Johannes Bugenhagen on Psalm 3

From Johannes Bugenhagen, In Librum Psalmorum Interpretatio (Basel, 1524).

pp. 16–17, Ps. 3—Although his interpretation is from the Greek, he will not be concerned with interpreting the Greek titles of the Psalms, since they are of no use where they disagree with the Hebrew. But he will add the titles from the Hebrew almost according to the translation of Felix [of Prato] and give only a very brief interpretation. In the phrase Psalmus David, the name David is in the dative case, he says, so that it means “a psalm revealed to David.” In David’s persecution, many things were revealed to him about the persecution of his Seed, Christ, and again about His glorification. Hermeneutics: “Hence the Psalms were made to be of help to you not just in looking at those histories, except perhaps as in a figure. Just as David suffered many things from his people, the Jews, and from his own son, that he might not be king, so also Christ, etc. For the Psalms almost always describe glorification, but through the cross and shame. But by the light in the Psalms it will seem more clear that in many Psalms Christ is speaking. But when Christ speaks, all the godly are speaking, all those who from the beginning have believed in God, for they are all one body, whose head is Christ. They speak, I say, especially where the topic is persecution and glorification.”

p. 19, Ps. 3—Sometimes in the Psalms “mountains” means “heavens.” E.g., “I lift up mine eyes to the hills” is equivalent to “To Thee I have lifted up mine eyes, who dwellest in the heavens.” He says, “Therefore the temple and holy Jerusalem is now where God is worshiped in the Spirit: in the church of the saints, that is, of believers, who know they have the Father in heaven; this was never unknown by those who believed.”

p. 19, Ps. 3—“With my voice, he says, I cried to the Lord. This is the only remedy in every trial [tentatio], even if we are tested concerning faith so that we despair.”

p. 19, Ps. 3—“I slept,” etc. refers to Christ’s death and resurrection, though it is not one of the passages that Christians can emphasize against the Jews. For that purpose we have clearer testimonies about Christ.

p. 20, Ps. 3—“God’s blessing [benedictio, ‘well speaking’] is God’s benefaction [beneficentia, ‘well doing’]. For since, for God, saying is the same as doing, as it is written, ‘He spoke and there were done,’ it follows that ‘blessing’ is ‘doing good.’ Thus you read that God blessed Joseph in everything, etc. And elsewhere, ‘Blessing I shall bless you, and multiply you.’ From here I think it was transferred also to human beings in Holy Writ, so that ‘blessing’ means ‘a good prayer,’ ‘doing good,’ and ‘alms.’”

Johannes Bugenhagen on Psalm 2

From Johannes Bugenhagen, In Librum Psalmorum Interpretatio (Basel, 1524).

p. 10, Ps. 2—He cites the interpretation of “Felix,” since he is interpreting from the Hebrew. Felix is the one Bugenhagen especially follows, except perhaps where he himself was not able to find the meaning, due to the difficulty of the passage being discussed.

p. 12, Ps. 2—Another reference to Felix. “I have been established as King by Him; I will proclaim the decree” points to the necessity of being called before presuming to teach, and also the necessity of teaching only what God has commanded.

p. 14, Ps. 2—“Today I have begotten You.” Regarding Augustine’s explanation, that this refers to the eternal begetting of God the Son from God the Father, Bugenhagen agrees with the thought, but finds it exegetically indefensible: “… and it seems more clever than theological, even though the meaning is true.” (Note: In a later edition of this work, the Psalterium Davidis, he changed his mind and saw the eternal generation as the native meaning of this text.) “Today” means the Christian era, according to the Epistle to the Hebrews. Paul in Acts 13 interprets this as referring to Christ’s resurrection. Thus, Bugenhagen understands “Today I have begotten You” not as referring to Christ’s divinity, but to His glorification according to His humanity. What about Heb. 1, where this passage seems to be quoted concerning Christ’s divinity? In Heb. 1–2, the author is proving that Christ is superior to angels not just according to His divinity but also according to His humanity. In Heb. 5 this is cited again, saying “Christ did not glorify Himself,” etc.

p. 16, Ps. 2—"And here you see fear mixed with rejoicing, which is truly faith: fearing with regard to God's Word and rebuke, and on the other hand rejoicing with regard to God's promisses and being secure regarding salvation due to God's Word."

Johannes Bugenhagen on Psalm 1

During Lent I have begun to read Johannes Bugenhagen's Latin commentary on the Psalms, In librum Psalmorum interpretatio (Wittenberg, 1524). Although it is earlier than the age of Lutheran Orthodoxy, it was a commentary that remained popular throughout the 16th century and certainly influenced the Lutheran Orthodox. Martin Luther wrote a preface for this work (translated in LW 59, which will be available in June 2012 from www.cph.org), and in his preface he praised Bugenhagen as the first real commentator on the Psalms that the Christian Church has ever had--high praise, considering that Luther himself had lectured on the Psalms twice before, and considering Luther's high regard for St. Augustine, whose commentary on the Psalms had been the golden standard for a thousand years. Unfortunately Bugenhagen's commentary has never been translated into English.

When commenting on Ps. 1, Bugenhagen begins by saying that the "blessed man" is Christ, but then he quickly moves to describing the difference between the godly and ungodly on the basis of the Psalm.

He is comparing the Latin Vulgate text with not just the Hebrew, but also the Greek. He explains all the words of the first verse and deals with the "old man and new man" within each Christian, repentance, being "at the same time just and sinner," and a lot more. For example, Bugenhagen explains that "meditate" means not just to think about something, but "by thinking to speak and exercise something." Meditation on God's Word is like playing a flute, where one's whole mind, heart, breath, and body is concentrated on the music.

On p. 8 he refers to "our Philipp’s" translation of Ps. 1:5. What work or translation is this? He also speaks against those who suppose there are contradictions in Scripture, on the issue of Ps. 1:5, where the Vulgate says the ungodly "will not arise in the judgment." What this actually means, he says, is that the ungodly will not come to their senses, even though they hear the judgment of God's Word, which the congregation of the righteous speaks.

At the end of his comments on Ps. 1, he says, "Therefore in this Psalm you have the scope of all of Holy Scripture."

Lutheran Translation Projects

Has that been translated? What is being translated right now? What other treasures of Lutheran Orthodoxy will we see in English in the next few years? How can I let others know about my translation project?

The answer is at Concordia Publishing House's Lutheran Translation Projects page.

Before starting a translation of a Lutheran writing, take a look here. If you have any additions or corrections, please go to the page and let CPH know.

Nicolaus Selnecker: a Scheme for Chief Hymns.

A selection of Nicolaus Selnecker, one of the authors of the Formula of Concord, on the contemporary usage of chief hymns in Leipzig, AD 1587.

“IN OUR CHURCHES, we preserve the hymns of Dr. Luther and joyfully join one another in singing them and the others in his hymnal… We here in Leipzig have long had a good Christian scheme for which hymn is to be sung in church on every Sunday and festival, according to what best fits that day’s Gospel, and this scheme has been kept up to this day… 

To relate this order briefly for the instruction of others, the congregation, during Advent, sings “Savior of the Nations, Come” along with the German Litany.

During the Christmas holiday is sung: “We Praise Thee Jesus at Thy Birth”, “Now Praise We Christ, the Holy One,” “Thanks Let us Render” [the Sequence, Danksagen wir alle —MC], “From Heav’n Above to Earth I Come,” “From Heav’n the Angel Troop Came near,” “Why, Herod, Fearest Thou the Foe?”, and “Hail the Day So Rich in Cheer.” These hymns are cycled through until Candlemas. Now, if the Baptism of Christ is preached, as often happens, on the Second Sunday after Epiphany, then “To Jordan Came Our Lord the Christ” is sung.

On Candlemas is sung “Lord, Now Lettest Thou Thy Servant Depart in Peace” as well as “In Peace and Joy I Now Depart.” On the Fifth Sunday after Epiphany, the hymn “In Peace and Joy…” is repeated, or else “O Lord Look Down from Heav’n, Behold” is sung. Septuagesima: “Salvation unto Us Has Come”; Sexagesima: “Our Father, Thou in Heav’n Above”; Esto mihi: “By Adam’s Fall Is All Forlorn”; Invocavit: “O Christ, Who art the Light and Day” —which hymn is repeated with the German Litany in church every Sunday until Palm Sunday.

 On Palm Sunday, before the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ according to the Gospel of St. Matthew is chanted, the hymn “From Depths of Woe I Cry to Thee” is normally sung. On Maundy Thursday, “Jesus Christ, Our Blessed Savior” (concerning the Lord’s Supper) is sung. On Good Friday, before the whole Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ according to the Gospel of St. John is chanted, that excellent hymn “Dear Christians, One and All Rejoice” is sung. During the Easter holiday are sung “This is Such a Holy Day” [Also heilig ist der Tag - after Salve festa dies —MC], “Christ Is Arisen from the Grave’s Dark Prison,” “Jesus Christ our Savior True, Who Death Overthrew,”… and such are continued until Rogation Sunday and that week, when “Our Father Thou in Heav’n Above” is sung.

On Ascension, however, the comforting hymn “Dear Christians, One and All…” is repeated; also, “Christ rose to heaven” [Christ fuhr gen Himmel]. On Exaudi: “If God Had Not Been on Our Side.” During the Pentecost holiday: “We Now Implore God the Holy Ghost,” “Come, Holy Ghost, God and Lord.” On Trinity: “God the Father, Be Our Stay,” “May God Bestow on Us His Grace.”

On the First Sunday after Trinity is sung the last hymn named, and “The Mouth of Fools doth God Confess” is occasionally added on account of the Gospel. On Trinity II: “Lord, Hear the Voice of My Complaint”; Trinity III: “Have Mercy on Me, Lord my God” [Erbarm dich mein, o Herre Gott,” or “The Only Son from Heaven”; IV: “That Man a Godly Life Might Live”; V: “Were God Not with Us at This Time” or “If God Had Not Been on Our Side”; VI: “Wilt Thou, O Man, Live Happily” or “Salvation unto Us Has Come”; VII: “My Soul, Now Bless Thy Maker” or “My Soul Now Magnifies the Lord”; VIII: “O Lord, Look Down from Heav’n, Behold”; IX. “The Mouth of Fools doth God Confess”; X. “Beside the Streams of Babylon” [An Wasserflüssen Babylon —MC]; XI: “In Thee Alone, O Christ, My Lord” or “From Depths of Woe I Cry to Thee”; XII: “By Adam’s Fall Is All Forlorn”; XIII: “Salvation unto Us Has Come” or “That Man a Godly Life Might Live”; XIV: “Have Mercy on Me, Lord my God” or “In Thee Alone, O Christ, My Lord”; XV: “A Mighty Fortress Is our God”; XVI: “In the Midst of Earthly Life” or “In Peace and Joy I Now Depart”; XVII: “Dear Christians, One and All Rejoice”; XVIII: “The Only Son from Heaven”; XIX: “Lord, Hear the Voice…” or “My Soul, Now Bless…”; XX: “O Lord, Look Down from Heav’n, Behold”; XXI: “Salvation unto Us Has Come,” “May God Bestow on Us His Grace”; XXII: “Have Mercy…”, “From Depths of Woe…”; XXIII: “The Mouth of Fools…”; XXIV: “In Peace and Joy…”, “Lord Jesus Christ, True Man and God”; XXV: “God the Father, Be Our Stay”; XXVI: “Our Father…”; XXVII: “Dear Christians…” or “A Mighty Fortress.”

Similarly, on festivals we sing, e.g., on the Annunciation, “The Only Son from Heaven”; Conversion of St. Paul: “Have Mercy on Me, Lord my God”; Feasts of Apostles: “Lord God, We Sing Thy Praise” [i.e., the Te Deum]; on the feast of John the Baptist, “To Jordan Came Our Lord the Christ”; on the Visitation, “My Soul Now Magnifies the Lord”; On St. Michael, “Lord God, We All to Thee Give Praise” or “My Soul, Now Bless Thy Maker”… I say this all on account of the German hymns, which we… maintain every Sunday morning… Concerning which I must boast that a better scheme for hymns may not easily be established.”

(Translation © Matthew Carver, 2012, after the German text quoted in Kümmerle: Enzyklopädie…)

Herberger's Great Works of God, vol. 2

I would like to take this opportunity to advertise the publication of my translation of parts 3–4 of Herberger's Great Works of God, now available for purchase from CPH. This volume contains his commentaries and Christological insights on Genesis chapters 16–50 (The first volume, with Genesis 1–15, can also be gotten at CPH or Amazon.com.) It's a little later this year than last year, but certainly not ill-timed for those looking for last minute gifts (or observing gift-giving customs until Epiphany)! So, in case you were wondering why the Lutheran Orthodoxy Blog has several posts about this important writer of the period, it is because I, as one of contributing members, have been immersed in Herberger's works for the past 4 years. Here is some of the fruit of that welcome time with this great writer.

Blessed Advent to you.
—Matthew Carver.

John Sigismund's break with the Lutheran Church

IN THE MARK Brandenburg, the elector John Sigismund, though with an oath he promised his father Joachim Frederick to remain loyal to the Lutheran Church, broke faith in 1613, when on Christmas day he formally entered the Reformed Church. The Augsburg Confession (variata) was retained, but in 1614, the Elector introduced a Calvinistic Confession of his own, the Confessio Marchica, in which the doctrine of absolute predestination was omitted. He could not however get his people to follow him and when radical measures were resorted to, a violent uprising of the masses occurred, which resulted in bloodshed (1615). In 1616, the professors at Frankfort-on-the-Oder were forbidden to teach the communicatio idiomatum and ubiquitas corporis. He also forbade students going to Wittenberg, and finally ordered the formula Concordia to be stricken from the collection of Lutheran symbolical books.

The failure to Calvinize Lutheran countries in this manner, suggested another slower, but surer way, that of union. An agreement was to be reached by means of colloquiums…

(From H.E. Jacobs, The Lutheran Cyclopedia.)