A new song we're lifting

Eyn newes song we begin in the Erfurt Enchiridion 1524

A new song wir lifts up (Original Eyn newes song wir lifts up ) is probably the oldest surviving song by Martin Luther . It was first printed in 1524 and describes the deaths of the first Protestant martyrs in Brussels.

Emergence

Martyrdom of Hendrik Vos and Johannes van Esschen, woodcut by Ludwig Rabus , 1554

The song was probably written in 1523 and was inspired by the martyrdom of the two Augustinian monks Hendrik Vos and Johannes van Esschen , who converted to the Reformation, and which deeply moved Luther. Both were executed at the stake on July 1, 1523 in Brussels .

The song first appeared in print in the Erfurt Enchiridion in 1524. There it has ten stanzas (1-8, 11 and 12). In the later prints, stanzas 9 and 10 are added. Lucke suspects that these stanzas were not intended as insertions by Luther, but were intended to replace the two older closing stanzas (now 11 and 12).

Characteristic

The song is designed in the style of a petty chant and was not intended for worship.

The form and language of the song suggest that it originated in the summer of 1523 shortly after the events described and before all other surviving songs. In Es wants God to be gracious to us (1524) and in one of his latest songs, Christ, our Lord, came to the Jordan (1541), Luther took up the same stanza form again.

Luther describes the testimony and joyful death (stanza 8) of the two Augustinians as a fight and victory over the devil , the "old enemy", and his "larvae play" (stanzas 3–5). He calls his trustees, the representatives of the old faith, “ sophists ”, meaning a speculative scholasticism that is remote from the Bible . The accused are indeed deprived of their authority to ordain (stanza 5), ​​but it is precisely through their self-sacrifice for the truth of Christ that they become “true priests ” (stanza 6). As the core of the “error” for which the two were burned, he formulates, without explicit reference to his doctrine of justification : “One has to believe God alone, man always lies and deceives, one should not trust anything” (Verse 7). The younger closing stanzas 9 and 10 as well as the older 11 and 12 express with different accents the conviction that the attempt to silence the two evangelical teaching monks will help the word of God and the cause of the Reformation to victory.

text

Original text Eynn hubsch Lyed von denn zcweyen Marterern Christi, burned at Brussels by the Sophists zcu Louen. Martinus Luther.

Orthographically modernized version A lovely song by the two martyrs of Christ, burned to lions in Brussels by the sophists. Martin Luther.

1. Eyn newes lyed wyr begin, the forest got our lord, To sing what God has done to praise and honor himself. At Brussels in the Netherlands wanted by two boys Did he confess his miracles that he gave with his so reyishly cryed. 2. Who really wants to call John, so rich in God. His brother Henrich owes a real Christian to the geyst . From this wave they are harmed, they have acquired the crown, just as the stupid children of God died for his word, they have become his martyrs. 3. The old finds you catch lyeß, terrifies you for a long time with draw, the word gots he leucken you hyeß, with lyst also wolt you tewben. Vonn Löuen of the Sophists lost much with their art he Versamlet to this spyell, the geyst makes them to fool, They announced nothing gain. 4. They sang sweet, they sung sawr, tried some lystenn, the boys stood like eynn mawr, despise the sophists. Everyone found the annoyance that he was overcome . He was so great of such boys, he was full of anger for hours, thought they would burn to death. 5. They practiced yhn the monastery clothes, which weyh they yn also name, The boys were ready, they spoke cheerfully Amen. Sye thanked yrem father god that they should let the devil's game of laru be and ridicule, Daryn through false beliefs that he even looked after. 6. That is what God sends through his grace so that they have become a priest, they had to sacrifice themselves and go to the Christian order. The wave has completely died, the heucheley take off, Zcu hymel come frey and reyn, sweep the Müncherey and leave people thandt hye. 7. You write ynn for a bryeflein kleyn that you have to read it yourself. The pieces they all wear what yr glawb had been. The highest rule of thumb was that man must believe God alone, man lewgt and trewgt ymmerdar, one should not trust him. They had to burn it. 8. Two great fewr they lit up, the boys brought them here, It was great wonder yderman that they despise such peyn. They gave each other with joy, with God's praise and singing, who must then become a sophist for this new thing, Do God let him remember. 9. The schympff has just told you, you would like to do it, you don’t think about doing it, you almost hide the things. The shame ym heart beysset you and lamented yrn enjoyed, But the geyst can not be silent here, the blood of Habels shed, It must report the Cain. 10. The ashes won't let go, they steubt ynn all land, The helps keyn bach, hole, dig still grave, it makes the feynd to shame. Who he ym life through the murder has forced to Schweygen, Who has to let death in every place with all stym and tongues sing frolically. 11. Don't let yr lie yet, because to decorate great murders. They give wrongly for eyn, yr gknow does they print; the holy gots are also read by yn after death . They say that in the last resort the boys should still find themselves han umbkeret. 12. Dye let me know ymmer hyn, they have little pious. We should thank God daryn, his word is wyder come. Summer is hard for the door, Wynter has passed, the delicate flowers are coming, he who started it, he will want it.

1. We begin a new song, may our Lord God sing, what God has done for his praise and glory. In Brussels in the Netherlands, probably through two young boys , he made known his miracle, which he so richly adorned with his gifts . 2. Who is called John, so rich in God's graces. His brother Heinrich according to the spirit, a real Christian without debts. Divorced from this world, they have acquired the crown, just as the pious children of God died for his word, they became his martyrs. 3. The old enemy had them caught, terrified them for a long time with dread, the word of God he ordered them to deny, with cunning they wanted to stun them. Of the Sophists' lions lost much with their art, he gathers them to this game, the spirit turns them into fools, they could win nothing. 4. They sang sweetly, they sang sour, tried some lists; the boys stood like a wall, despised the sophists. The old enemy was very annoyed that he was overcome by such boys, he so great; he was full of anger for hours, thought of burning her. 5. They robbed him of the monastery dress, which they also took away from him; the boys were ready, they said amen happily. They thanked their father God that they should get rid of the devil's larvae play and ridicule, in which he even deceived the world with false beards. 6. God sends that through his grace so that they became priests, had to sacrifice themselves to him there and go in the Christian order, to be completely dead to the world , to put aside hypocrisy, come to heaven free and pure, to sweep out monkhood and human existence here to let. 7. You wrote it in small letters in front of a letter , you had to read it yourself. The pieces they all showed what their beliefs had been. The greatest error of these was: One must only believe God, man always lies and deceives , one should not trust anything; they had to burn it. 8. They lit two great fires, which the boys brought them; it was a great miracle to everyone that they despised such torment. They gave themselves up with joy, with God's praise and singing, the sophists lost their courage before these new things, because God let himself be noticed. 9. The insult they now regretted, they wanted to make it beautiful. They do not dare to boast of the deed, they hide things completely. The shame in the heart bites them and complains to their comrades, but the spirit cannot be silent: Shed the blood of Abel, it must report Cain. 10. The ashes will not let go, they dust all over the world; no brook, hole, pit or grave will help; it puts the enemy to shame. Those he forced to keep silent in his life through the murder , he has to let them sing happily dead in every place with all voice and tongues . 11. Don't let your lies yet adorn the great murder. They pretend a wrong poem, their knowledge does not depress them. The saints of God are blasphemed by him even after death . They say that in the last emergency the boys on earth should have turned back. 12. At least you let them lie, they have it small pious. We are to thank God in this, his word has come again. Summer is hard at the door, winter has passed, the tender flowers are leaving: He who started it, he will probably finish it.

melody

The melody, which, as it were, calls out the news of the double martyrdom in the marketplace, is, like the text, the work of Martin Luther. It shows typical characteristics of his later sages. The final line has been handed down in two versions. The ^{? / i of} the Erfurt enchiridion ends on the tonic , which ^{? / i} in Johann Walters Geistliches Gesangbüchlein on the dominant . Moser gives preference to the first version, to which Walter later switched, and considers the second to be a variant that leads on to the next stanza of the narrative song, which was actually conceived as a soloist.

literature

• Otto Schlißke: Handbook of Luther songs . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1948
• Wilhelm Lucke: We are starting a new song . In: D. Martin Luther's works. Critical Complete Edition , Volume 35, Weimar 1923, pp. 91–97 , on the melody pp. 487–488 ( Hans Joachim Moser )

Web links

Commons : A new song we're raising  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Wikisource: Eyn newes lied we lift up  - sources and full texts

• Recording of the song on Luther2017.be

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Lucke pp. 93-94
2. ↑ WA 35, pp. 411-415 ; the verse count is added.
3. ↑ Gen 4,10  LUT
4. ^ Wiktionary Pious
5. ↑ p. 488