O man, weep greatly for your sin

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Melody and first and last stanza of Heyden's Passion Song in the version of Johann Hermann Scheins Cantional (1645)

O man, bewail your great sin is a Lutheran hymn for Lent . The text was written by the rector and cantor Sebald Heyden in 1530 for the melody It's all blessed by Matthias Greitter (1525). The song is close to the original in the Evangelical Hymn book (No. 76), in a revised version of ö in the Praise of God (No. 267).

Form and content

The two stanzas sung to this day are originally the framework of a 23-stanza Passion contemplation in song form. In it, Sebald Heyden tells the story of Jesus' passion in the manner of a gospel harmony according to the four evangelists . The first stanza formulates as a preface the redeeming meaning of the work and death of Jesus and invites, in accordance with the old interpretation tradition, to “wholesome mourning” over one's own sins and the suffering of Christ because of them; at the same time the narrative begins with the mention of his incarnation and miracles . The last stanza sums up the sensus moralis , the practical consequence of the Passion of Christ for believers: gratitude, love, fear of God.

Each stanza consists of no fewer than twelve - eight four- and four three - letter iambic lines with the double rhyme scheme [aabccb], where a and c are masculine rhymes and b is feminine . This expansive shape offers space for the narrative mass of text. No less a person than Paul Gerhardt felt compelled to create a counterfactor to Heyden's sometimes awkward verses, his 29-stanza song in the same meter, O man, weep your sin .

Text in use today

O man, weep deeply for your sins,
because Christ uttered his father's bosom
and came to earth;
from a virgin pure and tender
for us he was born here,
he wants to become the mediator.
He gave life to the dead
and did away with all sickness
until the time came
for him to be sacrificed for us,
bear our sins heavy burden
on the cross for a long time.

So let us now be grateful to him
that he suffered such pain for us,
to live according to his will.
Let us also be enemies of sin,
because God's word seems so bright to us
, strive to do it day, night,
to show love to everyone that
Christ has done for us
with his suffering, dying.
O child of man, look right at
how God's anger beats sin,
protect yourself from it!

Melody and musical arrangements

The melody, which is older than the text, still gives it expression and depth. Especially the new beginning with the high octave in the middle of the stanza paints the raising of the dead (stanza 1) or love (stanza 2). The only melisma underlines in stanza 1 the word "[until the time] comes", in stanza 2 the word "[with his] death".

The newer hymn books show slight differences in rhythm. The Evangelical Church Hymn book from 1950 (No. 54) does not note any pauses between the lines, only breath marks. Each line consists of 5 half notes, divided into 2 half and 6 quarter notes (male) or 3 half and 4 quarter notes (female); Only the melisma of the 9th and the dots of the 10th and 11th lines offer variety. The Praise of God from 1975 (No. 166) inserts a half pause at the end of each line, as it were as a note of a long breath. The Evangelical Hymn book from 1993 only notes such a pause after lines 3 and - repetition - 6. The praise of God from 2013 follows this rhythm, but also inserts the half pause after line 9, so that four groups of three with a pause are created.

From the church music arrangements of the song, Johann Sebastian Bach's ornate organ paraphrase BWV 622 and especially the large-scale final chorus of the first part of his St. Matthew Passion (No. 35) stand out.

literature

Web links

Commons : O man, weep for your sin great  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ already in the praise of God (1975) (No. 166)
  2. ↑ Full text of the "Great Passion" by Sebald Heyden
  3. ↑ tristitia salubris , e.g. B. Rabanus Maurus , De laudibus Sanctae Crucis
  4. ↑ Spiritual devotions , 1682 ( full text )
  5. ^ Text according to EG 76
  6. ↑ GL "therefore"
  7. ↑ GL "left"
  8. ↑ GL "auserkorn"
  9. ↑ GL "for us he was born a man"
  10. ↑ GL "relieved many of their illnesses"
  11. ↑ GL "until it should be fulfilled"
  12. ↑ GL "on the cross according to God's will"
  13. ↑ GL "because God's Word"
  14. ↑ GL " Strive for it day and night"
  15. ↑ GL "with his bitter death"
  16. ↑ GL "that you may not spoil"