Bach wrote the chorale cantata in his second year in Leipzig to conclude a set of Christmas cantatas on the Feast of Epiphany. The prescribed readings for the feast day were taken from the Book of Isaiah, the heathen will convert (Isaiah 60:1–6), and from the Gospel of Matthew, the Wise Men From the East bringing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to the newborn Jesus (Matthew 2:1–12). The cantata text is based on the chorale in six stanzas by Ahasverus Fritsch (1679). The unknown poet kept the first and the last stanza, and paraphrased the inner stanzas to a sequence of as many recitatives and arias. The text has no specific reference to the readings, but mentions the term Jesusname (name of Jesus), reminiscent of the naming of Jesus celebrated on 1 January. The poet inserts "Heil und Licht" (salvation and light) as a likely reference to the Epiphany, and alludes to Christmas by "Jesus, der ins Fleisch gekommen" (Jesus who came into flesh). Otherwise the cantata text follows the idea of the chorale: hate and rejection in the world cannot harm those who believe.

Librettist Ahasverus Fritsch (1629-1701) (Nos.1, 6) Anonymous (Nos.2-5)
Date of composition 1725
Premiered 1725, January 6th in Leipzig, Germany
First published 1878 (BGA)
Dedicated to Epiphany
Type Sacred Cantata
Tonality B Minor
Catalogue BWV 123
Spoken language German
Instruments 3x Voice
Chorus/Choir
Orchestra
Links
Autotranslations beta Jean-Sébastien Bach: Liebster Immanuel, Herzog der Frommen en si mineur, BWV 123
Johann Sebastian Bach: Liebster Immanuel, Herzog der Frommen in si minore, BWV 123
Johann Sebastian Bach: Liebster Immanuel, Herzog der Frommen h-moll, BWV 123