Den Vater dort oben

Here is my translation of the table hymn, “Den Vater dort oben” (M. Weiße, d. 1534), in ELGB #370, first in the Bohemian Brethren Gsb 1531 (Kirchengeseng) with title “After Meat.” The irregular meter and rhyme presents a certain problem with translation into English. C. S. Terry, in translating the three stanzas used by Bach, follows the rhyme scheme AABBCDC in the rough fashion of Weiße’s text. My full translation here follows a slightly different pattern in an attempt to align the rhythm with natural English accentuation: AABCBBC. The melody is given here from the 1566 edition of Kirchengeseng.

 

 

LET us praise the Father,
Over every other,
Who, as our good God alone
Food hath kindly given
As well as Christ His Son,
By whose death was blessing won
From the throne of heaven.

2 Let all earth adore Thee!
Unto Thee all glory,
Thanks and majesty be said
O my God, forever!
Who hast Thy blessing shed,
And today our body fed
In Thy grace and favor.

3 Take, O Maker holy,
Our thank-off’ring lowly,
Which we here present to Thee
In Thy Son, our Savior;
Oh, may it pleasing be,
And His merits perfectly
Be our atonement ever.

4 There is naught, Almighty,
That can e’er requite Thee;
All Thy grace and mercy shown.
See our weakness truly:
Oh, how may one thing be done,
If all creatures are Thine own.
To requite Thee duly?

5 Have then our thanksgiving,
Maker everliving!
In our duties us forgive
Where we are transgressing;
Grace to be like Thee, give,
That therein we here may live
And live there in blessing.

Translation © 2023 Matthew Carver.

C. S. TERRY

1 God in heav’n Almighty,
Hear the praise we sing Thee,
Thou who hast Thy people led,
Them and bounteous fed,
Sent to them Thy dear Son,
With salvation from above,
From Thine ever bright throne!

3 Take the praise we proffer,
Father, Lord, Creator,
Which we offer in the name
Of Thy Son who once was slain!
May we, through His merit
And the sacrifice He paid,
Life with Thee inherit!

5 Take, then, God Almighty,
All the praise we give Thee,
And forgive us our default
If to Thee our song is nought.
Grant us Thy grace alway
Here to live and do Thy will,
And see heaven’s glory.

GERMAN

Den Vater dort oben
wollen wir nun loben,
der uns als ein milder Gott,
gnädiglich gespeist hat,
und Christum seinen Sohn,
durch welchen der Segen kommt
von dem allerhöchsten Thron.

2 Sprechend in der Wahrheit:
Dir sei Preis und Klarheit,
Danksagung und Herrlichkeit,
o mein Gott, von Ewigkeit!
der Du Dich erweisest,
und uns heut mit Deiner Gnad'
leiblich hast gespeiset.

3 Nimm an dies Dankopfer,
o Vater und Schöpfer,
so wir Deienm Namen thun,
in Christo Deinem lieben Sohn;
o laß Dirs gefallen,
und Ihn mit seinem Verdienst
zahlen für uns Allen.

4 Denn nichts ist zu melden,
das Dir möcht vergelten
alle Gnad und Gütigkeit,
erzeiget unserer Schwachheit:
ei, wie mag auf Erden,
wenn Alles Dein eigen ist,
Dir vergolten werden!

5 Herr, nimm an unsern Dank,
samt diesem Lobgesang,
und vergieb, was noch gebricht
uns zu thun bei unsrer Pflicht.
O! mach uns Dir eben,
daß wir hier in Deiner Gnad'
und dort ewig leben.