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"Dies sind die heilgen zehn Gebot" (These are the holy Ten Commandments) is a hymn by the Protestant reformer Martin Luther based on the Ten Commandments. It appeared first in 1524 in the Erfurt Enchiridion.
| "Dies sind die heilgen zehn Gebot" | |
|---|---|
| Hymn by Martin Luther | |
 The hymn in Eyn geystlich Gesangk Buchleyn, 1524 | |
| English | These are the holy Ten Commandments |
| Catalogue | Zahn 1951 |
| Text | by Martin Luther |
| Language | German |
| Published | 1524 |
The reformer Martin Luther wrote the hymn in twelve stanzas of four lines each as a catechetical setting of the Ten Commandments. The commandments were used for confession and for instructions.[1] After an introduction, stanzas 2 to 10 are related to the ten commandments; 11 and 12 provide a conclusion, related to Jesus.[2] In 1524, Luther published the hymn in the Erfurt Enchiridion with a hymn tune, Zahn No. 1951, based on an older melody ("In Gottes Namen Fahren wir").[1][3] The hymn is a "Leise", concluding each stanza by "Kyrieleis".[2][4]
The hymn also appeared in Johann Walter's choral hymnal Eyn geystlich Gesangk Buchleyn in 1524.[4] It appeared in 1854 in Schircks's edition of Luther‘s hymns (Geistliche Lieder), and in the hymnal Unverfälschter Liedersegen in 1851.[5] In the current Protestant German hymnal, the Evangelisches Gesangbuch, it is EG 231.
An early English translation was titled "That men a godly life might live". It was published in Richard Massie's M. Luther's Spiritual Songs in 1854, and in the Ohio Lutheran Hymnal in 1880.[1] Another English translation, used in various Lutheran hymnals since the 1950s, is titled "These Are the Holy Ten Commands."[6]
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The melody was assigned as for "In Gottes Namen fahren wir", but other melodies were also used, such as "Wär Gott nicht mit uns diese Zeit".[4]
Johann Michael Bach composed a chorale prelude, Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck wrote two variations for the organ, and Johann Hermann Schein composed a setting for two soprano voices and continuo. Johann Sebastian Bach wrote a four-part setting, BWV 298; he used the chorale in the opening movement of cantata Du sollt Gott, deinen Herren, lieben, BWV 77. [7] The chorale juxtaposes the topic of the cantata, the commandment of love.[8] In his Clavier-Übung III, he dedicated two pieces to the chorale, a chorale prelude with five voices and a fughetta for a single manual, BWV 678-679.[9] Bach also wrote the first of the catechism chorale preludes, BWV 635, for the Orgelbüchlein.[10]
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