Texts from the Calov bible commentary owned by J.S. Bach in which he made corrections, markings, and some notes. The English translation is by dr. Ellis Fingers (from The Calov Bible of J.S. Bach, ed. Howard H. Cox, Ann Arbor (Michigan ) 1985, with minor edits by me, Dick Wursten, also responsible for extra context, explication, commentary, and German texts from the book Bach was reading, if deemed useful. The text is offered as is, no claim to completeness. And of course, I am to blame for errors. Images are from the facsimile edition (Van Wijnen 2017).

bold = bibletext
italics and underlining = text marked by Bach (italics renders emphatic marks in the margin)
– corrections by Bach, are explained between brackets, often using green
blue text = extra context/explication (Dick Wursten)
small type = This entry is not marked by Bach, he only corrects a printing error

Book of Numbers (Numeri – 4 Mose)

Column 766 (fac. 67).
Num 1 v. 47 But the Levites according to their ancestral tribe were not counted. (because they were not a part of war. Therefore our bishops violate God’s commandment when they offer themselves for war. Matthew XX 15. 16. and II Timothy II. 2.)

Der offentliche Hohepriesterliche Segen (the Aaronic blessing)

Aaron’s blessing is abundantly marked by Bach with underlinings and markings in the margin (= italics in the text below), emphasizing words/phrases. It even looks that he has done this in two stages. There are almost invisible (bleached) underlinings and quite black ones..

Column 793-797 (fac. 68).
Num 6 v. 24 The Lord (God the Father) bless you … and keep you … (He keeps us in soul and body by holding us, caring for us, protecting us, sustaining us, and by dispatching his angels for our support and protection. job X. 12. Psalm XXVII. 1. Psalm XLI.  Hebrews I. 14. Luther speaks of this first law of the church blessing in Altenburg, vol. V, p. 955, as follows: the first part of this blessing concerns the physical life and goods as is stated in the first chapter of Genesis and elsewhere. And God blessed them and spoke: Grow and multiply. Thus in the Scripture it is common expression: Give me a blessing, have you no further blessing? That is, give me something such as property, bread, clothing. For it is all God’s own gift, and through His blessing we have what we have, and it is called a blessing because it is a gift of God which He has bestowed upon us through His blessing.)

v. 25 The Lord (God the Son) make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. (… of this second law Luther speaks loco citato [the place mentioned] as follows: The second part concerns the spiritual being and the soul, for such a blessing means nothing in terms of cattle and property, but remains with the first part of the law for they have a common blessing after the physical life. And here we must use Hebraic phrasing and get used to this language. For it means nothing at all in translation when I say: God make His face to shine upon you. And there is really no other way to say it and translate it and we must paraphrase the Hebrew and let it be. In translation it means roughly: May the Lord your God show Himself to you in a friendly and comforting way, may He not look at you bitterly or angrily, not frighten your heart, but rather smile upon you joyfully, like a father, that you be glad and comforted by Him and that you have a happy heartfelt trust in Him.)

v. 26 The Lord (God the Holy Spirit) lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.  ([still Luther?] It is the Holy Spirit that must lift its countenance above us if we should gain peace and solace of conscience, Romans V. 1. and following, the peace of God which passes beyond all understanding and which sustains our hearts and senses in Jesus Christ, Philippians IV. 7. For we have righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit, which is the kingdom of God, Romans XIV. 17. in Him we are filled with comfort, Acts IX. 31. through the power of the Holy Spirit we have complete hope and are filled with peace and joy in faith, Romans XV. 13. as we have grown free of our sins and are saved and brought to justice through the name of Jesus and through the spirit of our God, I Corinthians VII. 11.  
Column 795 (fac. 69).[…] therefore the Israelite church together with the goodness of the true God, God the Father, Isaiah LXIII. 7. 16. and with the love of God the Son, the angel not created who stands before God the Father, the angel of His countenance who aided them and delivered them as their Jesus and Savior; v. 8. v. 9. as Jacob too has acknowledged Him in his patriarchal blessing, Genesis XLVIII. 16. , as the angel who is his ‘Goel’ [redeemer] who saved him from all evil of body and soul; it [the soul] praises and honors God the Holy Spirit who stood among them and guided Moses their leader with His glorious arm, that is, with His divine force in his right arm which they however turned away in the wilderness, making Him their enemy and causing Him to struggle against them … Isaiah LXIII. 10. 12.  […]
Column 796 (fac. 69) […] Luther also speaks loco citato [at the place mentioned] about the third part of the law: The third part also concerns the spiritual being and the soul and is a wish for consolation and eventual victory beneath the cross, death, the devil, and all hellish gates together with the world and all other evil spirits of the flesh. For if He has been merciful to us and has forgiven our sin and adorned us with His spirit. We still face the task for ourselves of engaging in struggle with the devil and with all other sin. And following that point: here we must also turn to Hebraic wording, for it means nothing if I say in translation, the Lord lift up His countenance upon you. And one cannot really translate the meaning. For the meaning should be: when God causes His countenance to shine or to beam upon you then the attack and persecution of the devil, the world, and our flesh makes such a raging storm in our heart that it seems to us that the dear light of the cherished divine Word were to perish and to leave us in darkness. […]
Column 797 (fac. 70)…  this blessing is not much different from the other common blessing which one speaks in Latin and is rendered in German as follows: May God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit bless you, Amen. For to the Father is attributed the work of the creation which our blessing also touches and expresses more clearly when it says: the Lord bless you and keep you, meaning, may He often provide graciously body, life, and everything that belongs with it. To the Son is attributed the work of salvation which this blessing also touches and makes clear when it says: the Lord make His face to shine upon you, i. e. , meaning, may He help you from sin and be merciful to you and give to you His spirit. To the Holy Spirit is attributed the work of daily salvation, comfort, and strength against the devil and eventually the awakening from death which this blessing also touches and makes clear when it says: may the Lord lift His countenance, i.e. meaning may He strengthen you, comfort you, and give you eventual victory.)

Some corrections

– Column 800 (fac. 71).
Num 7 v. 19 His offering was one silver plate worth one hundred thirty shekels[Bach inserts in margin “eine silberne Schale siebenzig Seckel werth” (one silver basin worth seventy shekels)], according to the shekel of the sanctuary both filled with fine flour mixed together with oil as a cereal offering: 20 one golden spoon worth ten shekels of gold filled with incense; 21 one young bull, one ram, one lamb a year old for a burnt offering; 22 one male goat for a sin offering.
– Column 803-804 (fac. 72).
Num 7 v. 61vv  His gift was one silver plate worth one hundred and thirty shekels [Bach inserts (scribal sign) ‘Ƒ’)  at the outer margin “Ƒ eine silberne Schale seibenzig Seckel werth” (one silver basin worth seventy shekels)] according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both filled with fine flour mixed together with oil as a cereal offering. 71 And as an offering of thanksgiving two oxen [Bach inserts “5 Widder” (five rams) placed in the empty space above)], five male goats, and five lambs a year old. This was the offering of Ahiezer, the son of Ammishaddai. 72 On the eleventh day the leader of the children of Asher, Pagiel, the son of Ochran. v. 73 His gift was one silver plate worth one hundred and thirty shekels .[Bach inserts in the empty space after the end of the previous phrase. “eine silberne Schale siebenzig Seckel werth” (one silver plate worth seventy shekels)] according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both filled with fine flour mixed together with oil as a cereal offering.

The journey through the Waste Land (Num. 9)

Column 814 (fac. 73). Noteworthy: Bach highlights an edifying text about ‘life as a journey’, a pilgrim’s progress towards Jerusalem. (Opvallend deze lange ‘markering’ van een stichtelijke tekst over de ‘levensreis’).

Context: Numbers 9:16-23: The cloud by day and the fire by night protect and guide tje people of Israel during their journey through the desert.

Num 9: v. 23

Some corrections

Column 834 (fac. 74).
Num 13 v. 30 And the Amorites dwell in the land toward the south(they actually lived in the land of Canaan but they were [Bach inserts “nicht” (not)] located so close to the border that by appearances they could bar the passage of the children of Israel. Genesis, XIV. 7.)

Columns 844-845 (fac. 75).
Num 15 v. 6 When a ram is to be sacrificed you shall prepare for a cereal offering two[Bach crosses out “Semmel” as a duplication misprint and writes in “zehenden” (tenths)] units of fine flour mixed with a third of a hin of oil.

Column 849 (fac. 76).
Num 16 v. 1 And Korah(Numbers XXVI. 9. XXVII. 3. Jude v. 11.) the son of Jezehar(he was [Bach crosses out ‘Aarons’ and inserts ‘Amrams’] brother, who was the father of Moses and Aaron, so they were the closest blood relations, Exodus VI. 18. 21.)

Column 858 (fac. 77).
Num 16 v. 49 Now those who died by the plague were fourteen thousand seven hundred[Bach writes in the margin the number ‘14700].. besides those which died with Korah.

Column 870 (fac. 78).
Num 19 v. 13 But if anyone touches a dead person and does not want to cleanse himself he defiles the house of the Lord (when he enters this place with others who are clean) and such a soul (such a person) shall be cut off from Israel because the water of purification was not poured over him: thus he is unclean as long as he does [Bach restores the missing “nicht” (not)] let himself be cleansed by it.

Deuteronomium (4.Mose)

Column 991 (fac. 79).
Deut 6 v. 3 Israel, you shall hear and remember that you do these things so that you shall fare well and ever grow(this applies to the entire people, as all were admonished in particular earlier) as the Lord the God of your fathers has spoken(promised, vowed) to you, [Bach writes (the missing words) “im Lande” (in the land)] where milk and honey flow. (Exodus III. 8.)

Column 1002 (fac. 80).
Deut 8 v. 17 Lest you might say in your heart(if your heart should exalt itself and if you should become wanton) my powers and the strength of my hands have gotten such things. [Bach crosses out “solches” (such things) and replaces it with ‘mihr diess vermogen’ (enabled me thus)] (the counter example of which is found in VII. 17.)

Column 1047 (fac. 81).
Deut 17 v. 12 And where someone would act presumptuously by not obeying the priest who stands in the office of the Lord your Cod(X. 8) or the judge, that man shall die(so earnestly does God wish to prevail over haughtiness and power of the [Bach inserts “Obrigkeit” (authorities)]  and shall put the evil out of Israel.

Von Zeugen (about Witnesses), doing justice and punishment

Bach’s interest in ‘justice’, and how ‘judgment is passed properly’.

Column 1052 (fac. 82).
Deut 19 v. 15 A single witness shall not confront anyone(nor shall it be allowed that one pass judgment following a single testimony Numbers XXXV. 30. , Deuteronomy XVII. 6. , Matthew XVIII. 16. , John VIII. 17. 2 Corinthians XIII. 1. Hebrews X. 28.) over any kind of misdeed or sin, whatever kind of sin it may be that one can commit: instead let the matter be proven in the testimony of two or three witnesses. (If however the two witnesses speak falsely, what then shall the judge do? Luther answers fol. 1099 (=Altenburg ed.?). If he knows that they are bearing false witness then he shall not pass judgment; if he does not know it, then he shall pass judgment according to the testimony, for that binds the order of the court as established by God which requires that one give credence to two witnesses. God will, however. exact retribution from the witnesses and the witnesses will have to see how they account before God for abusing His order and power for the ruin of their neighbor, as the deceitful witnesses did toward Naboth the Israelite, toward Christ and Stephen, and whoever perishes thus shall include his loss among those which we cited above, that every citizen must expect from the other man, as there are flames, epidemics, pestilence, war, torment, and all sorts of power and injustice. For just as he is forced to suffer the danger of flames and fire from his neighbors, so he must also suffer false witnesses and all sorts of harm.)
[…]

Columns 1052-1054 (fac. 83) Bach underlines the principle of intent-based ethics and endorses capital punishment.

Deut 19 v. 21

About excommunication

Columns 1067-1068 (fac. 84).
Deut 23 v. 4 Because they did not come unto you with bread and water as you journeyed out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia to curse you. (Numbers XXII. 3. 4. these pagans , says Luther, shall not only suffer from the failing of flesh and birth but from their crime and hatred: by not only not cooperating with the Israelites, but instead wishing that they be slain, that they prayed that they [the Israelites] would be cursed by Balaam, by which they established their eternal intrinsic hatred which they will bear forever and ever, as will subsequently be shown by the histories. [Bach marks the following passage “NB”: ] If you want to turn into a guardian or a superior someone who you know seeks your ruin out of inborn hatred, that is not merely disreputable and ungainly, but also foolish and an outrage and a temptation of God: but to enter into marriage with them and to join in society and community with them is not forbidden here.)

Column 1070 (fac. 85).
Deut 23 v. 78 You shall not bring the hire of a whore or the price of a dog into the house of God for any vow. For that is an abomination to the Lord your God. (Exodus XXII. 25. Leviticus XXV. 36. Nehemiah V. 2. Luke VI. 3. For God does not want, says Luther, for plunder to be offered to Him in sacrifice, and everything gained through sin and evildoing he disavows, for he wants to be praised honorably and with fear; therefore one should not carry as sacrifice or as an edifice into the house of the Lord anything that is a trifle, a disgrace, and a vileness lest God also be reviled by it; whoever allows that He be honored with such meager, negligible, and base things is like the common people that are accustomed to despising those that they see by developing a lust for disgraceful things. For He wants the common people to be grasped and held with a reputable appearance in fear and in its worthiness. And that is the reason that money that a dog is sold for should not be sacrificed. For in the Scrip­ture the dog is held to be the lowest creature… .)

Von Pfänden und Menschenraub (about debts and pledges, and punishment)

Column 1073 (fac. 86).

Deut 24 v. 6 You shall not take the upper or the lower millstone in pledge(of a hand mill which everyone needs at home to grind his grain, compare Exodus XI. 5. Numbers XI. 8. Jeremiah XXV. 10). for he(your neighbor) has taken his spirit(his life, that is, that with which he must provide for his life) in pledge. (This law, says Luther, teaches with a common proverb that one should not be guilty of thwarting anyone’s handicraft by which he sustains himself, as it is an outrage among us common people that they cast the debtors into prison until they pay us completely or that we forbid them to do their handicraft and their labor. [Bach marks the preceding “NB”. – Is there a personal memory – Weimar? Once again we notice Bach’s social engagement, sym-/empathy for ordinary people, laborers, craftsman] For here he speaks that it is sufficient that he has given his soul in pledge, that is, because he is completely your debtor and that he must make payment to you with earnings from his handicraft. Therefore it is cruel and unfair to charge someone that by which he with twofold harm is forced to pay the one debt: it is a shame that for this time his millstone stands idle; a further shame that he makes new debts elsewhere or sells his goods so that he may pay.)

Von Schuldforderung (Pledges / debts]

Column 1074 (fac. 86).
Deut 24 v. 12 And if he is a poor man, you shall not sleep in his pledge:
v. 13 Rather; you shall return to him his pledge when the sun sets(Exodus XXII. 26.) so that he may sleep in his cloak(so that he may sleep more comfortably) and may bless you(that is, that he may remember your charity in prayer and blessings before God, that he may thank you) and it shall be righteousness to you before the Lord your God. (a work pleasing unto God which, because it originates with a believer, through the Lord’s Messiah, is gratifying to Him; chapters VI. 25. IX. 5. Psalm CVI. 31. Luke I. 74- 75. Romans VI. 18-19 Galatians V. 6. Philippians I. 11. Hebrews XI. 6. Others understand righteousness to be a blessing of God and reward; II Corinthians IX. 9. In pledges of debt as in all other Contracten Christian love should be Empress, in that we distribute to the needy one who does not have his. daily bread and that we also take no such pledge from one another that he and others are not forced to sus pend their lives.)

Von frembden und Wäysen [the poor and their support]

Column 1075 (fac. 87).
Deut 24 v. 17

Dt 24:17

Column 1076 (fac. 87).
Deut 24 v 18 Denn du solt gedencken / dass du Knecht in Egypten gewesen bist / und der HErr dein GOtt dich von dannen erlöset hat: daumb gebiete ich dir / dass du solches haltest.

Dt19 v. 19 -20

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