Letters · Zweiter Band · Theil IV (1775)

New-Year Wish.

Bd II · Th IV · Brief 111 · Der hundertundelfte Brief

Addressee, date, and source

Addressee — To Johann Engelbert Evertsen, Barmen. Salutation "Lieber Bruder!"
Date — Mülheim, 6 January 1769.
Provenance — Translated from the public-domain 1775 first edition (Theil IV, pp. 272–274), in normalized GS 1845 house orthography, collated against the 1798/99 second edition (Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin). All rendered words come from public-domain prints.

The Hundred and Eleventh Letter.

New-Year Wish.

Dear brother!

My heart greets and blesses you for the New Year, together with the other dear known children there, as before the face of Jesus Christ. Such has also already happened in the first hour of this year, when I united myself in the spirit with you and the others anew, and perceived how much you lay upon my heart. When I reflect, then I am ashamed to say such, &c. Now, we do belong to the Lord; we also belong together in time and eternity: Thereby shall it remain with God. If we yet live a while in this year, then we live unto the Lord: To think otherwise and to will otherwise be a ban among us. If we die in this year, then must he whom it strikes also die unto the Lord, in order to live unto the Lord eternally! To that end may our great High Priest Jesus Christ bless us out of His sanctuary, and pour into us the balsamic powers of His gracious name, that we, penetrated by the same, may become wholly partakers of His life and mind, and, cleaving to this inmost-near love-power, may also in this year take our daily bread in every way out of the same. Amen Jesus! ——

The serious sickness-circumstances of the dear sisters N. N. I see with brotherly sympathy. God will make it, that things go as is wholesome, &c. Greet them and all the others wholly heartily from me. Jesus would become man, that as High Priest He might have sufferings and compassion. Heb. 7:26. ——

That you are so easily cast down by an unpleasant piece of news, I can easily believe from experience, especially when something is brought before me so in the evening. Our weaknesses must serve us unto sinking into the power of God. —— Now, committed to God!

Mülheim, Wholly Yours. the 6th of January, 1769.

❦

German

Der hundertundelfte Brief.

Neu=Jahr=Wunsch.

Lieber Bruder!

Mein Herze grüßet und segnet dich zum Neuen Jahr, samt denen übrigen lieben bekannten Kindern daselbst, als vor dem Angesicht JEsu Christi.

— Opening lines of the original German. The complete transcription of all 605 letters appears in the forthcoming Encounter Press critical edition; Brief 1 is shown in full as a sample.

German text: public domain (1773–75 first edition / 1845 Gesammelte Schriften).

Translator’s notes

What this letter is. A New-Year letter of the 6th of January, 1769, from Mülheim to Johann Engelbert Evertsen at Barmen. New-Year wish: belonging to the Lord together in time and eternity; live or die unto the Lord; balsamic powers of the Name; the sisters' sickness under God's making; weaknesses as sinking into God's power. Wholly Yours.

How to read the German. The panel is the 1775 first-edition wording in the house orthography used for Band II / Th IV. Distinctive KEEP forms (sey, kan, Leyden, Mitleyden, Heiligthum, theilhaftig, Theilnehmung, Brod, Jan., 111te, 2c., verspührete, trift) stand as on the leaf. House folds include Hertze→Herze, hertzlich→herzlich, gantz/Gantz→ganz/Ganz, beysamen→beisamen, Dabey→Dabei, bey→bei, dencken→denken, grosser→großer, flösse→flöße, grüsset→grüßet, Grüsse→Grüße, Kranckheits→Krankheits, Ersencken→Ersenken, GOTT→GOtt, and Versalien → digraph GOtt / HErr / JEsu / JEsus.

English choices. you/your for the brother (du); not Rule B (Lieber Bruder → Dear brother); Ganz der Deine → Wholly Yours; schon = already (temporal). Divine names ordinary. No authorial emphasis (§9d).

How the German reads here. Panel KEEP forms (sey, kan, Leyden, Jan.) stand; gantz/Gantz→ganz/Ganz, bey/beysamen/Dabey→bei/beisamen/Dabei, dencken→denken, grosser / flösse / grüsset / Grüsse / Kranckheits / Ersencken are folded by the house tz→z / ey→ei / ck→k / ss→ß rules.

A few words and echoes.

"leben wir dem HErrn" — we live unto the Lord (Rom. 14:8).
"Bann bei uns" — a ban among us (Josh. 7:13 diction).
"unser großer Hoherpriester" — our great High Priest (Heb. 4:14).
"GOTT wirds machen, daß die Sachen gehen" — trust-hymn opening (Herrnschmidt).
"Hebr. 7, 26." — leaf citation (Benrath corrects to 4:15; panel KEEP leaf).

Cite this letter

Gerhard Tersteegen, Geistliche und erbauliche Briefe, Zweiter Band, IV. Theil, Brief 111 (Solingen, 1773–75); trans. Jarred Fenlason, https://gerhardtersteegen.com/letters/bdii-thiv-111.html.

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