The surviving source is a copy by Penzel, identified on the title page as being for the
Purification (the Lutheran feast
Mariae Reinigung), which was celebrated on 2 February, but with an alternate designation for
Easter Tuesday in the parts. Bach composed several cantatas for the Purification and the texts are related to Simeon's
canticle Nunc dimittis, part of the prescribed readings. Because of the references to the "Nunc dimittis" in
Der Friede sei mit dir and because of the alternate title page designation, it is widely assumed that at least the two central movements were originally part of a longer cantata for the Purification, with a different introductory recitative not evoking Christ's Easter reappearance to the disciples. The obbligato writing in the aria, which appears better suited to
flute than the
"violino" specified in Penzel's copy, is cited in support of the hypothesis that it was originally written for a different occasion.
Joshua Rifkin has proposed the dates 15 April 1727 or 30 March 1728 for the premiere of the surviving Easter version. The prescribed readings for this day were from the
Acts of the Apostles, the sermon of
Paul in Antiochia (), and from the
Gospel of Luke, the
appearance of Jesus to the
Apostles in
Jerusalem (). == Scoring and structure ==