\\nThis chorale, O Herre Gott, dein g\u00f6ttlich Wort, first appeared in the Erfurt Enchiridion of 1527, and for centuries its author was known only by the initials A.H.Z.W. Hymnologists eventually decoded them: Anarg Heinrich zu Wildenfels, born around 1490, a nobleman and court administrator who helped bring the Reformation into Saxony and served as one of its principal supporters at the court of Elector John. The hymn is Reformation theology in miniature. It gives thanks that the Word, \u201clong a hidden treasure\u201d buried under human tradition, has been restored in full measure; it insists that salvation is free, through faith in Christ, and refuses to rest on human deeds or papal authority; and it grants plainly that foes will try to overthrow that Word with grim endeavor, while promising that the truth outlasts them all. The English text is a cento of four stanzas drawn from the original eight, made in 1939 by W. Gustave Polack, chairman of the committee that produced The Lutheran Hymnal. Bach set the eighth German stanza as the closing chorale of Cantata BWV 184.\\n