Was fürchtst du, Feind Herodes, sehr

Was fürchtst du, Feind Herodes, sehr. Martin Luther* (1483-1546). This is Luther’s version of the Latin hymn by Sedulius*, ‘Hostis Herodes impie’*, itself part of the acrostic ‘A solis ortus cardine’*. It was published in Geistliche Lieder (Wittenberg, 1544) in five 4-line stanzas with the title ‘Der Hymnus, Hostis Herodes, Im Thon, A solis ortus, etc.’ A note to a manuscript copy dates the composition of the hymn at 1541 (Luther’s Works, Vol. 53, ed. Ulrich S. Leupold, 1965, p. 302). There was an earlier German text by Thomas Müntzer*, ‘Herodes, o du bösewicht’ (‘Herod, O thou wicked man’) in Geistliche lieder auffs new gebessert (Wittenberg, 1531) which Luther would have known. The hymn...