Valerius Herberger (21 April 1562 – 18 May 1627) was a German

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

preacher and theologian.

Life

He was born at

Fraustadt Wschowa (pronounced , german: Fraustadt) is a town in the Lubusz Voivodeship in western Poland with 13,875 inhabitants (2019). It is the capital of Wschowa County and a significant tourist site containing many important historical monuments. His ...

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...

(now

Wschowa Wschowa (pronounced , german: Fraustadt) is a town in the Lubusz Voivodeship in western Poland with 13,875 inhabitants (2019). It is the capital of Wschowa County and a significant tourist site containing many important historical monuments. His ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

). He studied for three years at Freystadt in Silesia (now Kożuchów in

), and then entered the

University of Frankfort-on-the-Oder European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder) (german: Europa-Universität Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder)) is a university located at Frankfurt (Oder) in Brandenburg, Germany. It is also known as the University of Frankfurt (Oder). The city is on the ...

. In 1582 he went to Leipzig University. In 1584 he became a teacher in Fraustadt, in 1590

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...

, and in 1599

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

. Sigismund III Vasa ordered his congregation to cede their house of worship to the Roman Catholics; Herberger then acquired two private residences, which he gradually transformed into a church. He died in Fraustadt.

Works

In 1613 an epidemic broke out at Fraustadt, and under those circumstances Herberger composed his only hymn, ''

Valet will ich dir geben "" is a Lutheran hymn written by Valerius Herberger in 1613. It is a ' (hymn for the dying). The text was published with two hymn tunes by Melchior Teschner, Zahn Nos. 5403 and 5404a, in 1615. The second of these melodies was used in composi ...

'' ("O world, so vain, I leave thee"). It was published in 1614 with a melody by

Melchior Teschner Melchior Teschner (29 April 1584 – 1 December 1635) was a German cantor, composer and theologian. Born in Wschowa in Poland, Teschner attended the ''Gymnasium'' in Zittau, Saxony, and studied under Johann Klee. In 1602 he began studies in music t ...

Charles Sanford Terry Charles Sanford Terry may refer to: * Charles Sanford Terry (historian) (1864-1936), English historian and authority on Johann Sebastian Bach * Charles Sanford Terry (translator) (1926–1982), American translator of Japanese literature

Johann Sebastian Bach, Bach’s Chorals, vol. 1 The Hymns and Hymn Melodies of the “Passions” and Oratorios [1915]
Online Library of Liberty He was a prolific writer. His most comprehensive work is ''Magnalia Dei de Jesu scripturæ nucleo et medulla'' (12 parts, 1601–18), meditations on the Pentateuch, Joshua, Judges, and Ruth, emphasising the revelation of Christ in the

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

. Herberger also wrote commentaries on Revelation xxi.-xxii. and published them as ''Himmelsches Jerusalem'' (1609). ''Passionszeiger'' (1611), ''Trauerbinden or funeral sermons'' (7 vols., 1611–21), and ''Evangelische Herzpostille'' (1613) are collections of sermons which may be mentioned. After his death appeared ''Epistolische Herzpostille'', ''97 Predigten über Jesus Sirach'', and ''Stoppelpostille'' (sermons on various texts). Several of his works were reprinted in the nineteenth century:
Magnalia Dei: die Grossen Thaten Gottes 1-4
(reprint, ed. Fricke, 1854)
Das Himmlische Jerusalem
(reprint, ed. Bredt, 1858)
Erklärung des Haus- und Zucht-Buchs Jesus Sirach in 97 Predigten
(reprint, ed. Buchka, 1739)
Paradies-Blümlein aus der Lustgarten der 150 Psalmen
(reprint, ed. Otto, 1862)

References

ccel.org

Notes

;Attribution

Life

Works

References

Notes

Further reading