Letters · Zweiter Band · Theil IV (1775)

A wish of blessing, on the death of a dear brother, to his children and widow.

Bd II · Th IV · Brief 139 · Der hundertundneununddreißigste Brief

Addressee, date, and source

Addressee — To Conrad Adolf Caspary, Elberfeld
Date — \<Juli\> 1759 (leaf undated; "Dein Geliebtes vom 26ten dieses"). Closes Ich bleibe durch Gnade / Dein / verbundener schwacher / Bruder.
Provenance — Translated from the public-domain 1775 first edition (Theil IV, pp. 351–353), 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 Thirty-ninth Letter.

A wish of blessing, on the death of a dear brother, to his children and widow.

Dearly beloved brother in the grace of Jesus!

Your dear letter of the 26th of this month I received well in its time, and made known both to brother N. and to friends known here the death of our old (yes, oldest) dear brother K. May the Lord refresh his spirit in blessed eternity, after the day's burden and heat overcome! May he bless and show grace to his children left behind, that they may follow the good they saw in their father taken from them, and hold it from the heart with God and his people! May the Lord comfort the dear widow, our sister K. (whom I greet heartily together with the children) mightily through himself, and help in all that may perhaps yet lie ahead, and give her unmoved the mind of true widows (1 Tim. 5:5), that she may now seek and find again in God what she has lost in her husband.

Yet I trust to God's mercy that we shall also soon find him again, our departed brother, in the house of our Father, in which there are many mansions. Our pilgrimage will also soon be ended, and the hardships of this life overcome. Only may the Lord make haste, and make us make haste, that his work in us may be finished! This life is a single short night, full of false and anxious dreams. God and eternity alone are worth our love, regard and devotion. The knowledge of and the fellowship with God and eternity are also alone a sufficient strengthening of the heart under all temporal burdens and troubles. Lord, help us, that we may experience it ever more thoroughly.

I greet you heartily, dear brother, together with your children, brother N. and other good friends. Friends known here (still more or less in the ordinary way) have also asked that you be greeted heartily on their behalf.

I remain by grace Your obliged weak brother.

❦

German

Der hundertundneununddreißigste Brief.

Segens-Wunsch, beim Absterben eines lieben Bruders, an dessen Kinder und Wittib.

Herzlich geliebter Bruder in der Gnade JEsu! Dein Geliebtes vom 26ten dieses habe seiner Zeit wohl erhalten, und sowohl an Bruder N., als an hiesige bekannte Freunde das Absterben unsers alten, (ja ältesten) lieben Bruders K. bekannt gemacht.

— 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 letter of blessing (about July 1759) on the death of dear brother K. (Peter Kohl the elder), written to Conrad Adolf Caspary for the widow and children: may the Lord refresh the departed spirit; bless the children to follow the good they saw in their father; comfort the widow with the mind of true widows (1 Tim. 5:5); trust to meet again in the Father's house of many mansions (John 14:2); this life a short night of anxious dreams — God and eternity alone worth love; finish his work in us.

How to read the German. The panel is the 1775 first-edition wording in the house orthography used for Band II / Th IV (settled 2 Sep 2026). Distinctive KEEP forms (Werck / seyn / Wittib / verlohren / 139te / JEsu) stand as on the leaf; grüsse→grüße / grüssen→grüßen (long ü). House folds include beym→beim, Volck→Volk, eintzige→einzige, kurtze→kurze, Stärckung→Stärkung, Hertzlich→Herzlich, Hertzen→Herzen, Hertzens→Herzens, Barmhertzigkeit→Barmherzigkeit (Spec §3 tz→z), schencke→schenke (n-ck), GOTT / HERR→GOtt / HErr, Versalien → digraph. KEEP Werck / seyn. grüsse→grüße.

English choices. you/your for the brother (du); Herzlich geliebter Bruder → Dearly beloved brother; verbundener → obliged (not devoted); standalone Dein → Your. Divine names ordinary. Modern morphology in ordinary prose (Jarred Rule C, 2 Sep 2026). 1 Tim. 5:5 cited as on the leaf; John 14:2 echo narrated (many mansions) — KJV -eth only in the apparatus verse, not decorative in the body. No authorial emphasis (§9d).

How the German reads here. Panel KEEP forms (Werck / seyn / Wittib / verlohren) stand; grüsse→grüße / grüssen→grüßen; beym / Volck / eintzige / kurtze / Stärckung / schencke / Hertzlich / Hertzen / Hertzens / Barmhertzigkeit / GOTT / HERR are folded by the house rules (Spec §3 tz→z for Hertz*-class).

A few words and echoes.

"Segens-Wunsch, beim Absterben eines lieben Bruders" — a wish of blessing on the death of a dear brother.
"den Sinn wahrer Wittwen, (1 Tim. 5, 5.)" — the mind of true widows (1 Tim. 5:5).
"in dem Hause unsers Vaters, in welchem viele Wohnungen sind" — in the house of our Father, in which there are many mansions (John 14:2).
"dieses Leben eine einzige kurze Nacht, voller falschen und ängstlichen Träumen" — this life a single short night, full of false and anxious dreams.
"daß sein Werck in uns vollendet werde" — that his work in us may be finished (KEEP Werck).
"verbundener schwacher Bruder" — obliged weak brother (Verbundener → obliged).

Cite this letter

Gerhard Tersteegen, Geistliche und erbauliche Briefe, Zweiter Band, IV. Theil, Brief 139 (Solingen, 1773–75); trans. Jarred Fenlason, https://gerhardtersteegen.com/letters/bdii-thiv-139.html.

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