Meine lieben Studenten!
Die siebte Lektion
The seventh Lesson
Studieren wir jetzt den zweiten Artikel des apostolischen Glaubens.
Study we now the second article of the apostolic faith/creed.
Note: this construction is equivalent to: "Let us study." The word order would be the same for the question: "Are we studying?" But the infleuction of the voice -- about the same as for a question in English -- would indicate in German that it was a question. In print, of course, there would be the question mark.
Der andere Artikel
The other Article.
ander -- other -- cognates -- used in Luther's day to mean "second." At Worms, Luther reportedly said: "Ich kann nicht anders" -- I can no [do] otherwise" with the verb "do" understood.
Von der Erloesung
Of the Redemption
von -- of or from -- preposition taking the dative case.
der -- the -- feminine singular dative definite article (yes, I know it's the same as the masculine singular nominative -- don't blame me -- I didn't make this up!
die Erloesung -- redempt -- "ung" denotes that it is a gerund, a noun made from a verb, as we use "ing." The verb is "erloesen," "to redeem," so that "Erloesung" is formed as we would for "the redeeming" (the gerund or noun, not the adjective or participle). Note: "erloesen" is used theologically as the exact equivalent of "to redeem" in English. It is ultimately from "los," "loose.' "Was ist los?"-- what's loose -- that is, what's the matter? But here it's positive --more like freeing the slave, loosing the bonds, etc. The "er" is an unaccented prefix: air-LAY-zen, air-LAY-zung. The "oe" or "o Umlaut" is not exactly like "ay" in pronunciation -- but you will get there by trying to say "ay" while pursing your lips (that is, pucker up -- so German can be an integral part of a romantic evening with your spouse. We all know that Germans are lovers, not fighters!
Und an Jesum Christum, seinen einzigen Sohn,
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son,
unsern HErrn, der empfangen ist von dem Heiligen Geist,
our LORD, Who conceived is by the Holy Spirit,
geboren aus Maria der Jungfrau, gelitten unter Pontio Pilato,
born out of Mary the Virgin, suffered under Pontius Pilate,
gekreuzigt, gestorben und begraben, niedergefahren zur Hoelle,
crucified, died and buried, went down to the hell,
am dritten Tage wieder auferstanden von den Toten,
on the third day again arisen from the dead,
aufgefahren gen Himmel, sitzend zur Rechten Gottes,
went up to heaven, sitting to the right [hand] of God,
des allmaechtigen Vaters, von dannen er kommen wird,
the almighty Father, from thence He come will,
zu richten die Lebendigen und die Toten.
to judge the living and the dead.
an -- on/in -- cognate to "on" -- preposition taking dative or accusative -- in this case, following the verb "glauben," to believe/trust -- understood from the first article -- it takes the accusative case -- "I believe in"
Jesum Christum -- German uses the LATIN endings for the name Jesus and the title Christus. It treats Jesus as a fourth declension noun and Christus as a second declension noun in Latin -- if you're into that sort of thing. In both declensions, the "um" is the masculine singluar accusative.
seinen -- His -- masculine, singular, accusative -- following "glauben an."
einzigen -- only -- cognate fron "eins," one.
der Sohn -- Son -- cognate.
unsern -- our -- cognate -- masculine, singular, accusative -- following "glauben an."
HErrn -- der HErr -- LORD -- Note: der Herr is the gentleman, the lord. der HErr, with two letters capitalized, is LORD as a divine title -- just as the KJV capitalizes all four letters when it translates YHWH, Jehovah. By writing it this way -- as Luther does also in the Bible -- Luther is stressing that Jesus is Jehovah. In Luther's German Bible (not the modern revisions), you will usually also find Jesus written as JEsus or even JESus.
der -- who -- the definite article "the" -- used as a relative pronoun, "who." empfangen -- conceived -- past participle of empfangen (yes, the same, I know).
ist -- is.
Note: the meaning of "ist empfangen" is equivalent to "has been conceived." It is a passive construction.
von -- of/from -- preposition taking the dative case -- after a passive verb as in this case, it indicated agency -- that "by" in English.
dem -- "the" -- masculine, singular, dative after "von."
Heiligen -- holy -- cognate -- capitalized as part of the name or title.
der Geist -- ghost -- cognate.
Note: It is because English vocabulary is a hybrid of German (the basis or foundation) and Latin (an overlayer) that we have both "Holy Ghost" and "Holy Spirit" in the KJV. One could wish, today, that "Holy Spirit" had been consistently used in the KJV. It is probably because of the use of "Ghost" in Matt. 28:18-20 that the term "Holy Ghost" persists today.
geboren -- born -- cognate -- past participle (and therefore passive) of gebaeren, to bear, to give birth.
aus -- out of -- preposition taking the dative case.
Note: "aus" here exactly reproduces the Latin "ex." "Out of" is used to indicate motherhood -- in modern English, this usage persists, as far as I know, only in horse breeding.
Maria -- the name as given in Greek and Latin.
der -- the -- definite article, feminine singular dative after "aus."
die Jungfrau -- virgin.
Note: Jungfrau is a compound word -- "jung" is "young" and "Frau" is "lady." So OT scholar debating the meaning of "almah," "virgin," in Is. 7:14 could have an interesting time discussing this term. It is FROM the words for "young" and "lady," but it doesn't mean "young lady," It MEANS "virgin." Here is yet another case in point that etymology (word derivation) does NOT determine meaning -- the usage (usus loquendi) determines meaning. The way this word is used, it means technically "virgin." A Jungfrau may or may not be young -- she may or may not be a lady -- but she is a virgin. In the same way, "handeln," "to handle," may or may not involve the use of the hand, from which it is derived -- "I handle a baseball" implies actually holding it in the hand -- but "I handle stress" refers to coping with something emotionally. What is the point? Well, baptizo does come from a word that means "to dip," but it does not imply immersing -- its usage is "to wash" (Mark 7:14; Luke 11:38).
gelitten unter Pontio Pilato
suffered under Pontius Pilate
gelitten -- suffered -- past participle from "leiden".
unter -- preposition taking the dative case.
Pontio Pilato -- the name is used with the LATIN endings for masculine singular dative.
gekreuzigt, gestorben, und begraben
crucified, died, and buried
gekreuzigt -- crucified -- past participle of kreuzigen, crucify. These are cognates of a sort in that they are both derived from the Latin.
gestorben -- died -- past participle of sterben, to die. "Sterben," which in German refers to dying in any way, is a cognate to "to starve," which in English indicates dying in a particular way.
begraben -- buried -- past participle of begraben (yes, the same).
Note: in German, das Grab (neuter noun) means "grave" -- cognate. Der Graben (masculine noun) means "ditch, trench," Graben is the verb, to dig. Add "be" as a prefix, and one has "to bury." The "be" makes it a transitive verb, the kind that takes a direct object.
Note: in German, all past participles start with "ge" as an unaccented prefix unless the verb already has a prefix such as "be." So: gekreuzigt, gestorben, begraben.
niedergefahren zur Hoelle
went down to the hell.
niedergefahren -- went down -- past participle. The verb is niederfahren, to go down. "Nieder" is "down" as an adverb. "Fahren" is "to go, travel." The "ge" prefix which makes it a past participle is stuck in between the two parts of the compound word.
zur -- to the -- zu is a preposition that takes the dative case. Zur is a contraction zu der -- to the -- "der" being the feminine singular dative of "the."
die Hoelle -- hell -- cognates.
Note: Hoelle/hell is used in Nordic mythology just as Hades is used in Greek mythology. Each one must be filled with different content to be used in the Bible.
am dritten Tage
on the third day
am -- on the -- contraction of an dem, an being a preposition taking the dative case, dem being the masculine singular dative for "the."
dritten -- third
Tage -- der Tag -- the day -- cognates. The "e" is an archaic ending used with masculine and neuter nouns of one syllable in the dative singular.
wieder auferstanden von den Toten
again having stood up from the dead
wider -- again -- adverb.
auferstanden -- arisen -- past participle of auferstehen.
Note: Aufstehen is the German verb for "to stand up" "to get up." The "er" prefix sort of intensifies it -- resurrection is more than just getting up. Because of the "er" there is no "ge" prefix.
von -- of/from -- preposition taking the dative case.
den -- the -- dative plural.
Toten -- dead -- the adjective "tot" used as a noun with the dative plural ending. It is capitalized because it's used as a noun -- and all nouns are capitalized in German.
aufgefahren gen Himmel
went up to heaven.
aufgefahren -- having gone up -- past participle of auffahren -- the "ge" prefix indicates the past participle -- it is inserted between "auf" "up" and "fahren" "go, travel."
Note: the Ascension is called die Himmelfahrt -- the heaven trip -- die Fahrt, from fahren, is a trip or journey. Yes, it sounds inelegant in English -- too bad.
gen -- to, toward -- prepostion taking the accusative case.
Note: "gen" is archaic -- today used only in old things such as the creed. It is related to the preposition "gegen," which can mean "toward" but most often means "against" in modern German.
der Himmel -- heaven.
sitzend zur Rechten Gottes
sitting to the right of God.
sitzend -- sitting -- present participle -- the "end" is equivalent to our "ing" in this usage.
zur -- to the -- see above
Rechten -- right hand -- "recht" is the adjective, used here as a noun -- and therefore capitalized. The word "hand" is understood in this case -- as it is in Latin and Greek.
Gottes -- der Gott -- of God -- masculine singular genitive.
des allmaechtigen Vaters
the almighty Father
see First Article.
von dannen er kommen wird
from thence He come will
von -- from -- preposition taking the dative case.
dannen -- thence -- archaic word.
er -- He -- German does not capitalize pronouns referring to God (unless the pronoun starts a sentence, of course).
kommen -- come -- cognate
wird -- will -- helping verb forming the future.
Note: The German future is formed by using the verb "werden" "to become" as an auxiliary or helping verb and the infinitive (dictionary) form of the verb. "I will come" is "Ich werde kommen." "He will go" is "Er wird gehen." What becomes confusing is that German has another helping verb, "wollen," "to want to," which looks like the English "will" but expresses one's willingness. So "Ich will kommen" is "I want to come" and "Er will gehen" is "He wants to go."
zu richten die Lebendigen und die Toten.
to judge the living and the dead
zu -- to -- used before the infinitive verb -- to judge.
richten -- to judge (der Richter, the Judge).
die -- the -- accusative plural
Lebendigen -- living -- plural of adjective "lebendig" "alive" (cognates).
Toten -- see above.
The two words are adjectives but are capitalized because they are used here as nouns.
Was ist das? Antwort.
What is that? Answer.
Ich glaube, dass JEsus Christus,
I believe that Jesus Christ
wahrhaftiger Gott, vom Vater in Ewigkeit geboren,
true God, of/by the Father in eternity born,
und auch wahrhaftiger Mensch,
and also true Human Being,
von der Junfgrau Maria geboren,
of/by the Virgin Mary born
sei mein HErr,
is my LORD
der mich verlornen und verdammten Menschen
Who me lost and damned human being
erloest hat, erworben und gewonne von allen Suenden,
redeemed has, gained and won from all sins
vom Tod und von der Gewalt des Teufels,
from the death and from the power of the devil
nicht mit Gold oder Silber,
not with gold or silver,
sondern mit seinem heiligen, teuren Blut
rather with His holy precious blood
und mit seinem unschulding Leiden und Sterben,
and with His innocent suffering and dying
auf dass ich sein eigen sei
so that I His own may be
und in seinem Reich unter ihm lebe
and in His kingdom under him may live
und ihm diene in ewiger Gerechtigkeit,
and Him serve in eternal righteousness
Unschuld, und Seligkeit,
innocence, and blessedness
gleichwie er ist auferstanden vom Tode,
just as He is risen from the death
lebt und regiert in Ewigkeit.
lives and rules in eternity
Das ist gewisslich wahr.
That is certainly true.
Ich glaube, dass JEsus Christus
I believe that Jesus Christ.
wahrhaftiger Gott
true God
wahrhaftiger -- true, genuine. "Wahr" is "true," "wahrhaftig" intensifies it -- as "really true, genuine, actual." The "er" is the masculine, singular, nominative ending -- for Jesus is the subject of the clause.
vom Vater in Ewigkeit geboren
from the Father in eternity born
vom -- of/from/by the -- preposition taking the dative case -- indicates agency.
in -- in -- preposition -- cognate
Ewigkeit -- eternity -- "ewig" is "eternal." The "keit" suffix makes it a feminine noun.
geboren -- born -- cognates -- past participle of gebaeren, to give birth.
Note: Technically, the use of "geboren" sounds like the Father is the Mother; that was obviously not Luther's intention -- but I still much prefer to translate as "begotten" here.
und auch wahrhaftiger Mensch
and also true Human Being
der Mensch -- human being -- masculine noun -- this word is gender non-specific like homo in Latin or anthropos in Greek. "The Son of Man" in the NT is "der Menschensohn" in Luther's translation.
von der Jungfrau Maria geboren
of/by the Virgin Mary born
see above, in the text of the creed itself.
sei mein HErr.
is my LORD.
sei -- is -- technically, "may be." From sein, to be.
Why is "sei" used instead of "ist"? Well, it is the subjunctive mood -- like English, "If I be here." Subjunctive is used to express something other than a definite assertion -- a wish, a hope, a prayer. German tends to use the subjunctive for indirect discourse -- instead of a direct quote: "He says, 'I am here.'" "He says that he is here" is "Er sagt er sei hier."
mein -- my
HErr -- LORD -- translates YHWH
der mich verlornen und verdammten Menschen erloest hat
Who me l ost and damned Human Being redeemed has.
der -- who -- definite article (masculine singular nominative) used as relative pronoun.
mich -- me -- accusative -- direct object
verlornen -- lost -- cognate to English: "forlorn" -- past participle of verlieren, to lose.
verdammten -- damned -- cognates in that both are from Latin, damnare -- past participle of verdammen, to damn.
Menschen -- human being, accusative, direct object.
erloest -- see above
hat -- has.
erworben und gewonnen
gained and won
erworben -- gained, purchased -- past participle of erwerben.
gewonnen -- won -- past participle of gewinnen.
von allen Suenden
from all sins
von -- from -- preposition taking the dative case.
allen -- all -- cognate -- dative plural
die Suende -- sin -- cognates -- feminine noun; the "n" is plural.
Note: Feminine nouns, especially those ending in "e" as many do, often (but not always) form the plural simply by adding "n."
vom Tod
from the death
von -- from -- preposition taking the dative case.
vom -- contraction of von dem -- dem being the dative singular of "the" in masculine and neuter.
der Tod -- death -- masculine noun -- cognates.
und von der Gewalt des Teufels
and from the power of the devil
von -- from -- preposition taking the dative case.
der -- the -- feminine singular dative
die Gewalt -- power, force, authority.
des -- of the -- masculine singular genitive.
der Teufel -- the devil -- cognate
Note: by a long process of derivation, both "Teufel" and "devil" come from the Greek word "diabolos," the devil -- literally "slanderer, accuser." Latin uses the Greek word with a Latin ending: diabolus. That also yields Spanish: el diablo, and French: le diable, as well as our word "diabolical."
nicht mit Gold oder Silber
not with gold or silver
der Gold, der Silber -- obvious cognates.
sondern mit seinem heiligen, teuren Blut
rather with His holy precious blood
teuren -- from teuer -- precious, cognate to "dear."
Note: "dear" actually means "precious, expensive." So calling your spouse "my dear" is to assert that your spouse is precious to you. "Teuer" can also be used in the same way in German. In another context, we have the archaic statement: "The cost was too dear" or "The item was too dear" in cost.
das Blut -- blood -- cognates.
und mit seinem unschuldigen Leiden und Sterben
and with His innocent suffering and dying.
mit -- preposition taking the dative case
seinem -- His -- dative singular for both masculine and neuter -- neuter here.
unschuldigen -- innocent -- literally "unguilty."
das Leiden -- suffering -- neuter noun -- just taking the verb "leiden" "to suffer" and using it as if it were a noun -- including capitalizing it.
das Sterben -- dying -- formed from verb "sterben" "to die" as das Leiden is.
auf dass ich sein eigen sei
so that I His own may be
auf dass -- so that -- a two-word conjunction -- after it, the verb comes at the end of the claus.
sein -- His
eigen -- own -- cognates
sei -- may be -- subjunctive, expressing purpose here. "So that I may be His own."
und in seinem Reich unter ihm lebe
and in His kingdom under Him live
in -- in -- preposition taking the dative case (when there is no movement)
seinem -- His -- neuter singular dative
das Reich -- kingdom (commonwealth)
unter -- under -- preposition taking the dative case
ihm -- Him -- dative case.
lebe -- may live -- subjunctive -- expressing purpose here. "Leben" and "to live" are cognates.
und ihm diene
and Him serve
ihm -- Him -- dative case because the verb dienen takes the dative for its object.
diene -- serve -- "dienen" is "to serve." Subjuntive -- expressing purpose here.
in ewiger Gerechtigkeit
in eternal righteousness.
ewig -- eternal -- used theologically as equivalents.
die Gerechtigkeit -- righteousness. "Gerecht" is the adjective "righteous." Used theologically just the same way.
Unschuld und Seligkeit
innocence and blessedness
die Unschuld -- the unguilt, non-guiltiness. "Un" and "un" as prefixes negating an adjective or noun are cognates.
die Seligkeit -- the blessedness, salvation. "Selig" is an adjective, used in the Beattitudes: "Blessed are . . . " "Selig sind . . ." So die Seligkeit (noun) often refers to salvation -- the state of having been saved.
gleichwie er ist auferstanden vom Tode
just as He is risen from the death.
gleichwie -- just as -- archaic conjunction.
lebt und regiert in Ewigkeit
lives and rules in eternity.
lebt -- lives -- third person singular, indicative -- "leben" and "to live" are cognates.
regiert -- rules -- third person singular, indicative -- "regieren" (meaning "to rule") is from Latin, as are most German verbs that end in "ieren."
Das ist gewisslich wahr
That is certainly true.
gewisslich -- certainly -- from "wissen" "to know."
wahr -- true -- die Wahrheit -- the truth.
Note: in Luther's German Bible translation, "Das ist gewisslich wahr" is how Luther translated what we have in English as "This is a faithful saying" (for example: 1 Tim. 1:15; 1 Tim. 4:9.
Hier endet die siebte Lektion.
Christo befohlen!
John M. "Herr Professor Pastor Doktor" Drueckhammer, Lakeview, Oregon
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