Need German Translation

[cookie]

I know this is text from a famous hymn. Unfortunately, the only "translation" I could find was a poetic English version which I believe embellishes the German. Can anyone give me a literal translation of this? My kids are singing these words as part of a Ward Swingle accapella suite called "Music History 101" (this gets sung to a chorale setting of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star").

Gottes Sohn ist kommen
uns allen zu frommen
hier auf dieser Erden
in armen Gebärden,
dass er uns von Sünde
freie und entbinde.

Thanks in advance!

[Nim Chimpsky]

God's son has come
to all of us believers
here on this earth
in lowly guise.
that he might free and release
us from sin.

[Uli]

God's son has come
to all of us believers
here on this earth
in lowly guise.
that he might free and release
us from sin.

seconded.

[Monte Smith]

Amen!

[Sergio Zamora]

Gottes Sohn ist kommen
uns allen zu frommen
hier auf dieser Erden
in armen Gebärden,
dass er uns von Sünde
freie und entbinde.

Thanks in advance!

My german's a little rusty, but I'm pretty sure it has something to do with not turning around because the kommisar is in town. It then goes on to explain that 99 luft ballons go by.

[Robert de St. Loup]

No, no, Sergio, the last part is "Right in der fuehrer's face!"

[jesus marion joseph]

Wow, is your German rusty. It clearly says something about "driving, driving, driving on the Autobahn".

[abcdef(h)]

'frommen' is an old-fashioned verb.
'to religionize' is probable the best translation for that.

God's son has come
to religionize all of us


?



And 'Gebärde' means actual 'gesture'. But I am not sure if you can use that word in this way in English.

[cookie]

Thanks you guys, for the literal *and* the laughs! You helped. Thanks!!!

[Squaredancecalling Steve]

I sent this to my friend Joe, a professional translator who does a lot of German to English translation. He's also on the faculty of that prestigious language school that Gerardo has begun attending (although he's on leave this semester), an advanced square dancer and a key member of our Shakespeare goup.

Here's his reply:


The general consensus is pretty much right. More or less literally:

God's son has come
to benefit us all (frommen = old verb, "to benefit, be of use, be helpful")
here on this earth
in poor guise (Gebärde = modern "gesture," old senses = "behavior, appearance, nature" reach back to Middle and Old High German)
so that us from sin
he can free and release

The business of "frommen" being = "religionize" is nonsense, based on the modern sense of the adjective "fromm," pious (both derive from Middle High German vrum = useful). One source dates the original German hymn to 1544, so in spite of its mostly modern appearance it's as far from modern German in some details as Shakespeare's English is from ours.

[Tom Storer]

a key member of our Shakespeare goup.

"Goup" is of course from Old French, pronounced "goo." It refers to a sort of literary club or society whose members immerse themselves in lukewarm vats of goo, typically Marshmallow Fluff or, among traditionalists, molasses, in order to read aloud and offer commentary on the works of great writers.

[Squaredancecalling Steve]

Yes, like erudite fondue.

[Robert de St. Loup]

A lot of people argue over what the right substance is for such immersion, but I say chacun à son goo.

[Pete C]

Gottes Sohn ist kommen
uns allen zu frommen
hier auf dieser Erden
in armen Gebärden,
dass er uns von Sünde
freie und entbinde.

Don't let them kid you. Here's the real translation:

Gotti's son is a communist
And Allen's his foreman
Hair off diesel Earth
In Armen's garden
This is gonna be one fun Sunday,
Fried and in bondage

[jesus marion joseph]

Don't let them kid you. Here's the real translation:

This is gonna be one fun Sunday,
Fried and in bondage

I disagree slightly, Pete. I believe it should read "This is gonna be one fun Sundae".

[tippy]

Don’t listen to them! What you have quoted is actually the final strophe of a much larger piece of music.

Gottes Sohn ist kommen
uns allen zu frommen
hier auf dieser Erden
in armen Gebärden,

“If one of those bottles should happen to fall,”

dass er uns von Sünde
freie und entbinde.

“No more bottles of beer on the wall!”