"" (; "Were God not with us at this time") is a

Lutheran hymn Martin Luther was a great enthusiast for music, and this is why it forms a large part of Lutheran services; in particular, Luther admired the composers Josquin des Prez and Ludwig Senfl and wanted singing in the church to move away from the '' ...

, with words written by

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Reformation, Protestant Refo ...

based on the

Psalm 124 Psalm 124 is the 124th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in the English of the King James Version: "If it had not been the who was on our side, now may Israel say". The Book of Psalms is part of the third section of the Hebrew Bible, and a ...

. The hymn in three

stanza In poetry, a stanza (; from Italian language, Italian ''stanza'' , "room") is a group of lines within a poem, usually set off from others by a blank line or Indentation (typesetting), indentation. Stanzas can have regular rhyme scheme, rhyme and ...

s of seven lines each was first published in 1524. It was translated to English and has appeared in 20 hymnals. The hymn formed the base of several compositions, including chorale cantatas by

Buxtehude Buxtehude (), officially the Hanseatic City of Buxtehude (german: Hansestadt Buxtehude, nds, Hansestadt Buxthu ()), is a town on the Este River in Northern Germany, belonging to the district of Stade in Lower Saxony. It is part of the Hamburg ...

and

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

History

Luther wrote "" as a paraphrase of

in three

s of seven lines each. It was first printed in 1524 in

Johann Walter Johann Walter, also known as ''Johann Walther'' or ''Johannes Walter'' (original name: ''Johann Blankenmüller'') (1496 – 25 March 1570) was a Lutheran composer and poet during the Reformation period. Life Walter was born in Kahla, in present-d ...

's ''

Eyn geystlich Gesangk Buchleyn ' ("A spiritual song booklet"), sometimes called First Wittenberg Hymnal and ' (Choir hymnal), was the first German hymnal for choir, published in Wittenberg in 1524 by Johann Walter who collaborated with Martin Luther. It contains 32 sacred songs ...

''. It was translated to English and has appeared in 20 hymnals.

Lyrics

Melodies and settings

When the hymn was first published in 1524 in the ''

'', it was associated with a

hymn tune A hymn tune is the melody of a musical composition to which a hymn text is sung. Musically speaking, a hymn is generally understood to have four-part (or more) harmony, a fast harmonic rhythm (chords change frequently), with or without refrain ...

in Doric mode, Zahn No. 4434, which was also used for "

Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns hält "" (, original: ) is a Lutheran hymn by Justus Jonas, a paraphrase of Psalm 124 in eight stanzas. It was first published in 1524 in the Erfurt ''Enchiridion''. The theme of the psalm is the need of help against raging enemies. It has been translat ...

", a paraphrase of the same psalm by

Justus Jonas Justus Jonas, the Elder (5 June 1493 – 9 October 1555), or simply Justus Jonas, was a German Lutheran theologian and reformer. He was a Jurist, Professor and Hymn writer. He is best known for his translations of the writings of Martin Luthe ...

in eight stanzas. Luther had a tendency to retain traditional texts and melodies. In 1537, the hymn was printed again with a different tune by Walter, Zahn No. 4435. The second melody has been regarded as an improvement and became the standard in further publications. Dieterich Buxtehude set the hymn as a chorale cantata, BuxWV 102, for choir, two violins and continuo. Johann Sebastian Bach composed a

chorale cantata A chorale cantata is a church cantata based on a chorale—in this context a Lutheran chorale. It is principally from the Germany, German Baroque music, Baroque era. The organizing principle is the words and music of a Lutheran hymn. Usually a chora ...

, ''Wär Gott nicht mit uns diese Zeit'', BWV 14, in 1725 for the fourth Sunday after Epiphany. In this cantata he uses the Zahn 4434 tune. For "Wär Gott nicht mit uns diese Zeit", BWV 257, one of his four-part chorales, he used the Zahn 4441a melody, one of the hymn tunes composed for "

". In the Protestant hymnal ''Evangelisches Gesangbuch'', EG 297 combines under the title "Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns hält" stanzas from both paraphrases of Psalm 124, taking stanzas 1, 2, 5 and 6 from Jonas (5 from 6, 6 from 8 in the original hymn), and Luther's second and third stanza as stanzas 3 and 4."

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * Preface in English and German. * * * * * * *

External links