1650 - 1719 Author of "Gott lebet noch, Seele, was versagst du doch" Zihn, Johann Friedrich, was born Sept. 7, 1650, at Suhl, in Thuringia. After studying for some time at the University of Leipzig, he went to Wittenberg, where he graduated M.A. in 1675; and in 1679 was appointed rector of the school at Suhl. In 1690 he became diaconus, and in 1708 archidiaconus at Suhl, and died there, Jan. 16, 1719 (Wetzel, iii. 470; Koch, v. 419, &c). Zihn contributed five hymns (Nos. 526-530) to the Schleusingen Gesang-Buch, 1688, the title of which begins, Der himmlischer Freude zeitlicher Vorschmack. One has been translated, viz.:—
Gott lebet noch, Seele was verzagst du doch. Cross and Consolation. 1688 as above, No. 529, in 8 stanzas of 10 lines, marked as by M. J. F. Z. In each stanza 11. 1, 2 are as quoted above, and 11. 9, 10 are the refrain,
"Seele! So gedenke doch;
Lebt doch unser Herr Gott noch."
It is a fine hymn, founded on Jer. x. 10. Koch says it was written in 1682. Included in Freylinghausen's Neues geistreiches Gesang-Buch, 1714, and recently in the Berlin Geistliche Lieder, ed. 1863, No. 844. The translation in common use is:—
God liveth ever! This is a good and full version, by Miss Winkworth in her Lyra Germanica, 1st Ser., 1855, p. 33. Repeated in full in Miss Warner's Hymns of the Church Militant, 1858, and in Bishop Ryle's Collection, 1860. Varying centos are included in the Cumbrae Hymn Book; Flett's Collection, Paisley, 1871, and the Ibrox Hymnal, 1871. The form beginning "Our God is good; in every place," in the Hymns of the Spirit, Boston, U. S., 1864, is from 11. 3-6 of stanzas i., iii., vi., viii.
Other translations are:—
(1) "God liveth still! Trust," &c. By Miss Cox, 1864, p. 129; repeated in the Gilman-Schaff Library of Religious Poetry, 1881. (2) “God liveth still! Wherefore," &c. By R. Massie, in the Day of Rest, 1877, vol. vi. p. 326. [Rev. James Mearns, M.A.]
--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)
Johann Friedrich Zihn
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