A. Notes by D. Martin Luther on some chapters of the Evangelist Matthew, *)
which were written down by the author not for print, but for the private use of a certain friend.
Anno 1538.
Translated from Latin.
D. Martin Luther to the Godly Reader.
I thought that these notes had been lost for a long time, and I did not know that this writing had been given the name "Notes" until it was brought to me by the brothers who had preserved it and prepared it for printing. For it happened by chance that I told a certain friend, who at that time was writing about the evangelist
I had no time otherwise to put some thoughts on paper, but I was not at all sure that such ideas should be kept for printing. For there are plenty of books available, both by old and new writers, so that I would not dislike it if my books were to perish.
*These "notes" on Matthew, Cap. 8 to 18, V. 7, Luther wrote down over tables for his friend and table companion D. Hieronymus Wetter, who suffered from great anxiety and lack of self-confidence (cf. Tischreden/ Cap. 22, H 58. Walch, St. Louis Edition, Vol. XXII, 657), because he could not otherwise find the time. Without Luther's knowledge and will, they were handed over to the printer, and only then was Luther asked to enrich the first chapters with some notes. Luther obliged his friends and at the end of the year 1538 (on January 11, 1539, Luther sent a copy to Amsdorf. Walch, old edition, vol. XXI, 1464), the thus enlarged manuscript appeared under the title: Annotationes D. Mart. Luth. in aliquot capita Matthaei, ab autore, non ut ederentur, sed in amici cujusdam privatum usum, scriptae. 1538. Then it was included in the Latin Wittenberg edition (1554), Dorn. V, col. 1, and in the Jena one (1570), Dorn. IV, col. 290b. In German translation it is found in the Leipzig edition, vol. IX, p. 1. We have retranslated according to the Wittenbevaßr edition, comparing it with the Jena edition. For the 18th chapter, we had to rely solely on the Jena edition, because the Wittenberg edition does not contain it.
went. Since I was forcibly dragged into the public by my adversaries, I had nothing else in mind than that I would lead the students through my ministry to the sources themselves, namely to the Holy Scriptures. I believe that I have fulfilled this task, by God's grace, not entirely without blessing. And now the Bible itself is available, both in Hebrew, Greek and Latin, as well as in our German, and in fact, the greater part of it is explained in such a way that everyone (if he is only godly and diligent) can feast on the Holy Scriptures himself (saginare) even without my books.
Therefore, I publish these notes, not because I wanted or desired it, but I suffer it and yield to the will of the brethren; this is also evident from the matter itself, because it is not a complete interpretation of the whole of Matthew. I would have provided such an interpretation if I had wanted to publish "Notes on the Evangelist Matthew" (for this is what the already printed title boasts) in print. But just as I came across the one who lectured on Matthew at about the eighth chapter, I also stopped with him again when he had reached the eighteenth chapter. Thus it comes that only ten chapters are printed as "notes", although the title boasts as if they were notes on the entire Gospel.
Therefore, the kind reader may interpret this synecdoche 1) or hyperbole of the title for the best and forgive the brothers; of me he may think what he likes. For I further consider it superfluous, nor do I consider myself capable of going into more detail about the holy scriptures.
1) Synecdoche is a figurative speech in which the whole stands for the part, or the part for the whole.
Now that it no longer lies under the bushel of the papacy, but has been drawn out and placed on the lampstand, it shines brighter than the sun to all who enter the house of Christ. And if we consider it rightly, there are already many more books than readers, and even almost more people who write than who learn, so that there is danger - not to mention that there is no end to the making of books (as Solomon complains [Ecclesiastes 12:12]) - that in a short time the large number of books, which are not the best, will suppress the small number of the best, and finally also the Bible will again be darkened and brought under a bushel in a worse way than before.
So, we see, it happened after the time of the apostles, who had brought the Bible to light. But those who came after them were immensely fond of books, and at last brought it about that the Church, instead of the Bible, was forced to teach and learn the Teachers, the Fathers, the Conciliar, and at last also the Decretals, the Sophists, and innumerable human infelicities, until the word of Jeremiah [Cap. 2:32] was fulfilled: "My people forget me for ever." This is the cause that I do not wish my books to remain longer than this time they have served. God will send His workers to other times, as He has always done.
Therefore, each one of us should see to it that we write, read, teach, and learn in such a way that we do not leave the Bible lying around and load new fathers, teachers, conciliarities, decrees, articles, decreeals, and the filth of human statutes and opinions upon us. Not foreign, but our own harm should make us cautious. May the Lord guide and keep us in the purity and unity of faith and His Word. Amen.