;
My great misery will remain down here [on earth].
It is enough, it is enough."
}
]
}
],
"notes": [
{
"note_num": 1,
"note_text_plain": "Not “Herze bebt” (“heart quakes”) but “Herz erbebt” (also, “heart quakes”) in the hymnals of Bach’s day and in the opening chorus from “O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort” BWV 20.",
"note_text_html": "Not “Herze bebt” (“heart quakes”) but “Herz erbebt” (also, “heart quakes”) in the hymnals of Bach’s day and in the opening chorus from “O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort” BWV 20."
},
{
"note_num": 2,
"note_text_plain": "The first stanza of this hymn.",
"note_text_html": "The first stanza of this hymn."
},
{
"note_num": 3,
"note_text_plain": "Psalm 119:166; Genesis 49:18.",
"note_text_html": "Psalm 119:166; Genesis 49:18."
},
{
"note_num": 4,
"note_text_plain": "“Donnerwort” connotes fearsomeness even more than loudness. A “word of thunder” strikes to the very heart.",
"note_text_html": "“Donnerwort” connotes fearsomeness even more than loudness. A “word of thunder” strikes to the very heart."
},
{
"note_num": 5,
"note_text_plain": "Hebrews 4:12 says that “das Wort Gottes” (“the word of God”) is a sword that pierces the soul.",
"note_text_html": "Hebrews 4:12 says that “das Wort Gottes” (“the word of God”) is a sword that pierces the soul."
},
{
"note_num": 6,
"note_text_plain": "To Lutherans of Bach’s day, “Ewigkeit” (“eternity”) had several meanings: (A) no beginning or end; (B) very long; (C) with a beginning but no end; (D) timeless/atemporal (sometimes explained as past, present and future all being experienced as “a permanent now”). The uses in this hymn stanza reflect senses C and D, the latter being a notion of eternity taken over from Greek philosophy into early Christianity and Hellenistic Judaism.",
"note_text_html": "To Lutherans of Bach’s day, “Ewigkeit” (“eternity”) had several meanings: (A) no beginning or end; (B) very long; (C) with a beginning but no end; (D) timeless/atemporal (sometimes explained as past, present and future all being experienced as “a permanent now”). The uses in this hymn stanza reflect senses C and D, the latter being a notion of eternity taken over from Greek philosophy into early Christianity and Hellenistic Judaism."
},
{
"note_num": 7,
"note_text_plain": "In Christian reading, Genesis 49:18 and Psalm 119:166 (see fn. 3, above) were interpreted as “I wait for your messiah, Jesus” (this is why movement 2 proclaims that “mein Beistand—mein Heiland—ist schon da” (“my aid—my savior [God’s messiah, Jesus]—is already here”).",
"note_text_html": "In Christian reading, Genesis 49:18 and Psalm 119:166 (see fn. 3, above) were interpreted as “I wait for your messiah, Jesus” (this is why movement 2 proclaims that “mein Beistand—mein Heiland—ist schon da” (“my aid—my savior [God’s messiah, Jesus]—is already here”)."
},
{
"note_num": 8,
"note_text_plain": "“Gang” here refers to one’s “Lebensgang” (whole way of life, “course of [earthly] life”).",
"note_text_html": "“Gang” here refers to one’s “Lebensgang” (whole way of life, “course of [earthly] life”)."
},
{
"note_num": 9,
"note_text_plain": "“Die Todesangst,” here, connotes not “the fear of death” in its sense of “the fear of becoming dead” but of “the anxiety/fear when dying,” or “the agony of death.” The leading eighteenth-century German dictionary defines “Todesangst” as “die Angst eines Sterbenden, besonders eines, der einen gewaltsamen Tod leidet” (“a dying person’s anxiety/fear, especially [as it experienced] of one who suffers an oppressive death”).",
"note_text_html": "“Die Todesangst,” here, connotes not “the fear of death” in its sense of “the fear of becoming dead” but of “the anxiety/fear when dying,” or “the agony of death.” The leading eighteenth-century German dictionary defines “Todesangst” as “die Angst eines Sterbenden, besonders eines, der einen gewaltsamen Tod leidet” (“a dying person’s anxiety/fear, especially [as it experienced] of one who suffers an oppressive death”)."
},
{
"note_num": 10,
"note_text_plain": "A “Feuer der Trübsal” (a “[refining] fire of tribulation” is spoken of in Sirach 2:5 and 2 Maccabees 7:7.",
"note_text_html": "A “Feuer der Trübsal” (a “[refining] fire of tribulation” is spoken of in Sirach 2:5 and 2 Maccabees 7:7."
},
{
"note_num": 11,
"note_text_plain": "“Deswegen doch” was often employed in the eighteenth century as a synonym for “dessenungeachtet”/“trotzdem” (“nonetheless”).",
"note_text_html": "“Deswegen doch” was often employed in the eighteenth century as a synonym for “dessenungeachtet”/“trotzdem” (“nonetheless”)."
},
{
"note_num": 12,
"note_text_plain": "“Letztes Lager” is usually employed to refer to one’s deathbed (e.g., “Er liegt auf seinem letzten Lager” would normally mean “Er liegt auf dem Sterbebette” [“He is lying on his deathbed”]), but “letztes Lager” could sometimes be employed to refer to one’s coffin (i.e., in certain contexts, “Er liegt auf seinem letzten Lager” would mean “Er liegt im Sarge” [“He is lying in his coffin”]). The former sense of “letztes Lager” is apparently the one primarily intended here in the cantata (this because it was when people were on their deathbeds that they were held to need the greatest protection from the evil of doubt—see line 2 of this movement); but it is possible that the latter sense, “coffin,” may be intended simultaneously (see the final lines of this movement).",
"note_text_html": "“Letztes Lager” is usually employed to refer to one’s deathbed (e.g., “Er liegt auf seinem letzten Lager” would normally mean “Er liegt auf dem Sterbebette” [“He is lying on his deathbed”]), but “letztes Lager” could sometimes be employed to refer to one’s coffin (i.e., in certain contexts, “Er liegt auf seinem letzten Lager” would mean “Er liegt im Sarge” [“He is lying in his coffin”]). The former sense of “letztes Lager” is apparently the one primarily intended here in the cantata (this because it was when people were on their deathbeds that they were held to need the greatest protection from the evil of doubt—see line 2 of this movement); but it is possible that the latter sense, “coffin,” may be intended simultaneously (see the final lines of this movement)."
},
{
"note_num": 13,
"note_text_plain": "The verb “bedecken” in older German was sometimes used as a synonym for “bewahren” or “behüten” in the senses of “to protect” or “to shield.” For example, Isaiah 51:16, in the Luther Bibles of Bach’s day, reads “Ich lege mein Wort in deinen Mund und bedecke dich unter dem Schatten meiner Hände” (“I [the LORD your (Israel’s) God] will put my word into your mouth and shield you under the shadow [i.e., protection] of my hands”).",
"note_text_html": "The verb “bedecken” in older German was sometimes used as a synonym for “bewahren” or “behüten” in the senses of “to protect” or “to shield.” For example, Isaiah 51:16, in the Luther Bibles of Bach’s day, reads “Ich lege mein Wort in deinen Mund und bedecke dich unter dem Schatten meiner Hände” (“I [the LORD your (Israel’s) God] will put my word into your mouth and shield you under the shadow [i.e., protection] of my hands”)."
},
{
"note_num": 14,
"note_text_plain": "A more literal rendering of this line would be “faith’s weakness almost sinks,” a wording that might, however, too easily be taken to mean “faith’s weakness almost subsides,” where “subsides” is understood in its sense of “becomes less intense.” Given that the wording and sense of the cantata line are probably derived from the narrative of Matthew 14:22-33 in which Jesus’s disciple Peter is depicted as almost sinking into sea and drowning on account of his weak faith, we have opted for rendering “sinket fast” as “almost drowns.”",
"note_text_html": "A more literal rendering of this line would be “faith’s weakness almost sinks,” a wording that might, however, too easily be taken to mean “faith’s weakness almost subsides,” where “subsides” is understood in its sense of “becomes less intense.” Given that the wording and sense of the cantata line are probably derived from the narrative of Matthew 14:22-33 in which Jesus’s disciple Peter is depicted as almost sinking into sea and drowning on account of his weak faith, we have opted for rendering “sinket fast” as “almost drowns.”"
},
{
"note_num": 15,
"note_text_plain": "The speaker of these words is not identified in the original source for the cantata. But the words are drawn from the book of Revelation (see fn. 16, below), whose narrator hears them from a “voice in heaven,” meaning that they are understood as divine. This impression is reinforced by Bach’s choice to set them for bass, the vocal range conventionally associated with the Vox Dei/Christi.",
"note_text_html": "The speaker of these words is not identified in the original source for the cantata. But the words are drawn from the book of Revelation (see fn. 16, below), whose narrator hears them from a “voice in heaven,” meaning that they are understood as divine. This impression is reinforced by Bach’s choice to set them for bass, the vocal range conventionally associated with the Vox Dei/Christi."
},
{
"note_num": 16,
"note_text_plain": "Revelation 14:13.",
"note_text_html": "Revelation 14:13."
},
{
"note_num": 17,
"note_text_plain": "The “hellmouth” is the entrance of hell, often depicted in art as a giant monster’s mouth swallowing up the damned (i.e., “der Höllenrachen” [literally, “the maw/mouth of hell”] does not mean “the raging of hell”).",
"note_text_html": "The “hellmouth” is the entrance of hell, often depicted in art as a giant monster’s mouth swallowing up the damned (i.e., “der Höllenrachen” [literally, “the maw/mouth of hell”] does not mean “the raging of hell”)."
},
{
"note_num": 18,
"note_text_plain": "“Child of death” is a technical biblical term (Hebrew, “ben mawet” [literal meaning: “son of death”; sense: “person who deserves to die”), employed in 2 Samuel 12:5, where King David, in Luther’s rendering, declares of a rich man who stole a poor man’s sheep: “der Mann ist ein Kind des Todes, der das getan hat” (“the man who has done that is a child of death”). The King James Bible, like most English bibles, renders this passage according to the sense: “the man that hath done this thing shall surely die.” The Calov study Bible, which Bach owned, glosses Luther’s “Kind des Todes” as “des Todes schuldig” (“[i.e.,] guilty [deserving] of death”).",
"note_text_html": "“Child of death” is a technical biblical term (Hebrew, “ben mawet” [literal meaning: “son of death”; sense: “person who deserves to die”), employed in 2 Samuel 12:5, where King David, in Luther’s rendering, declares of a rich man who stole a poor man’s sheep: “der Mann ist ein Kind des Todes, der das getan hat” (“the man who has done that is a child of death”). The King James Bible, like most English bibles, renders this passage according to the sense: “the man that hath done this thing shall surely die.” The Calov study Bible, which Bach owned, glosses Luther’s “Kind des Todes” as “des Todes schuldig” (“[i.e.,] guilty [deserving] of death”)."
},
{
"note_num": 19,
"note_text_plain": "That is (in Lutheran teaching), on earth the human body, the “natural body,” is animated by the soul; but at death “this [natural] body” is separated from the soul, and believers are said to be in their “Todesschlaf” (the “sleep of death”) while their earthly bodies decay and their souls, now in some sort of intermediate state of proleptic blessedness, await the end time of the world; and at the end time, the believer’s body is resurrected as a transformed, heavenly “spiritual body” that is joined eternally to the soul, in which state, after the final judgment, the person, animated by God’s spirit, enjoys the full blessedness of heaven, eternally.",
"note_text_html": "That is (in Lutheran teaching), on earth the human body, the “natural body,” is animated by the soul; but at death “this [natural] body” is separated from the soul, and believers are said to be in their “Todesschlaf” (the “sleep of death”) while their earthly bodies decay and their souls, now in some sort of intermediate state of proleptic blessedness, await the end time of the world; and at the end time, the believer’s body is resurrected as a transformed, heavenly “spiritual body” that is joined eternally to the soul, in which state, after the final judgment, the person, animated by God’s spirit, enjoys the full blessedness of heaven, eternally."
},
{
"note_num": 20,
"note_text_plain": "The sense of this line is derived from Acts 2:26-27, which in the Luther Bibles of Bach’s day reads, as glossed in the Calov study Bible (see fn. 18, above) and indicated here in brackets, “mein Fleisch [meine menschliche Natur] wird ruhen in der Hoffnung [der Auferstehung von den Toten], denn du wirst meine Seele nicht in der Hölle [in höllischer Angst und Schmerzen] lassen [. . . und also auch meinem Leib nicht lassen in der Verwesung]” (“[in the grave,] my flesh [my human nature] will rest in the hope [of the resurrection of the dead], for you will not leave my soul in hell [in hellish anxiety/fear and pain . . . and also not leave my body in (its burial state of) decay]”).",
"note_text_html": "The sense of this line is derived from Acts 2:26-27, which in the Luther Bibles of Bach’s day reads, as glossed in the Calov study Bible (see fn. 18, above) and indicated here in brackets, “mein Fleisch [meine menschliche Natur] wird ruhen in der Hoffnung [der Auferstehung von den Toten], denn du wirst meine Seele nicht in der Hölle [in höllischer Angst und Schmerzen] lassen [. . . und also auch meinem Leib nicht lassen in der Verwesung]” (“[in the grave,] my flesh [my human nature] will rest in the hope [of the resurrection of the dead], for you will not leave my soul in hell [in hellish anxiety/fear and pain . . . and also not leave my body in (its burial state of) decay]”). "
},
{
"note_num": 21,
"note_text_plain": "“Genung” is an old spelling (and sometimes pronunciation) of “genug” (“enough”).",
"note_text_html": "“Genung” is an old spelling (and sometimes pronunciation) of “genug” (“enough”)."
},
{
"note_num": 22,
"note_text_plain": "The last stanza of the hymn “Es ist genu[n]g, so nimm, Herr, meinen Geist.”",
"note_text_html": "The last stanza of the hymn “Es ist genu[n]g, so nimm, Herr, meinen Geist.”"
},
{
"note_num": 23,
"note_text_plain": "The “it” here is “das Leben” (“[one’s] life”); in 1 Kings 19:4, Elijah prays to God that “seine Seele stürbe, und sprach: Es ist genug, so nimm nun, HERR, meine Seele” (that “his [Elijah’s] soul might die, saying: ‘It is enough; then take now, LORD, my soul’”).",
"note_text_html": "The “it” here is “das Leben” (“[one’s] life”); in 1 Kings 19:4, Elijah prays to God that “seine Seele stürbe, und sprach: Es ist genug, so nimm nun, HERR, meine Seele” (that “his [Elijah’s] soul might die, saying: ‘It is enough; then take now, LORD, my soul’”)."
},
{
"note_num": 24,
"note_text_plain": "“Wenn es dir [Gott] gefällt,” here, is meant in the sense of “if it is your will”—just as the expression is still used, e.g., in a convention of German death announcements, “Es hat Gott dem Herrn gefallen, . . . in die Ewigkeit abzurufen” (literal meaning: “It has pleased the Lord God to call [name of person] into eternity”; sense: “It is God’s will that [name of person] has now passed away”).",
"note_text_html": "“Wenn es dir [Gott] gefällt,” here, is meant in the sense of “if it is your will”—just as the expression is still used, e.g., in a convention of German death announcements, “Es hat Gott dem Herrn gefallen, . . . in die Ewigkeit abzurufen” (literal meaning: “It has pleased the Lord God to call [name of person] into eternity”; sense: “It is God’s will that [name of person] has now passed away”)."
},
{
"note_num": 25,
"note_text_plain": "For its sense, this line apparently draws on Job 30:11, “Sie haben mein Seil ausgespannet, und mich zunichte gemacht, und das Meine abgezäumet” (“They have unharnessed my rope, and ruined me, and unbridled what is mine”). Considering Luther’s use in Job 30:11 of “abgezäumet” (“unbridled”) and considering the standard German expression “die Pferde ausspannen” (“unharness the horses”), we would offer as a best construal for Cantata 60’s vexing “So spanne mich doch aus” (sometimes rendered in English along the lines of “help me relax”) the translation “Then do unharness me [of the world’s ‘trappings,’ and from the yoke of this world’s endless sorrows, trials, and burdens].” (See also line 8 of this chorale stanza.) It is worth noting the corroboration of this construal that is provided in a collection of funeral sermons by Heinrich Müller, an author significantly represented in Bach’s personal library: “Simeon nennet den Tod eine Ausspannung. [In marg. Luc 2/29.] Hie sind wir eingespannet in das Joch der Mühe / des Jammers und Leidens. Der Tod spannet uns aus aus dem Leidens und Angst-Joch” (“Simeon calls death an unharnessing [margin: ‘Luke 2:29’]. Here [in the present world] we are harnessed in the yoke of trouble, misery, and suffering. Death unharnesses us out from the yoke of suffering and anxiety/fear”).",
"note_text_html": "For its sense, this line apparently draws on Job 30:11, “Sie haben mein Seil ausgespannet, und mich zunichte gemacht, und das Meine abgezäumet” (“They have unharnessed my rope, and ruined me, and unbridled what is mine”). Considering Luther’s use in Job 30:11 of “abgezäumet” (“unbridled”) and considering the standard German expression “die Pferde ausspannen” (“unharness the horses”), we would offer as a best construal for Cantata 60’s vexing “So spanne mich doch aus” (sometimes rendered in English along the lines of “help me relax”) the translation “Then do unharness me [of the world’s ‘trappings,’ and from the yoke of this world’s endless sorrows, trials, and burdens].” (See also line 8 of this chorale stanza.) It is worth noting the corroboration of this construal that is provided in a collection of funeral sermons by Heinrich Müller, an author significantly represented in Bach’s personal library: “Simeon nennet den Tod eine Ausspannung. [In marg. Luc 2/29.] Hie sind wir eingespannet in das Joch der Mühe / des Jammers und Leidens. Der Tod spannet uns aus aus dem Leidens und Angst-Joch” (“Simeon calls death an unharnessing [margin: ‘Luke 2:29’]. Here [in the present world] we are harnessed in the yoke of trouble, misery, and suffering. Death unharnesses us out from the yoke of suffering and anxiety/fear”)."
},
{
"note_num": 26,
"note_text_plain": "“Kömmt” is not a subjunctive form (which here would have been “komme” or “käme) but simply an alternative, old-fashioned spelling of the indicative “kommt” (“comes,” “is coming”).",
"note_text_html": "“Kömmt” is not a subjunctive form (which here would have been “komme” or “käme) but simply an alternative, old-fashioned spelling of the indicative “kommt” (“comes,” “is coming”)."
},
{
"note_num": 27,
"note_text_plain": "With regard to a “house of/in heaven,” 2 Corinthians 5:1 states “dass wir einen Bau haben, von Gott erbauet, ein Haus, nicht mit Händen gemacht, das ewig ist, im Himmel” (“[we followers of Jesus know] that we have a building, built by God, a house, not made with [human] hands, that is eternal, in heaven”).",
"note_text_html": "With regard to a “house of/in heaven,” 2 Corinthians 5:1 states “dass wir einen Bau haben, von Gott erbauet, ein Haus, nicht mit Händen gemacht, das ewig ist, im Himmel” (“[we followers of Jesus know] that we have a building, built by God, a house, not made with [human] hands, that is eternal, in heaven”)."
}
]
}