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Paul Eber

1511–1569 · Reformation

Wittenberg professor, Melanchthon's close colleague and later general superintendent, author of the hymns of trust 'When in the Hour of Utmost Need' and the hymn for the dying 'Lord Jesus Christ, True Man and God'.

Life

Paul Eber was born in 1511 at Kitzingen in Franconia and educated at Nuremberg and Wittenberg, where he became the close friend and collaborator of Philipp Melanchthon. He became professor of Latin grammar at Wittenberg in 1541 and professor of the Old Testament in 1557, and from 1559 was pastor of the town church and general superintendent. His learning was wide: he wrote a handbook of Jewish history, a historical calendar meant to replace the Roman calendar of saints, and a revision of the Latin Old Testament. In the controversies after Luther's death he sought to mediate between the Gnesio-Lutherans and the Philippists. He died in Wittenberg in 1569.

As a Hymn Writer

Eber wrote few hymns, but they lasted. 'When in the Hour of Utmost Need' ('Wenn wir in höchsten Nöten sein') is a prayer of a people with nowhere to turn but God's promise in Christ; 'Lord Jesus Christ, True Man and God' is a prayer for the hour of death; and he put Melanchthon's Latin hymn on the angels into German ('Lord God, to You We All Give Praise'). His hymns are sober, Scriptural and full of comfort for the troubled conscience.

In The Lutheran Hymnal and Lutheran Service Book (3)

  • TLH 112 To God the Anthem Raising
  • TLH 522 When in the Hour of Utmost Need
  • TLH 585 I Fall Asleep in Jesus' Wounds

Sources: Wikipedia, 'Paul Eber'; LCMS Worship, The Word in Song: Hymn of the Day Studies.

Hymn Texts (11)