Herman wrote "Da der Herr Christ zu Tische saß" as a text in 28 stanzas of six lines each, reflecting the Passion of Jesus.

[1] The hymnologist Philipp Wackernagel notes in his Bibliography on the history of German hymns of the 16th century, from 1855, that the hymn appeared in a Wittenberg hymnal by Nikolaus Herman from 1560, Die Sonntagsevangelia über das Jahr in Gesänge verfasset für die Kinder und christlichen Hausväter (The Sundays' Gospels through the year in songs written for the children and Christian fathers).

It came with the header "Die Passion / unsers HERRN Jhesu / Christi, Im Thon, Kompt her zu mir / spricht Gottes son, etc.

[2] While the first publication mentioned two melodies to which the words could be sung ("Kommt her zu mir, spricht Gottes Sohn" and "Ich hab mein Sach zu Gott gestellt"), the melody associated with the text today appeared first in Görlitz in 1611.

Johann Hermann Schein composed a choral setting as part of his Cantional, oder Gesangbuch Augsburgischer Konfession in 1627.