Newly translated from Latin.
Luther's Preface to the Students of Theology.
Brother Martin Luther wishes salvation to the students of theology.
I know, dear theologians, that there will be no lack of people who will accuse me of presumption, yes, of the already ingrained vice of vain doctrine, because at this time, when the sciences are in the most beautiful bloom, I am not the only one,
I shall appear in public and in such a way that I let myself be seen as an interpreter of the books of the Holy Scriptures, which are probably the noblest and most difficult, namely the Psalter and the letters of Paul, especially since I am found by scholars to be a completely unskilled person, but by others I am found to be
inaeienseni prokectionem kacta sunt. Rostrema ejus praeleetio contiMt in die Veneris saneta, turn euni nos Vitenber^ae paseüa istUie eelebratnri NMrenius.... Rutero Vormaciam proteoturo. [Jn this note it seems to us very strange that Luther should have lectured "on Charfreitage" (March 29); if these were sermons, we would of course find it all right]. On Jan. 13, 1521, Luther had finished the 21st Psalm (Erl. Briefw., vol. Ill, p. 172, note 7), and in February he wrote to Pellican that he had the 22nd Psalm under hands (in this volume at the end of the 21st Psalm). At the Wartburg, Luther was immediately intent on continuing his work on the Psalter, and as he wrote to Amsdorf on May 12, had
an apostate and as one who deviates from the glosses that have now been generally accepted for some years. But believe it or not, I too would prefer to be in
I am more likely to murmur in my corner than to wander far and wide through the lands with my speech. I am well aware that I am ignorant and that my life is not good. But it
(Walch, old edition, vol. XV, appendix, no. 70), he has already asked D. Schurs and Prior Helt to send him the necessary books; on May 14, he says in a letter to Spalatin (Walch, old edition, vol. XV, appendix, no. 68, tz 4) that he will continue with the Psalter as soon as he has received what he needs from Wittenberg. On May 26, he was still without books (Walch, old edition, vol. XV, appendix, no. 79, K 2); but already on June 10, he wrote to Spalatin that he had already sent off the 22nd Psalm to be printed (Walch, old edition, vol. XV, appendix, no. 74, KI). He finished the 22nd Psalm only for the printing, but did not resume the lectures. - The last statement of the Jena edition, that the printer gave up the sheets individually, is well founded. Therefore, not a single complete copy of the original edition is known. Even in the most complete one, which is in the Erlangen University Library, two quires of four sheets each (pp. 213-220 and pp. 265-272) have been added by hand. The Dresden library owns two copies, which complement each other in a fortunate way. It is mentioned several times that the book printer suffers damage due to sheets that are left behind or also due to a lack of individual sheets (Luther's letter to Lang of Jan. 26, 1520. Erl. Briefw. II, 305. (Walch has here "remain empty" instead of "remain lying," Vol. XXI, 668, s 2) and Luther's letter to Spalatin of I. Nov. 1519, Walch, old ed. vol. XV, appendix, no. 46, s 3s. Luther intended, as he states in the above-mentioned letter to Laug, to organize a better equipped edition in the Lotthersche (Walch, I. o. "Lutherische") Officin; however, nothing came of it. This first edition, published in quarto by Johann Grünenberg in Wittenberg, has the title: "Operationes. F. Martini L. in Dsnlmos, VittsuksrAonsib. tUeolo^E ktntljosik pronnnointuk!". On the back of the title follows the dedication to the Churfürst, 'then Melanchthon's preface and at the conclusion of the same: Vnitsndor^ne in 8nxonibu8. Norme Nnrtio. Xnno NDXIX. on it tue Zuschrift an die Studirenden der Theologie. Twice a complete conclusion is made within the work. At the end of the fifth psalm are the words: "V VittonberAus anno Domi. M.D.XIX", from it a blank page; likewise at the end of the tenth (according to the counting of the Hebrew Bible: the eleventh): "VVittenbsrßno por Todnn. Elrvnon s-bsr^s. Xnno Domini M.D.XX." This edition is in quarto. At the end of the whole work, neither printer nor place nor year is indicated. From this we see that the first five Psalms were published in 1519 (probably already in March 1519 (Wenn. Ausg. V, 5s), the following five (according to the Vulgate count) in 1520 ("about the beginning of the year" (Wenn. Ausg. V, 5s), the others in 1521. The interpretation of the 22nd Psalm also appeared in quarto in the latter year at Wittenberg, printed by Grünenberg. Already in 1521, Adam Petri organized a reprint in Basel, in which Conrad Pellicanus (then Guardian of the Franciscan convent, later Lector at Basel) was involved (De Wette, Vol. I, p. 553). Luther learned of this and was prompted to say several times that he would have preferred that this reprint had not been made. On February 17, 1521, he wrote to Spalatin (Walch, old edition, vol. XXI, 747, Z 4): "Adam Petri (Dotmm) at Basel prints my Psalter, which I would rather not have seen" (nostcnn). In the postscript to the 21st Psalm, he asks the printers not to distribute these interpretations further "until he himself or another has improved some gross errors (orrores)." In these words we find the solution of the concern which De Wette (Vol. I, p. 554) expresses in the introduction to Luther's letter to Pellican: "Strange that L. is dissatisfied with the Basel printing of his Psalter in: Bries to Spalatin of February 17." Seidemann also says (De Wette, vol. VI, p. 568, note 4) from the same misunderstanding: "Luther was dissatisfied with the first edition, which appeared in March." In February Luther could not express his dissatisfaction with this edition, since it did not appear until March, but he only spoke out that he did not wish the Wittenberg edition to be reprinted ""improved." At the end of February (we consider this time determination of D. Enders, Erlanger Briefwechsel, vol. Ill, p. 92, which the Weimar edition also accepts, to be the correct one; De Wette datirt: "January or February"; Seidemann-De Wette, vol. VI, p. 568: "In March or April") Luther sent from Wittenberg (not: "Ex Pathmo", as the German Wittenberg edition (1553s, vol. Ill, p. 276d and after it the Altenburger, vol. II, p. 750, the Leipziger, vol. V, p. 184 and Walch, vol. IV, 1623 indicate) a letter to Pellican, in which he asks him to make various corrections in the Psalms, which he indicates to him, if the said Psalms should not yet be printed. The printing, however, was already so far advanced that at least the first two improvements requested by Luther could no longer be made, Probably mainly for this reason, one hastened to bring what had already been completed (which otherwise might have become difficult to sell) into the market as quickly as possible, and published the first edition, which contained only the first thirteen (14) Psalms, in March 1521 under the title: Nnrtini Dutüeri pino ao cloctuo in Dsulinos ope-rntion^s. From the title page follows an address to the reader, in which the richness and excellence of the book is praised. Because it is of such quality, not only according to him (Adam Petri), but also according to the judgment of all scholars, he publishes it, although it is not yet finished (nksolutum), since he fears to sin against the welfare of the church, if he would keep it longer in the house. The rest is already under the press, and the reader has something to read here in the meantime until the other is ready. At the end of a postscript by Adam Petri, which is similar in content, is written: "Dx m'äidus naeis LnsiWns, Xn.no domini, M.D.XXI, nmimn Nnrtäo." On the evening of March 28, the papal legate Aleander in Worms received a copy of this first Basel edition from Frankfurt. He wrote about it to the vice-chancellor Medici, Worms, March 29, 1521 (D. Theodor Brieger, Aleander and Luther 1521, p. 117): "Luther has published a commentary on the first thirteen Psalms of David, printed at Basel, with an epistle before it by one von Sconnemberg, who, as he says, is a recently arrived man (ßoruo nuovo) and not a nobleman (nodilo), but full of cruel venom against Rome, against which he agitates Germany, to which he gives the
I am trusted to serve God in this, to serve many, but especially you. I see that he is not a theologian who knows great things and teaches many things, but he who is a theologian.
holy and lives as a divine scholar (theologice). The further I am from this life, the more I dislike my teaching ministry (professio
of Thurgau), then a young man of 25, who in 1521 from Schoneuberg (which Aleander seems to have taken for his name, the other names for given names) addressed an enthusiastic preface "to Germany, the noblest and most Christian nation," which was prefixed to the first Basel edition. Seidemann (De Wette, vol. VI, p. 568) and the Erlangen edition, "xeMtwa opsru, tom. XIV, p. Ill and VI, call him the sclitor of this edition. - Already in the month of August of the same year, a second edition of our writing appeared with Adam Petri, which not only contains the psalmcninterpretations of the previous edition improved in the way Luther had desired, but also the ones still missing up to the twentieth (21st). The title is: "iUartini Initiates piao ac äootae "Operation"" in 6na" psalrnornin äeoaÜ"". cham seennäo roooMitae. Invenie" uoe toino. Ds iinpioruni .noininidns. De vanitatnrn llootoridns. De 8ps et pasmonidus. De nornine Dei. De DrusiUeutoribn". De Dick" et Operidus. De Eeriinonijg. xomina uirtutern nel potentiam Dedraei" siMilleantia. ^tque ulios ick ^enns loeos inaAno spiritu et erullitione traetato"." After the interpretation of the 20th (21st) Psalm follows Luther's postscript (complete), from it an address of Adam Petri to the reader, at the end of which is written: "Dx aockibus inem, IN6N86 Xn^rmto Vnni Vieebimi primi." On the last unfoliirtcn sheet is printed the already mentioned letter of Luther to Conrad Pellican (Delieano). In addition to Luther's preface to the students of theology, Luther's letter to Prince Frederick, and Melanchthon's preface to the students, there is an index before the interpretation of the Psalms, which (in two columns) takes up thirty folio pages; nevertheless, it is preceded by the remark that one should not be misled by the brevity of the index into thinking that the book is not exceedingly rich (pinAnissiinnnr ssse). In the following year, Petri also published the 22nd Psalm especially under the title: ,M. Dntüeri Dnondrntioneg in p "alinnin XXI. Dsns cksus inens oto. Hui est äs passion" COristi. . . In toino oporationuin nupor oxcnmo obinissug." At the end, "Damleao apnck Xckamum IVtri ^.nno Al.v.XXII." The aforementioned Basel editions appeared in folio, only this one in quarto. In October 1523, the printer Johann Grünenberg in Wittenberg published a separate edition of the interpretation of the 22nd Psalm in octavo under the title: Oporutio in Dsalinurn XXI Dsu" Don" insus ^lar. DntU. Vvittoindor^ue. 1523. at the end: imprint VVittsnlu-r^u" por ckoUamioin Orunender^. ^nno ^I.D.XXlll. ^lonss Oot. - These interpretations on the first twenty-two Psalms were then included in the Latin collective editions, and are found: in the Wittenberg (1549), Dorn. Ill, cok. 131d (with the remark: ckain tortio rooop;uitn"); in the Jena (1566), Dom. II, toi. 1; in the Erlanger, "xo^otiea opora, Dom. XIV-XVI, and in the Weimar one, vol. V p "r totum. In the first two editions mentioned, the Psalms have the Hebrew count, as in our Bible; the Erlangen edition, like the individual editions mentioned before, has the Vulgate count, except that (because in the Vulgate the ninth and tenth Psalms are contracted into one) the second part of the ninth Psalm is also erroneous on the heads of the pages Vol. XV, pp. 137-187 with the superscription: Dsulinus ckeoiinn", and page 188 the tenth Psalm (according to Latin counting) as Dsulmns nnckooiinn8. In the Jena edition, Melanchthon's Preface to the Students has been omitted. Luther's Preface to the Students is in the Erlanger and Weimar editions after the repetition of the title immediately before the interpretations, in the other editions immediately after the title before the other prefaces. Because Walch also inserted other prefaces here, we have retained the order he chose. - Luther's postscript to the first 21 Psalms, in which, as already mentioned, he asks the printers not to further distribute these interpretations "until he himself or another has improved some gross errors," is incomplete, precisely with the omission of this most important passage, in the lat. Wittenberger, Dom. Ill, lol. 367d; in the Jena, Dorn. II, 225 d; in the Leipzig, vol. V, p. 184, and in Walch, vol. I V, 1620. - The postscript to the 22nd Psalm, in which Luther again complains that his interpretations are reprinted, and the expositions he has to make of the previous editions are publicly displayed, has been moved away from its original place at the end of the 22nd Psalm in the German "Gesammtausgabe. In the Wittenberg edition, vol. Ill, p. 276, it stands as a "Sendbrief Luthers an den christlichen Leser" behind the interpretation of the 112th Psalm; in the Altenburger, vol. II, p. 690, in the Leipziger, vol. V, p. 185 and in Walch, vol. IV, 1624 it is placed before the 22nd Psalm. We have returned the same to its place. Luther's letter to Pellican, which is (complete) in the Basel edition after the 21st Psalm, is found incomplete in the Latin Wittenberger, Dom. Ill, col. 398b after the 22nd Psalm under the superscription: "Dutboru" uruioo suo X." Similarly in the German Wittenberger, vol. Ill, p. 276 after the 112th Psalm with the superscription: "D. M. Luth. an seinen lieben Freund N."; in the Altenburger, vol. I I, p. 750 after the 22nd Psalm; in the Leipziger, vol. V, p. 184 and in Walch, vol. IV, 1622 after the 21st Psalm. In all these German editions, it is incomplete, under indeterminate superscriptions. We will leave this letter in its place after the 21st Psalm, but give it in its entirety according to the Basel edition. Printed from the Basel edition, this letter is still found in Niederer, Nachrichten, 1, 189; in Strobel-Ranner, p. 80; in De Wette, Vol. I, 554 and in the Erlangen edition, Briefwechsel, Vol. Ill, p. 92. - The "Operation"" in paalmos are also translated into German. We get a reliable account of these translations only through the Weimar edition. First, a fragment of the 5th Psalm (Ps. 5, 12.) seems to have appeared in Upper German translation, which has the title: "Von der Christlichen Hoffnung ein tröstlich leer für die kleinmüthigen Martin lnthers über on ein den leisten [i.e., about the penultimate] verh des fünfften Psalmen" 2c. Without place, time or printer, in quarto. Three different editions of this print are cited.
Therefore, I ask you for the sake of our theology, which is our common good (let me accuse whoever wants and with what one wants; since it is with me, as one who has become too heavy
I have come to regard honor as a disgrace, wealth as poverty, or anything by which one man can serve or harm another, as commonplace temptations.
Welcher Sachs in Erfurt published a translation in octavo in two parts with special titles, but continuous signatures, the first of which contains a translation of Ps. 13, 1, the second of which contains a translation of Ps. 5, 12 (independent of the aforementioned edition, also limited in scope). The title of the first part is: "Vom Glawben, Was er sey 2c. Vnd wie die Cerimonien gehalten oder verlassen sollen werden. Doct. Mart: Luth. at Wittemberg. In Psalmo. xiij," The title of the second part is: "Was Hoffnunge sey, Vnd warauß sie komme 2c. Williche gute werck sehn. Von anfechtunge in gütlicher Versehung vnd Verzweiflung 2c. Doct: Ma: Luth. Wittemberg. In Psalm, v." These two parts were also printed by Gabriel Kantz in 1525 in the same format and with the same arrangement. In 1524, a piece of the 22nd Psalm (Ps. 22, 7. 8. 19.) was also published by Welcher Remminger in Augsburg, translated by Nicolaus Mair in Nuremberg under the title: "Bonn dem hailigen leyden Christi, wie nur das zu der Zeit vnsers sterbens brauchen sollen" 2c. Quart. - In the same year, at Freiberg in Saxony, the Franciscan monk Lorenz Sörer preached on the 22nd Psalm according to Luther's interpretation. He refused the request of some listeners that he publish Luther's work in a German translation, because it was too difficult and time-consuming for him. Then Valentin Einer, a painter at Freiberg, turned to Stephan Roth in Wittenberg on October 6, 1524, with the request that he translate this psalm for them. Noth did this "with Luther's favor and approval," as he says in the dedication to Einer, which is dated Martinmas 1524. On November 30, Einer thanks him for the letter and on December 11 for the psalm. The printing by Joseph Klug in Wittenberg is in octavo; in some copies dated from the New Year's Day 1525, in others only from 1525. A reprint appeared in March 1525, with the title: "Der zwey und zwentzigste Psalm Davids von dem leyden Christi. Vmm ckeus meng. Doct. Mart. Luther. Wittemberg." The dedication to Einer is signed: "Stephan Rodt von Zwickaw". - After that, Roth first began the translation of the 5th Psalm, also "with Luther's permission", which he dedicated to the mayor Hermann Mühlpfordt of Zwickau on April 1. Previously, he had intended to dedicate it to the wife of Duke Heinrich of Saxony, but Einer informed him on February 6 that she would have to refuse because otherwise she would have to fear the disfavor of her husband and especially of her brother-in-law, Duke Georg. The title is: "Der Funffte Psalm David, Widder die Heuchler vnd falsche Propheten. Of hope and branching. Was. Luther. Wittemberg. 1525." Octav. At the end: "Printed at Wittemberg by Hans Lufft. 1525." On May 6, Einer heard that this Psalm had been translated, and asked Roth to send it to him when he went out. (Cf. Ermisch, the letters of Valentin Einer in the "Neues Archiv für sächsische Geschichts- und Alterthumskunde" V, p. 321 ff.) It was not until 1527 (not 1524, as was previously assumed) that the first nine Psalms in Roth's translation appeared for the first time. The fifth Psalm, which was published in 1525, is included in this collection unchanged. The title is: "Das Erste Teyl der Lateinischen auslegung des Psalters, Doctor Martin Luthers. Verdeudschet by Stephanum Rodt. Wittemberg 1. 5. 27." Octav. At the end: "Printed at Wittemberg by Joseph Klugen. Am 1527. Jar." 2c. The 22nd Psalm is not found in this edition, but only in the previously mentioned separate editions. Roth did not translate more than these ten Psalms, although Luther speaks of his 22 Psalms in his preface to Roth's translation, and the latter promises the translation of the other Psalms at the end of the 9th Psalm in a postscript. These, however, were translated into German only in 1730 by the Leipzig M. Johann Jakob Greiff, Candidate of Theology, for the Leipzig edition. This settles the concern that Elias Frick expresses in the German edition of Seckendorf's Historie des Lutherthums: "I am highly surprised, however, why only the first nine and the 22nd Psalm are to be found translated in the Altenburgische Theil, since Luther expressly writes in the preface: he has been pleased that this man (i.e. Stephan Rodt) has put his 22 Psalms into print in German". Roth has omitted Luther's and Melanchthon's prefaces to the "oxorationo", but has prefixed Luther's preface and his own to his (Roth's) translation, Luther's preface to the first Psalter translation (in this volume, Col. 1), and his "short instruction on how to read the Psalter usefully" (which we have already discussed in the first note to the first manuscript of this volume) to the interpretations. Roth's translation is not only extremely free, as he himself says in his letter to Einer: "But first I want to tell you, and all readers of the text, that I have applied myself more to seeking understanding and opinion from it than to giving word for word, so that we may also serve those who are eynfelt", but also very incomplete. He leaves out all the sections in which linguistic explanations are given. Of the interpretation of the third Psalm, about the third part is missing, of that of the fourth about half 2c. At the beginning of the 9th Psalm, he completes a section that takes up four whole pages in the Erlangen edition (Dom. XV, x. 67-71) with the words (Wittenberger, Bd. Ill, Bl. 196d): "Die auslegung des titels dieses Psalms magstu im latin besehen, da sie nach der lenze gehandelt wird, Ich Halts one not dem einfeltigen Leien dieselbige hie zu ei^elen." Greiff's translation of the remaining Psalms, from the 10th to the 21st, contains, as we have demonstrated in the preface to this volume, many gross, meaning-distorting errors. Thus, these existing translations are not sufficient for our edition, and we have had to decide to re-translate this extensive work, which in the Basel edition (without the 22nd Psalm) occupies 449 folio pages. Roth's translation is found in the collective editions: in the Wittenberg (1553), vol. Ill, p. 72d; in the Altenburg, vol. II, p. 520; with Greiff's additions: in the Leipzig, vol. I V, p. 430 to vol. V, p. 246 and in Walch, vol. IV, 264. As a title we have chosen, because Luther himself, as he expresses in the letter to the Elector, did not want to call this work "explanations" or "interpretations", but rather operations, "Arbeiten über die ersten 22 Psalmen" ("Works on the first 22 Psalms"), which also distinguishes this work from the following one: "Kurze Auslegung über die 25 ersten Psalmen" ("Short Interpretation on the first 25 Psalms").
be reckoned, do not turn away from it, even where I am afflicted in truth), 1) pray for me, that is [ask for me], that I may be in the
1) In this extremely difficult sentence we followed the interpunction and the division of the Jena edition. The other editions have divided according to aorta and divi
May I be able to prove myself a Christian to Christ and sanctify His holy name in me. Be well in Christ.
tiuo commas, the Basel and the Wittenberg close the parentheses before üoo vos nAte-. The Erlanger has no parenthesis. - 8a "otoruna instead of snnatnm in the Jenaer is a misprint.