UNIT 10: Jacobus Koelman, De vruchteloose bid-dagen van Nederlandt (1682)

 

 

 

 

Introduction to the Text

 

In this Unit you will be reading a modernised and slightly adapted fragment from De vruchteloose bid-dagen van Nederlandt (The Futile Prayer Days of The Netherlands) by the Dutch Calvinist author Jacobus Koelman (1632-1695). Ordained a minister in 1662, Koelman was removed from office by the States General in 1675 for rejecting formulary prayers. Koelman was one of the leaders of the ‘Nadere Reformatie’ (Further Reformation or Second Reformation), a period of church history, following the Reformation, from roughly 1600 until 1750. The Further Reformation strived for the complete reformation of Christian life and society: the whole of private and public life was to be brought under the law of Christ. This meant the furthering of private piety and the rejection of anything which could be seen as against Christ's law. In their valuing of both orthodoxy as well as piety the Further Reformation comes close to English Puritanism. The works of Koelman are important for anyone interested in the Church history of late seventeenth-century Holland.

In De vruchteloose bid-dagen van Nederlandt Koelman laments the fact that the Further Reformation is having little impact on the lives of the ordinary people and is being disregarded by the establishment. He is of the opinion that the prayer days that have been ordained are a mockery in the eyes of God – the correct way to honour God would be to live according to the prescripts of the Further Reformation - and he warns his fellow citizens for His wrath.

 

 

 

 

Opening page of J. Koelmans’ De vruchteloose bid-dagen van Nederlandt (1682).

This image was borrowed with permission from the Digitale Bibliotheek voor de Nederlandse Letteren at http://www.dbnl.org/titels/titel.php?id=koel003vruc01.

 

 

 

Text Fragment

 

Nu zal ik, hoewel ik onbeduidend en zwak ben, in naam van de Heer met dit volk twisten, of beter gezegd, met haar leiders in de politie, kerk en huisgezinnen. Want het zijn zij die de grootste en voornaamste bedervers van dit land en de kerk zijn. Het is op hen dat de Heer vertoornd is. Zij houden dit land in verderf en brengen het tot de ondergang. Ik hoop aan allen die onpartijdig gaan oordelen, duidelijk te maken dat de leiders van dit land de Heer bespotten met deze Vast en Biddagen.

 

 

The original text can be found in:

Digitale Bibliotheek voor de Nederlandse Letteren at http://www.dbnl.org/titels/titel.php?id=koel003vruc01.

 

 

Task 1: Vocabulary

 

Print this page or write down the sentences below. Read the sentences, underline the words you do not understand and write down the meaning of the words you already know. 

   

  1. Nu zal ik, hoewel ik onbeduidend en zwak ben, in naam van de Heer met dit volk twisten, of beter gezegd, met haar leiders in de politie, kerk en huisgezinnen.
  2. Want het zijn zij die de grootste en voornaamste bedervers van dit land en de kerk zijn.
  3. Het is op hen dat de Heer vertoornd is.
  4. Zij houden dit land in verderf en brengen het tot de ondergang.
  5. Ik hoop aan allen die onpartijdig gaan oordelen, duidelijk te maken dat de leiders van dit land de Heer bespotten met deze Vast en Biddagen.

 

Click here to compare your answers and to find out the meaning of the words or phrases you do not understand.

 

 

Task 2: Grammar and Syntax

 

Now answer the following grammatical and syntactical questions. Note that some questions will be asked on the superlative and future aspect.

 

Sentence 1:

  1. How is the future expressed in this sentence?
  2. Which word/words does haar refer to?

 

Sentence 2:

  1. Find the subject of the main clause.
  2. Identify the relative clause.
  3. Find two superlative forms.

 

Sentence 3:

  1. Who are hen? You may answer this question in English.

 

Sentence 4:

  1. Identify the finite verbs.

 

Sentence 5

  1. Find the relative clause. What tense is the verb?
  2. Identify the indirect speech. Find the subject of this clause.

  

After finishing the exercise you can check your answers on the Feedback Page.

 

 

Task 3: Word Forms and Classes

 

3a. You will now have to identify the head-words or stems of a series of words from the text.

 

  1. huisgezinnen (sentence 1)
  2. voornaamste (sentence 1)
  3. hoop (sentence 5)
  4. leiders (sentence 5)

 

After you have finished, go to the Feedback Page, where you will also find some annotations to this exercise. 

 

3b. Next, please click here to test your knowledge of word classes in Dutch. 

 

 

Task 4: Text Comprehension

 

Now that you have worked your way through the first three Tasks of this Unit, you should be able to answer the following questions on the content of the text. Try to answer in Dutch using a sentence, a part of the sentence or a word from the text.

 

  1. How does Koelman describe himself (see sentence 1)?
  2. Who will the author argue with (see sentence 1)?
  3. How does God, according to Koelman, feel about de grootste en voornaamste bedervers van dit land en de kerk (see sentence 3)?
  4. What does Koelman hope to make clear with this treatise (see sentence 5)?

 

After finishing, look at the Feedback Page to check your answers.

 

 

Task 5: Summary

 

Try to make a short (i.e. maximum two sentences) English summary of this text. This is an important skill for anyone using Dutch primary source material in his or her research. After finishing, click here to compare your summary. Note that your summary does not have to be identical to the one on the Feedback Page, as long as its meaning is the same.

 

 

Task 6: Glossary

 

Finally, you should try to memorise the following words from the text.

 

1.      zwak: met weinig kracht; <=> sterk [weak; noun]

2.      de Heer: God [Lord; noun]

3.      de leider: iemand die aan het hoofd van iets staat [leader; noun]

4.      de politie: de groep mensen die de orde in een land houden [police; noun]

5.      de kerk: (here) een groep mensen die samen hetzelfde geloof hebben [church; noun]

6.      want: [because; conj]

7.      voornaam: belangrijk [important; adj]

8.      het land: een gebied met grenzen waarin een of meerdere volken samenleven [country; noun]

9.      aan: [to; prep]

10.  oordelen: [to judge; verb]

11.  iets duidelijk maken: iets helder en gemakkelijk te begrijpen maken [to make clear; verb]

 

Next, please click here for a short self-test on conjunctions and prepositions.

 

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