[1][2][3] He composed the solo cantata for bass in Leipzig in 1727 for the Feast Mariae Reinigung (Purification of Mary) and first performed it on 2 February 1727.

The prescribed readings for the feast day were taken from the book of Malachi, "the Lord will come to his temple" (Malachi 3:1–4), and from the Gospel of Luke, the purification of Mary and the presentation of Jesus at the Temple, including Simeon's canticle Nunc dimittis (Luke 2:22–32), on which the libretto is based.

In previous years Bach had composed two cantatas concentrating on Simeon's canticle, Erfreute Zeit im neuen Bunde, BWV 83, in 1724 and the chorale cantata on Martin Luther's paraphrase of the canticle, Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin, BWV 125, in 1725.

More than in these earlier works, the text of Ich habe genug stresses the desire to escape earthly misery and be united with Jesus.

In the first version it was scored for a bass soloist and a Baroque instrumental ensemble of oboes (Ob), two violins (Vl), viola (Va), and basso continuo.

The first movement, an aria, begins with an expressive melody of the obbligato oboe which is picked up by the voice on the words "Ich habe genug" (I have enough).

A similar motif begins the middle section on the words "Ich hab ihn erblickt" (I have seen him), turning upwards in the end.

[4] Klaus Hofmann notes a "feeling of serene contentedness with life" in "elegiac tones" as the aria's expression.

[7] Musicologist Julian Mincham notes "that instant when body and soul come to rest and are resigned and in complete harmony.

"[6] He sees the "flowing oboe arabesques", which the singer imitates twice on the word "Freude" (joy) as a "clear indication that their expressive function is to proclaim the Christian's personal bliss, an inextricable element of this important experience of life".

[7] Mincham notes that the final aria corresponds to the first in similarity of the scoring with the obbligato instrument, key, and triple time.