This cantata was originally composed for a funeral service for the chamberlain and judge Johann Christoph von Ponickau, held on February 6, 1727 in the town of Pomßen, near Leipzig. Ponickau had died a few months earlier, in October 1726.

The text is by Picander, a pseudonym for Christian Friedrich Henrici (Bach’s assiduous collaborator in Leipzig), who adopted a quotation from Genesis for the first movement and the last stanza of a hymn by Christian Keymann (1658) for the final chorale.

The delicate, small-scale cantata is composed for two solo voices, tenor and bass, who are joined by soprano and alto only for the final chorale. The orchestra consists of three solo instruments (flute, oboe d’amore and violin), strings and basso continuo.

The quotation from the Genesis of the first movement, the same text used in the motet BWV 1146, is taken out of its original context and resignified as an invocation of the believer to Jesus around the circumstance of death. This thematic axis is constant throughout the entire libretto, including the text chosen for the closing chorale.

The first movement is constructed as a duet for tenor and bass, with flute, oboe d’amore and basso continuo. The choice of solo instruments provides a collected and prayerful character to the text, which the voices take alternately with imitative motifs.

An aria for tenor with oboe d’amore follows, which opens with an immediate illustration of the expression “Ich halte” (“I cling”) with long notes, and “mit Gewalt” (“with force”, or “with violence”) with quick and agile notes.

Both the tenor and the oboe continue on with an accompanied recitative, which includes interesting word-painting of expressions such as “rest” and “quiet” with low notes. This is the only movement in the cantata (except for the final chorale) in which the orchestral strings are involved.

A very interesting aria for bass comes next, accompanied by violin and flute. The text’s references to Paradise, God and “the guests of the Lamb” are presented in a cheerful and lively manner, interrupted by segments of recitative and arioso when the coffin and death are mentioned. However, these changes in tone are temporary: without further delay, the music returns again and again to the initial idea of ​​the celebration in Paradise.

The cantata closes with a four-part chorale with the instruments doubling the voices.