¹ The source word “sie” is a third-person singular pronoun whose antecedent here is “Geist und Seele” as a unit.

² The source word “betracht,” in this case, is a clipped version of the third-person singular present indicative verb “betrachtet” (“meditates”), employed in this way to accommodate a rhyme with “gemacht.”

³ The source word “kennet” is a expanded version of the third-person singular present indicative verb “kennt” (“knows”).

⁴ These lines draw for their sense on Psalm 89:6-16, “Und die Himmel werden, HERR, deine Wunder preisen; … Wohl dem Volk, das jauchzen kann” (“And the heavens, LORD, will praise your wonders; … Well for [Israel] the people [of God] who can shout [for joy]”).

⁵ The sourse word “nennet” is an expanded version of the third-person singular present indicative verb “nennt.” In modern German, “nennen” can variously mean “to name,” “to mention, “to cite,” “to call notice to,” but in older German it was at times, as here, used as a synonym for “preisen” (“to praise”). With regard to praising God’s wonders and to shouting, see also fn. 4, above.

⁶ Some modern printings of the libretto here mistakenly read “von” (“from”).

⁷ “Schlecht” is used here in its older-German sense of “schlicht” (“meager,” “plain and simple”).

⁸ Dative-taking “vor” usually means “before” in the sense “in front of,” but here it is used as a synonym for “gegenüber” in its sense of “next to.”

⁹ The adverb “erst” is used here as a synonym for “höchst” (“most highly”; or simply “most,” when used as an intensifier before an adjective). See also fn. 10, below.

¹⁰ “Du bist dem Namen, Tun und Amte nach erst wunderreich” is to be parsed not as “Du bist—dem Namen, Tun und Amte—nach erst wunderreich” (“You are, as to name, action, and ministry, from the start, rich in wonders”), but as “Du bist—dem Namen, Tun und Amte nach—erst wunderreich” (“You are in name, action, and ministry most rich in wonders”). See also fn. 9, above.

¹¹ This line draws for its sense on Psalm 40:6, “HERR, mein Gott, gross sind deine Wunder … Dir ist nichts gleich” (“Lord, my God, great [in number] are your wonders … Nothing is like unto to you”).

¹² Having “blinde Augenlider” (“blind eyelids”) may on the face of it sound illogical. In this line the poet doubtless means simply to express the sentiment, “you open the eyes of the blind,” understood as a fulfilment of the prophecy in Isaiah 35:5, “Alsdann werden der Blinden Augen aufgetan werden” (“Thereupon [i.e., the time, in traditional Christian interpretation, when Jesus, God’s messiah, appears] will the eyes of the blind be opened”). The cantata’s talk of the “‘lids’ of the eyes” (“die Augenlider”) was clearly brought in to accommodate a rhyme with “Sprache wieder.”

¹³ “Mächtig” is apparently used here in one of its older-German senses, as a synonym for “zahlreich” (“rich in number”).

¹⁴ This is a quotation of Mark 7:37 (part of the gospel portion chanted at the liturgical occasion that this cantata was designed for), “Er hat alles wohl gemacht” (“He [Jesus; i.e., God] has done all things well”).

¹⁵ Lines 3–4 are a metaphor for ingesting the body and blood of Jesus in the sacrament of communion. (Note that in Bach’s performances, Part 2 of this cantata was performed during communion.)

¹⁶ “Ephata” is Aramaic for “be opened.” The expression is employed in Mark 3:32-35, “Und sie brachten zu ihm einen Tauben … und sprach zu ihm: Hephatha, das ist, Tue dich auf; und alsbald taten sich seine Ohren auf” (“And they brought to him [Jesus] a deaf man … and [Jesus] declared to him: ‘Ephatha,’ that is, ‘open yourself up’; and immediately his ears opened themselves up [such that he could hear]”).

¹⁷ “Mein Herz erweichen” does not mean “weaken my heart.” This line concerns not a “weak” versus a “strong” heart, but a “soft/tender” versus an “obdurate” heart.

¹⁸ This line draws on the language of Mark 7:33-34 (see also fn. 16, above), “und legte ihm die Finger in die Ohren . . . und sprach zu ihm: Hephatha” (“and [Jesus] put his fingers into the ears [of the deaf man] . . . and declared to him, ‘ephata’ [‘be opened’]”).

¹⁹ The adverb “gleich” is apparently used here not in its senses of “immediately” or “soon” or “equally” but in one of its older-German senses as a synonym for “billigermassen” (“equitably,” “justly”).

²⁰ The “Zungenband” (“tongue web”; in medical Latin, “frenulum linguae”) is a small piece of tissue connecting the underside of the tongue to the floor of one’s mouth. If this tissue is short or tight, one is literally “tongue-tied” and thus unable to speak properly or at all.

²¹ This line draws on the language of Mark 7:33-35 (see also fn. 18 and fn. 19, above), where Jesus “rührte seine Zunge . . . und sprach zu ihm: Hephatha . . . und das Band seiner Zunge war los, und er redete recht” (“touched his [the deaf-mute man’s] tongue . . . and declared to him, ‘‘ephata’ [‘be opened’] . . . and the web of his tongue was free, and he [now] spoke properly”).

²² This line draws for its sense on Romans 8:16-17, “Derselbe Geist gibt Zeugnis unserem Geist, dass wir Kinder Gottes sind; sind wir denn Kinder, so sind wir auch Erben, nämlich Gottes Erben” (“The same [Holy] Spirit gives testimony to our spirit, that we are God’s children; for if we are children, then we are also heirs, namely God’s heirs”).

²³ As proclaimed in Revelation 19:1.