INTRODUCTION

HEBREW STUDIES IN WITTENBERG (1502–1813):

FROM LINGUA SACRA TO SEMITIC STUDIES1

Gianfranco Miletto & Giuseppe Veltri

Abstract

The beginnings of the study of the Hebrew language in Wittenberg go back to the
very first years of the university’s establishment and are associated with the initiatives
of several scholars dealing with humanistic studies at the time. Through developing
the study in three ancient languages, in keeping with the ideal of a complete human-
istic erudition, Wittenberg perceived an opportunity to carve a niche of excellence for
itself vis-à-vis the older universities. By introducing instruction in Hebrew along with
Greek and Latin, the newly founded Leucorea sought to distinguish itself as a model
for all other universities in Germany. The article traces the important steps of the
history of the study of Hebrew language in Wittenberg among and outside of the theo-
logical faculty mentioning the curricula of its most famous teachers and professors.

Keywords
Hebraism, Wittenberg, Jewish studies, Hebrew and Semitic studies

Introduction

The beginnings of the study of the Hebrew language in Wittenberg

go back to the very first years of the university’s establishment and are
associated with the initiatives of several scholars dealing with human-
istic studies at the time. The Deed of Foundation issued by King (and
later Emperor) Maximilian I (6 July 1502) gives special emphasis to the
study of the ‘noble arts’ (bonae artes) in the Faculty of Arts or Faculty

1
English translation of our article “Die Hebraistik in Wittenberg (1502–1813): von
der ‘lingua sacra’ zur Semitistik,” Henoch 25 (2003): 93–111, published also in Gottes
Sprache in der philologischen Werkstatt, eds. Giuseppe Veltri and Gerold Necker (Leiden,
Boston: Brill, 2004): 75–96. The German version has been translated by Bill Templer
and bibliographically updated by Giuseppe Veltri.
© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2012 EJJS 6.1
Also available online – brill.nl/ejjs DOI: 10.1163/187247112X637542
2 gianfranco miletto & giuseppe veltri

of Philosophy. According to Maximilian I, the new university, dubbed

“Leucorea,”2 was to ensure that
the sciences, noble arts and liberal studies increase in a process of felici-
tous progress, so that our subjects can draw from the spring of divine
wisdom and become more adept in administering the government and
attending to other human affairs.3
There is also special mention of the humanities in the electoral invita-
tion sent out by Frederick the Wise and his brother and co-regent John
(24 August 1502) on the upcoming formal opening of the university
on 18 October. The courses on offer in the Faculty of Arts were to
encompass not only the traditional liberal arts, but also “poetry and
other arts.”4 The new wind of humanism was thus also stirring in
Wittenberg. Coming from Italy, it had already penetrated into other
universities in German-speaking Europe, such as Vienna, Ingolstadt,
Heidelberg and Tübingen. Yet in the first phase of the founding
and development of the University of Wittenberg (1502–1518), the
cultivation of the humanistic disciplines was largely dependent on
the initiative of individual lecturers who relocated to Wittenberg and
gathered around themselves a circle of scholars with similar interests
in the humanities. Frederick the Wise himself sought to recruit teach-
ing staff for his new university who were oriented to humanistic edu-
cation. Christoph Scheurl and Richardus Sbrulius (who came from
Friaul) were particularly involved in introducing Italian humanism
in Wittenberg. Scheurl, born 1481 in Nuremberg, had studied law
in Bologna beginning in 1498 and had a good knowledge of Italian
humanism as a result of his extended stay in Italy. In early 1507,
Frederick the Wise appointed him as a Lecturer (Dozent) in Law and
the “arts” at the new university. Scheurl came on 8 April 1507 to
Wittenberg and was elected Rector of the Leucorea. Working together
with Scheurl was the Italian Sbrulius, who King Maximilian I had
recommended to Frederick the Wise at the Reichstag in Konstanz

2
From Greek leukos ‘white,’ a reference to the translation of Wittenberg, ‘white
mountain.’
3
Walter Friedensburg, Urkundenbuch der Universität Wittenberg, 2 vols. (Magdeburg:
Selbstverlag der Historischen Kommission, 1926–27), vol. 1: 1–3. German trans.
Anton Blaschka, “Der Stiftsbrief Maximilians I. und das Patent Friedrichs des Weisen
zur Gründung der Wittenberger Universität,” in 450 Jahre Martin-Luther-Universität
Halle-Wittenberg, 3 vols. (Halle: Selbstverlag der Martin-Luther-Universitä Halle-
Wittenberg, 1952), vol. 1: 69–101, esp. pp. 78–80.
4
Friedensburg, Urkundenbuch, vol. 1: 4. According to conceptions of the day, poetics
also encompassed study of the works of Greek and Latin authors.
 hebrew studies in wittenberg (1502–1813) 3

in 1507. The Elector appointed Sbrulius as Lecturer for Poetics and

Rhetoric at the Leucorea, where he remained until 1513.5
Even before Scheurl and Sbrulius, a group of Wittenberg humanists,
the so-called “grammatici,” had formed around Nikolaus Marschalk,
Balthasar Vach (“Phacchus”) 6 and Hermann Trebellius. These
humanists pioneered the introduction of the Greek language at the
University of Wittenberg.7 Marschalk was one of the first Wittenberg
humanists who dealt with the Hebrew language.
Nikolaus Marschalk8 was born about 1470 in the small town of
Roßla in Thuringia, from which he derived his humanistic appella-
tion “Marescalcus Nicolaus Thurius.” He registered at the University
of Erfurt in 1491 as “Nicolaus Marescalcus de Gronenberg,” and in
1496 he was awarded the degrees magister liberalium artium and Bachelor
of Both Laws. Marschalk began his activity in Erfurt as a printer,
initially working together with Wolfgang Schenk, who had opened a
printing press in Erfurt in 1499. That same year at Schenk’s press,
Marschalk published a Latin lexicon (12 folio sheets in quarto) on
Giorgio Valla’s Latin translation of Michael Psellos’ De victus ratione.
Further publications with humanistic content followed: an annotated
edition of Martianus Capella’s De arte grammatica (1500, 32 folio sheets
in quarto) and his Orthographia (1501, 56 folio sheets in quarto), along
with a comparative study of Greek and Latin meant for students. That
same year, Marschalk published his Grammatica exegetica in the printing
press of Paul von Hachenborg; he dedicated the book to one of his
pupils, Peter Eberbach. In the introduction, Marschalk elucidated his
conception of humanistic education as instruction in moral values in
the sense of Cicero’s vir bonus dicendi peritus.

5
Heinz Kathe, Die Wittenberger philosophische Fakultät 1502–1817 (Cologne, Weimar,
Vienna: Böhlau Verlag, 2002), pp. 15, 23. On the introduction of humanism in
Wittenberg, see Max Steinmetz, “Die Universität Wittenberg und der Humanismus
(1502–1521),” in 450 Jahre Martin-Luther-Universität, vol. 1: 103–139; Maria
Grossmann, Humanism in Wittenberg 1485–1517 (Nieuwkoop: De Graaf, 1975); Kathe,
Die Wittenberger philosophische Fakultät, pp. 1–46.
6
On Vach, see Martin Treu, “Balthasar Fabritius Phacchus. Wittenberger Humanist
und Freund Ulrichs von Hutten,” Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte 80 (1989): 68–87.
7
Kathe, Die Wittenberger philosophische Fakultät, p. 22.
8
On Marschalk, see Gustav Bauch, “Die Einführung des Hebräischen in Witten-
berg. Mit Berücksichtigung der Vorgeschichte des Studiums der Sprache in Deut-
schland,” Monatsschrift für Geschichte und Wissenschaft des Judentums 48 (1904): 22–32,
77–86, 145–60, 214–23, 283–99, 328–40, 461–90; here pp. 145–146, and the intro-
duction to Marschalk’s Oratio habita albiori academia in Alemania iam nuperrima ad promo-
tionem primorum baccalauriorum numero quattuor et viginti anno Domini 1503, ed. Edgar C.
Reinke and Gottfried G. Krodel (Valparaiso, Indiana: Valparaiso University, 1967),
3–26.
4 gianfranco miletto & giuseppe veltri

In October 1501, Marschalk established a private printing press and

published Laus musarum (18 leaves in quarto), an anthology of poems
by Greek and Latin authors. He also added some of his own Latin
poems set to music and accompanied by musical notation. His Laus
musarum was only a preliminary volume for a more ambitious project.
One year later he published the Enchiridion poetarum clarissimorum (462
leaves in quarto), an anthology of Latin poems from ancient authors
down to the present.
Hebrew was also a focus among his humanistic interests. Before
relocating to Wittenberg, Marschalk published in Erfurt an Introductio
ad litteras hebraicas utilissima (1501), and about 1502 followed that
with the first separate edition of Introductio perbrevis ad hebraicam lin-
guam, which had earlier been included by the Venetian printer Aldo
Manuzio together with the Greek grammar De octo partibus orationis by
the Byzantine scholar Constantinus Lascaris. It appears that due to
his open opposition to scholasticism, Marschalk did not obtain a posi-
tion at the University of Erfurt. Nonetheless, he was able in private
to continue teaching his knowledge of humanism. He formed a circle
of pupils that included the brothers Peter and Heinrich Eberbach,
Hermann Trebelius von Eisenach, Georg Spalatin, Christian Beyer
and Johann Lang. Spalatin, Trebelius and Beyer followed their men-
tor to Wittenberg and would later play an important role in the history
of the newly founded university.
In the winter of 1502, Marschalk accepted the invitation from
the Saxon Elector Frederick the Wise (1486–1525) and moved to
Wittenberg. In the rotulus of 1502, Marschalk is listed as “Nicolaus
Marscalcus Thurius artium magister et utriusque iuris baccalaureus
Erfordiensis.” Along with a teaching appointment in the Faculty
of Arts, he continued his study of law, gaining a doctorate on 23
April 1504. The appointment of Martin Pollich from Mellrichstadt
as first Rector of the University of Wittenberg upset the humanists,
the so-called grammatici. Pollich had been the personal physician of
Frederick the Wise and was considered a strict scholastic theologian
who appeared to have no special understanding of the concerns of
the humanists. Marschalk submitted a complaint to the Elector. The
Elector intervened and tried to settle the dispute. Nonetheless, many
humanists left Wittenberg, among them Hermann von der Busche,
who went in 1503 to Leipzig. Marschalk left Wittenberg in early 1505.
Later that same year he declined the offer of the Elector Joachim I of
Brandenburg for a position at the planned University of Frankfurt an
der Oder. Instead he went into the service of the Mecklenburg Duke
 hebrew studies in wittenberg (1502–1813) 5

Henry V the Peaceable, where he worked until 1510 as “orator,” i.e.

as counsel and ambassador.
In late 1510, Marschalk returned to the academic world. He taught
law at the University of Rostock, also giving humanistic lectures. His
knowledge of Hebrew had also improved, because he offered Duke
Henry to read the Holy Scriptures in two languages at the university,
“Greek and Jewish.” The Duke accepted Marschalk’s proposal and
instructed the University to pay him an additional 50 guilders for his
lectures. Marschalk also continued to work with his press. In 1514, he
managed to reacquire the Latin and Greek movable type which he
had entrusted to his pupil Trebellius, and which had finally ended up
in the possession of the printer Johannes Gronenberg. The Rostock
printing house issued several historical works and textbooks which were
intended to support and supplement Marschalk’s teaching activities.
Among these was also the Rudimenta prima linguae Hebraicae (Rhostochii,
1516). During the early Reformation, Marschalk was against Luther
and his combination of humanism and Reformation. He died 12 July
1525 in Rostock and was buried in Doberan (Althof ).
Despite the brevity of his stay, Marschalk made great contributions
to the development of humanism in Wittenberg. Through his print-
ing press and teaching, he prepared the soil in which, contrary to his
expectations, the plant of the Reformation would grow as a result of
the confluence of humanistic education and theological innovations.
We have no proof that Marschalk taught Hebrew in Wittenberg,
but in the light of his Erfurt introduction to Hebrew grammar and
his Hebrew lectures at the University of Rostock, it can be assumed
that in Wittenberg as well he was at least teaching the rudiments of
Hebrew in private lessons.
Among the theologians who were part of the humanistic circle of
Christoph Scheurl and who combined theological and humanistic
education was also Andreas Bodenstein, named after his place of
birth “Karlstadt” (ca. 1480–1541).9 Karlstadt was the first to include
a Hebrew quote in a work printed in Wittenberg. Bodenstein added
the saying in Hebrew (with Latin translation) to his work Distinctiones
Thomistarum, published by the printer Johannes Rhau-Grunenberg (or
Gronenberg) in Wittenberg in 1508:

9
On Karlstadt’s activity in connection with the introduction of Hebrew at the
Leucorea, see Hans Peter Rüger, “Karlstadt als Hebraist an der Universität Witten-
berg,” Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte 75 (1984): 297–308.
6 gianfranco miletto & giuseppe veltri

Jesus, Son of God, Son of David and Maria, King of the World.
A[ndreas] B[odenstein] K[arlstadt] YHWH Sadday (sic!)10
The rendering of the name “Jesus” in Hebrew as “YeHaShWaH”
should not be viewed simply as an example of Karlstadt’s humanistic
erudition. Rather, it should be seen as reflective more of his Kabbalistic
interests under the influence of Reuchlin. “YHWH Sadday” is written
incorrectly, using Hebrew “samek” /‫סדי‬/. The correct rendering is
“YHWH Shadday,” corresponding to Latin “Deus omnipotens,” i.e.
‘God the Allmighty.’ Confusing of the letter “shin” with “samek” is
probably due to Karlstadt’s deficient knowledge of Hebrew at this point
in time and his dependence on his available source text. Reuchlin had
already interpreted the name of Jesus as an expansion of the divine
tetragrammaton “YHWH” in his De Verbo mirifico (ca. 1494), and had
mentioned “Shadday,” one of God’s names, as SDI with Latin letters.
This led to a mistaken rendering in Hebrew in the quote by Karlstadt.11
As an enthusiastic follower of Reuchlin, Karlstadt gradually deepened
his knowledge of Hebrew, also with help from some Jewish scholars, in
order to be able to better explore his interests in biblical philology and
Christian Kabbalah.12 And indeed, in the summer semester 1516, he

10
See this addition as reproduced in Hans-Jürgen Zobel, Altes Testament—Lite-
ratursammlung und Heilige Schrift: gesammelte Aufsätze zur Entstehung, Geschichte und Auslegung
des Alten Testaments, eds. Julia Männchen and Ernst-Joachim Waschke (Berlin: De
Gruyter, 1993), 202, fn. 10, based on Bauch, “Die Einführung des Hebräischen,”
here p. 146, fn. 2. Zobel, p. 202 online, URL: http://tinyurl.com/3zvq6c3 (accessed
27 August 2011).
11
“Tribus characteribus in tempore naturae, et quatuor characteribus in tempore
legis, et quinque characteribus in tempore gratiae, invocata est divina omnipotentia.
Locutus est enim dominus ad Moysen dicens: ‘Ego sum Tetragrammus, qui apparui
Abraham, Ishac et Iacob in deo Sadai, et nomen meum Adonai non indicavi eis.’
[Exodus 6:2–3] Et sequitur: ‘Et assumam vos mihi in populum et ero vester deus,
et scietis, quia sum Adonai.’ [Exodus 6:7] Audivistis Moysen, audite Evangelistam
et Apostolum dei. ‘Hoc est,’ inquit, ‘mandatum dei, ut credamus in nomine filii eius
Ihsuh Christi.’ [1 John 3:23] Iungite universa haec, et cognoscetis facile omnium
potentissimam usquequaque apparuisse virtutem et operationem semper efficacis-
simam, per nomen avorum Trigrammaton, et patrum Tetragrammaton, et filiorum
Pentagrammaton, id est, in natura SDI, in lege ADNI, in charitate IHSUH. (De verbo
mirifico III, 15–39), quoted from Johannes Reuchlin Sämtliche Werke, eds. Widu-W. Ehlers,
Hans-G. Roloff and Peter Schäfer (Stuttgart–Bad Cannstatt: Frommann-Holzboog,
1996), vol. 1.1: 402. On this, see François Secret, Les kabbalistes chrétiens de la Renaissance
(Milan: Archè, 1985): 41–50. On Reuchlin as a basis for Karlstadt’s quote, see Rüger,
“Karlstadt als Hebraist an der Universität Wittenberg,” pp. 299–302. On Karlstadt
more generally in this period, see Ronald J. Sider, Andreas Bodenstein von Karlstadt: the
Development of his Thought, 1517–1525 (Leiden: Brill, 1974).
12
See the letter from Karlstadt to Spalatin ( July 1516), mentioned by Bauch, “Die
Einführung des Hebräischen in Wittenberg,” p. 147.
 hebrew studies in wittenberg (1502–1813) 7

was able to read Reuchlin’s De arte cabbalistica. Together with Spalatin

and Luther, Karlstadt played a major role in establishing a professorial
chair for Hebrew.13
The first scholar to teach Hebrew in Wittenberg before the estab-
lishment of a formal chair for Hebrew, even if only in private lessons,
was the humanist Tileman from the Conradi family in Göttingen.14
He was probably born around 1485, the son of a Catholic priest by
the same name in the Göttingen parish of St. Albani. His unmarried
mother was from Braunschweig (Brunswick). For that reason, Conradi
sometimes said his hometown was Braunschweig, and at times men-
tioned Göttingen, the city of his father. From 1509, Conradi adopted
the humanistic name “Syasticanus,” which he had thought up for
himself as a Greek rendering of Göttingen as “sia” (= laconic form
for the classical Greek thea, German ‘goddess,’ and asty, i.e. ‘town’). In
the winter semester 1502/03, he registered as “Tiloninus Conradus
de gottingen” at the University of Erfurt, where he was awarded the
degree of Bachelor in September 1504. In Erfurt he joined the circle of
humanists there and presented his first trial example of Latin poetry,
apparently not quite successful. In 1509, Conradi came to Wittenberg,
lured there perhaps by the humanistic disciplines of poeterei (‘poetry’)
and the humanae literae, which had an important place in the Faculty
of Arts of the new university. In the summer of the following year, he
was awarded the degree of M.A. and then began to study law. In the
spring of 1511, Conradi was accepted into the senate of the Faculty
of Arts. His humanistic education, deepened during a trip to Italy,
comprised knowledge of Latin and Greek, and elementary Hebrew,
which he taught from about 1515 in his private school “Schola phi-
lymnea.” The “Schola philymnea” can be seen as the precursor of the
Paedagogium established several years later. But Conradi was not given a
regular post at the University, which is why he left Wittenberg in 1520
and pursued a career in law. The last information we have pertaining
to him deals with his activity as a lawyer in Worms in 1521/1522.
His interest in Hebrew was probably inspired by Luther, under whose
influence Conradi turned to theology, as he reported in his Triumphus
Christi (Wittenberg 1516). Even after leaving, Conradi kept alive a

13
See also Alister E. McGrath, The Intellectual Origins of the European Reformation
(Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 2004), esp. pp. 127–128.
14
Hans Volz, “Der Humanist Tilemann Conradi aus Göttingen. Ein Beitrag
zum Thema: Humanismus und Reformation,” Jahrbuch Gesellschaft für niedersächsische
Kirchengeschichte 65 (1967): 76–116.
8 gianfranco miletto & giuseppe veltri

correspondence with the Wittenberg reformers (Melanchthon, Karlstadt

and Spalatin). The first written texts of his in Hebrew are contained in
his Comoedia Teratologia (Wittenberg 1509), a polemic against the scho-
lastic clergy, where after the greetings in Greek and Latin, he added
the Hebrew words “Amen, Qadosh, Qadosh, Qadosh” (= “Amen,
Holy, Holy, Holy”).15 Even if his proficiency in Hebrew did not go
much further than the most elementary rudiments, he nonetheless had
laid the foundation for the learning of Hebrew in Wittenberg. He in
effect embodied the shift from a purely literary humanism toward a
biblical humanism, which would later characterize the development of
humanistic studies at the Leucorea.
In order to further humanistic studies, the Elector Frederick the
Wise established an academy in 1518 where the young prospective
students could learn the rudiments of Latin, Greek and Hebrew
as preparation for their courses at the university. In 1517, a year
before, the Collegium trilingue has been opened at the University of
Louvain at the initiative of Busleyden, a friend of Erasmus. It would
later become a European center for the study of Latin, Greek and
Hebrew. As a result of the founding of the trilingual Paedagogium, the
humanistic ideal of homo trilinguis,16 namely the scholar well-versed in
Latin, Greek and Hebrew, also established itself in Wittenberg as the
basis of academic education. Two scholars, Jodocus Morlyn (or Jobst
Mörlin) from Feldkirch and Johann Reuber (Latinized as “Raptor”)
from Bockenheim were the first heads of the institute. Morlyn regis-
tered as a student at the University of Freiburg in September 1508,
from the summer of 1509 was a student in Leipzig, and from 1510
in Wittenberg, where he was promoted to magister liberalium artium in
February 1512. In 1516, he became dean of the Faculty of Arts. In

15
See original, URL: http://tinyurl.com/3d6bcbb (accessed 27 August 2011).
16
Hieronymus had already used the appellation for himself of trilinguis to under-
score his proficiency in Latin, Greek and Hebrew, for example in Contra Rufinum
II,22,25 “Ergo et apostoli, et apostolici viri, qui linguis loquebantur, in crimine sunt,
et me trilinguem bilinguis ipse ridebis?” and III, 6,25. “Ego philosophus, rhetor,
grammaticus, dialecticus, hebraeus, graecus, latinus, trilinguis.” In humanism, the
term homo trilinguis was mentioned for example in reference to erudition in three
ancient languages. For example, Erasmus praises a humanist and Hebrew scholar like
Reuchlin as follows: “Egregius ille trilinguis eruditionis phoenix” (Colloquia familiaria,
XVII Apotheosis Capnionis). On the importance of Hebrew in humanist education, see
Ilana Zinguer, ed. L’hébreu au temps de la Renaissance (Leiden, New York, Cologne: Brill,
1992). On evaluating the three languages in the first synoptic Bible editions, see Giuseppe
Veltri, “Le traduzioni bibliche come problema testuale e storiografico nel Rinascimento
delle ‘poliglotte’ e d’Azaria de’ Rossi,” Laurentianum 35 (1994): 3–32.
 hebrew studies in wittenberg (1502–1813) 9

1520, he was still active as a lecturer in metaphysics at the univer-

sity. In 1521, poverty constrained him to leave Wittenberg, and he
accepted the position of heading a parish in Westhausen near Coburg.
Reuber, who had come in 1511 to Wittenberg with a degree of M.A.,
switched in 1520 from the Paedagogium to the Chair for Logic, and later
to the Faculty of Law. From 1523 on, only one more teacher with the
degree magister liberalium artium was appointed to the Paedagogium. Finally
it was closed on 24 August 1588, because prospective students found
they were better served at the university by private preceptors. This
increased the standing of the Faculty of Philosophy.17
Through developing this study in three ancient languages, in keep-
ing with the ideal of a complete humanistic erudition, Wittenberg per-
ceived an opportunity to carve a niche of excellence for itself vis-à-vis
the older universities, most especially the nearby University of Leipzig
to the north.18 By introducing instruction in Hebrew along with Greek
and Latin, the newly founded Leucorea sought to distinguish itself as
a model for all other universities in Germany.
But the future of Hebrew at the university could only be placed
on a secured footing by creating a professorial chair for Hebrew in
the Faculty of Arts. A key role in this was played by the emergent
Reformation. The Reformational efforts of Luther and Karlstadt
were oriented to the humanists’ ideal of erudition in three classical
languages. A good grounding in Hebrew and Greek were viewed as
a necessary prerequisite in order to be able to work with the origi-
nal text of the Old and New Testament. It proved possible—in the
competition with Leipzig, and with support from Spalatin, who had
himself studied in Wittenberg and been active as privy councilor at
the court of Frederick the Wise—to realize the plan of Martin Luther
and Karlstadt to establish a professorship for Greek and Hebrew at
the University of Wittenberg.
Thus, in 1518 Philipp Melanchthon and Johannes Böschenstein
came to Wittenberg as professors for Greek and Hebrew. The
appointment of Melanchthon in particular had significant conse-
quences for shaping the study of Greek and Hebrew at the Leucorea.

17
Kathe, Die Wittenberger philosophische Fakultät, p. 148.
18
Not until 1517, in his inaugural lecture, did the Greek language scholar (then
also university rector) Petrus Mosellanus in Leipzig refer to the importance of Hebrew
likewise for medical students, see his “Oratio de variarum linguarum cognitione
paranda” (publ. 1518) and Achim Krümmel, “Mosellanus, Petrus (Peter Schade),”
Biographisch-bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon 6 (1993), cols. 169–171.
10 gianfranco miletto & giuseppe veltri

Through his influence, both languages were placed in the service of

the Reformation movement, principally as tools of research for Holy
Scripture. His call ad fontes brought with it a demand for renewal of the
educational system,19 according to which humanistic studies were to
address the needs of theology. Christian Hebrew Studies which devel-
oped in Wittenberg from the matrix of interests grounded in humanism
thus became in the course of the sixteenth century an auxiliary scien-
tific discipline of theology. The study of Hebrew was deemed legitimate
solely as a lingua sacra, a philological tool for Bible exegesis. Absolutely
alien to the reformers was the idea of using Hebrew to become better
acquainted with rabbinical literature and the Jewish tradition. They
had an attitude of mistrust and even animosity toward Judaism and
Jewish tradition.20 For Luther, the rabbis were “the most wicked of
persons, prisoners of the devil and devilish obsession.”21 They were
“blinded and perverse, and though they have the book, as Isaiah says,
they are blind to its reading.”22 In Luther’s view, their commentaries,
through delusions and reveries, had falsified and distorted the Holy
Scriptures. The commentaries offered no help in understanding the

19
See on this also Manfred Lemmer, “Deutsche Sprache und Literatur an den
Universitäten Wittenberg und Halle (1502–1945),” Beiträge zur Geschichte der Martin-
Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg 1502–2002, ed. Hermann J. Rupieper (Halle:
Mitteldeutscher Verlag, 2002), 147–153.
20
On the relations between Luther and the Jews, see for example Walter Bienert,
Martin Luther und die Juden: ein Quellenbuch mit zeitgenössischen Illustrationen, mit Einführungen
und Erläuterungen (Frankfurt a. M.: Evangelisches Verlagswerk, 1982); Heinz Kremers,
ed., Die Juden und Martin Luther—Martin Luther und die Juden: Geschichte, Wirkungsgeschichte,
Herausforderung (Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlag, 1985); Ernst L. Ehrlich,
“Luther und die Juden,” Antisemitismus. Von der Judenfeindschaft zum Holocaust, ed.
Herbert A. Strauss (Frankfurt a. M., New York: Campus Verlag, 1985), pp. 47–65;
Wolfgang Dietrich, Lutherisches Trauma: Luther und die Juden—Juden und Luther (Marburg:
Gesellschaft für Christlich-Jüdische Zusammenarbeit, 1997; Andreas Späth, Luther
und die Juden (Bonn: Verlag für Kultur und Wissenschaft 2001); Peter von der Osten-
Sacken, Martin Luther und die Juden: neu untersucht anhand von Anton Margarithas “der gantz
Jüdisch glaub” (1530/31) (Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 2002); see also the special issue of
the Jewish Studies Quarterly 7 (2000), ed. Giuseppe Veltri, esp. the introduction, pp.
289–295.
21
Martin Luthers sowol in deutscher als lateinischer Sprache verfertigte und aus der letztern in die
erstere übersetzte sämtliche Schriften, ed. Johann Georg Walch (Halle im Magdeburgischen:
Gebauer, 1732), vol. 2: col. 1458: “Ego vero toto pectore detestor Iudaeos et commen-
tarios Rabinorum, quia hic mos est, imo manifestus furor eorum, ut undecunque pos-
sunt, colligant suorum laudes et gentium ignominiam. Sunt meledictissimi et tenentur
captivi et obsessi a Sathana”. See also Ludwig Geiger, Das Studium der hebräischen Sprache
in Deutschland vom Ende des XV. bis zur Mitte des XVI. Jahrhunderts (Breslau: Schletter’sche
Buchhandlung, 1870), p. 6, fn. 2.
22
D. Martin Luthers Werke: Tischreden (Weimar: Böhlau, 1919), vol. 5: no. 5324,
p. 59.
 hebrew studies in wittenberg (1502–1813) 11

deep meaning and stylistic phraseology of biblical Hebrew. For that,

only the enlightenment of Christ was necessary, and illumination
which only Christians possessed: “So we have to accomplish this, as
Christians who have the understanding of Christ, without which the
art of language is likewise of no value.”23
According to Luther, the good Hebrew scholar should never lose
sight of this theological perspective so as to avoid falling prey to the
same errors of the rabbis: “Because there are many Hebraists who
are more rabbinical than Christian. Nonetheless, the truth is: anyone
who does not seek or see Christ in the Bible or Hebrew language sees
nothing, and speaks like a blind man of color.”24 In his 1543 treatise
on the “Jews and their Lies,” Luther stressed: “I advise that their rab-
bis be forbidden to teach henceforth on pain of loss of life and limb.
For they have justly forfeited the right to such an office by holding the
poor Jews captive with the saying of Moses (Deuteronomy 17:10) in
which he commands them to obey their teachers on penalty of death,
although Moses clearly adds: ‘what they teach you in accord with the
law of the Lord.’ Those villains ignore that. They wantonly employ
the poor people’s obedience contrary to the law of the Lord and infuse
them with this poison, cursing, and blasphemy.”25
The rabbinical texts were also despised by a humanist of the stature
of Melanchthon, who did not share the views of his renowned great
uncle Johann Reuchlin about this. Reuchlin had championed the
preservation and investigation of the rabbinical commentaries, which
he regarded as a quite useful instrument for the exegesis of the Holy
Scriptures, and had begun himself to delve into this.26 Regarding the

23
Ibid., Vol. 14, col. 19. See also Geiger, Das Studium der hebräischen Sprache,
p. 6. Luther often accused the rabbis of having changed the Holy Scriptures in
their commentaries. See, for ex,. in the Weimar ed. of Luthers Werke, Vol. 3, p. 20;
Vol. 40/3, p. 731; Vol. 47, pp. 687, 870. Luther even accorded the rabbis only a
milited knowledge of biblical Hebrew: “Iudaeis (. . .) nihil est fidendum, qui linguam
hebraeam integram iam non habent apud se” (Praelectiones in Prophetas Minores 1524–26,
Weimarer Ausgabe, vol. 13, p. 97).
24
Luther’s letter to the Elector Johann Friedrich (3 December 1543) in Luthers
Weimar Ausgabe, vol. 10, p. 461. On the Hebraists who in Luther’s view “write in
the manner of the Jews” (‘judentzen’), see also Tischreden, vol. 5: no. 5521, p. 212.
25
Martin Luther, “On the Jews and Their Lies.” Trans. Martin Bertram in Luther’s
Works, vol. 41 (Minneapolis: Fortress Press & Augsburg Fortress, 1971). URL: http://
tinyurl.com/9ddrs (accessed 27 August 2011).
26
In the Augenspiegel (Fol. XIIIb), Reuchlin comments on the question of whether
the rabbinical commentaries should be burned: “Ich sag auch und hab des meinen
anseger, daß sich unsere doctores und lerer der hailigen schrift zu verstentnus des texts
inn der bibel saer und fast sollicher commenten, glossen, und usslegungen müssent
12 gianfranco miletto & giuseppe veltri

lost inheritance of Reuchlin’s library, Melanchthon wrote to Georg

Spalatin (3 October 1523) that Reuchlin had greatly valued the
Hebrew books and spent much money on them. But he said he did not
have a high opinion of the Hebrew books in his uncle’s library, aside
from the Bible, which in any case stood out above all books.27
Thus, right from the beginning, definite theological limits were
set circumscribing the study of Hebrew. That often resulted in ten-
sion between theologians and philologists. The first two incumbents
of the Hebrew chair in at the Leucorea in Wittenberg, Böschenstein
(1518–1519) and Matthaeus Adrianus (1520–21), turned out to be
bitterly disappointing for the religious reformers. Böschenstein was a
philologist who dealt with the Hebrew language for its own sake qua
language. He wanted to teach more than just basic Hebrew grammar
and lexis. He was also interested in teaching Hebrew literature and in
getting students to practice spoken Hebrew. Adrianus, who had been
recommended by Luther himself, exceeded his authority, intervened in
theological disputes too much and went as far as to criticize Luther.
Matthäus Aurogallus (‘Golden Rooster’) was the first Hebraist
whom the religious reformers found to be suitable for their own
ends. In a letter to Elector John Frederick dated 3 December 1543,
Luther described him in eulogy as someone “who served pure doc-
trine faithfully and with diligence, seeking Christ and seeing him in
the Bible and the Hebrew language.”28 From 1521 to his death on 10
November 1543, Aurogallus had occupied the chair for Hebrew, and
performed his teaching duties in keeping with the expectations of the
champions of the Reformation. He proved to be not only an adept
and knowledgeable teacher, but also a valuable associate for Luther
in his translation of the Old Testament. Aurogallus saw the study of
Hebrew, fully in keeping with Luther’s views, purely as a philological
tool for discovering the true meaning of Holy Scripture, as he clearly
formulated this in the dedication to Petrus Weller in the Compendium

gebrauchen, wöllent sie vor anfechtung fremds glaubens wol beston (. . .) sollich com-
mentarien kan und mag die christenlich kirch nit von handen lassen, dan sie behalt-
ten die hebraische sprach in der aigenschaft übung, dero die hailig schrift nit kan
mangeln, besunder in alten testament.” Quoted in Geiger, Das Studium der hebräischen
Sprache, pp. 6–7, fn. 2.
27
Melanchthons Briefwechsel. Kritische und kommentierte Gesamtausgabe, ed. Heinz Scheible
(Stuttgart–Bad Cannstatt: Frommann-Holzboog, 1991), vol. 1, p. 294: “Hebraicos
ipse [d.h. Reuchlin] plurimi faciebat et magno emerat, in quibus nihil est quod
probem praeter Biblia. At ea alioqui extant.”
28
On Aurogallus, see Bauch “Die Einführung des Hebräischen in Wittenberg,”
pp. 467–77; Michael Becht, “Aurogallus,” Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche 1 (1993): 1258.
 hebrew studies in wittenberg (1502–1813) 13

Hebreae Chaldeaequae grammatices (Wittenberg 1525). However, we can

also note certain aspects of Aurogallus’ approach which deviate
from the strict adherence to Reformational views on the study of
Hebrew, and which point to future developments in Hebrew Studies
in Wittenberg. Aurogallus added to the Compendium Hebreae grammatices
(Wittenberg 1523, followed two years later by another grammar also
including Aramaic) a list of the most common abbreviations found in
the rabbinical commentaries.29 He also utilized the rabbinical com-
mentaries in the etymological discussion of biblical place and personal
names in his De Hebraeis, Urbium, Regionum, populorum, fluminum, montium,
& alioru[m] locorum, nominibus (Wittenberg 1526, later editions, Basle
1539 and 1543).30 Along with the church fathers, the classical and
medieval authors (including Boccaccio), Rashi and the Targumim
are his main sources. One of his innovations is also the inclusion of
Aramaic. The teaching of Hebrew was expanded by Aurogallus to
encompass Aramaic, and was integrated in the Reformation move-
ment. This probably reflected the influence of the biblia rabbinica
of Felix Pratensis, which was printed early on, in 1517, by Daniel
Bomberg and contained Hebrew and Aramaic commentaries (addimus
veteras interpretationes hebraicas et chaldaicas), because they contained and
passed on ancient mysteries (arcana et recondita mysteria).31
His death immediately raised the question of a suitable succes-
sor. Temporarily the vacant position was occupied jointly by Lukas
Edenberger and Theodor Fabricius, until Matthias Flacius was
appointed; he stemmed from Istria. The engagement of two teachers
for the Hebrew chair and the possibility to employ local staff indicate
that the study of Hebrew had developed substantially in a short period.
But the problem of relations with the Faculty of Theology continued.
The chair for Hebrew was in the Faculty of Philosophy, yet due to its
importance for Bible exegesis, the competence of that chair also neces-
sarily overlapped with the sphere of theology. A lasting solution which
could preserve the interests of the theologians was necessary. This arose

29
See Otto Eissfeldt, “Des Matthäus Aurigallus Hebräische Grammatik von 1523,”
in idem, Kleine Schriften, eds. Rudolf Sellheim and Fritz Maass, 3 vols. (Tübingen: Mohr,
1966), vol. 3: 200–204.
30
See Otto Eissfeldt, “Ein Lexikon der altpalästinischen und altorientalischen
Geographie aus den Anfängen der Universität Wittenberg,” in 450 Jahre Martin-
Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, vol. 1: 239–253, reprinted in Kleine Schriften, vol. 1:
184–199.
31
See Veltri, “Le traduzioni bibliche,” pp. 3–32; Bruno Chiesa, Filologia storica della
Bibbia ebraica (Brescia: Paideai, 2002), vol. 2: 329–335.
14 gianfranco miletto & giuseppe veltri

as a result of the defeat of John Frederick in the Battle of Mühlberg

(24 April 1547) during the Schmalkaldic War, when Wittenberg and
its university passed to the control of the Albertines. The individual
faculties were reorganized due to the change in Electoral control,
and the chair of Hebrew was transferred to the Faculty of Theology.32
With the person of the theologian Johannes Forster (1496–1556),33 the
Faculty of Theology took possession of the professorship for Hebrew,
which it would retain control of until 1588.
The importance of Forster as a Hebrew scholar lay basically in his
Dictionarium hebraicum novum, non ex Rabbinorum Commentis nec ex nostratium
doctorum stulta imitatione descriptum sed ex ipsis thesauris S. Biblicorum et eorun-
dem accurata collatione depromptum cum phrasis Veteris et Novi Testamenti dili-
genter annotatis (Basle 1557, new ed. 1564), an extensive Hebrew-Latin
dictionary, half Bible concordance, half dictionary of roots, which rep-
resented the culmination of his many years of Hebrew study. Faithful
to Luther’s basic principle of sola Scriptura, Forster was convinced that
only a comparative linguistic study could establish the true meaning
of the Holy Scriptures. His dictionary was based on a purely lexical
study of the Scriptures, without consulting the Jewish commentaries
and grammars or resorting to Kabbalistic interpretations.34
But the Faculty of Philosophy did not relinquish its claims. During
the four decades when the Faculty of Theology had the chair for
Hebrew under its wing, Hebrew courses continued to be offered in the
Faculty of Philosophy. The continuing dispute between the two facul-
ties ended in an open controversy which was not resolved until 1588
by the Elector with a compromise. The professorship for Hebrew was
returned to the Faculty of Philosophy, but the Faculty of Theology was
given the right of supervision over the chair in order to avoid danger-
ous expansion of language instruction that trespassed on the territory
of theology. Although the Hebrew chair was under the supervision of

32
Friedensburg, Geschichte der Universität Wittenberg, pp. 252–259; Hans-Jürgen Zobel,
“Die Hebraisten an der Universität zu Wittenberg (1502–1817),” Wissenschaftliche
Zeitschrift der Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg 7 (1957/58): 1173–1185, here
p. 1176.
33
Georg Theodor Strobel, Nachricht von dem Leben D. Johann Forsters, ehemaligen
berühmten Lehrers der Theologie und der hebräischen Sprache zu Wittenberg (Nürnberg: Bauer,
1775); Manfred Knedlik “Forster, Frobenius,” Biographisch–bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon
2 (1990): 72; Heinz Scheible, “Forster, Johann,” Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart IV
3 (2000): 197.
34
Although Forster had been a pupil of Reuchlin, he did not share any interest in
his mentor’s Kabbalistic studies. For Forster, the Kabbalah was not just “useless” but
“wicked” and “misleading” (Dictionarium, pp. 714 ff.).
 hebrew studies in wittenberg (1502–1813) 15

the theologians, it was able to gain a certain autonomy, which was

manifested in a new field of study. Although Hebrew as a lingua sacra
was a required subject for theology students, which presupposed a
close connection between philological and theological teaching pro-
grams, the syllabus covered was extended to include Rabbinica and
other Oriental languages.
In August 1588, as a result of the restructuring of the university
under Elector Christian I, the chair for Hebrew was transferred
from the Faculty of Theology’s supervision and placed totally under
the Faculty of Philosophy. Since 1571, Valentin Schindler (d. 1604)35
had been teaching there. Through the new Electoral decision, he
now became the sole full professor of Hebrew at the University of
Wittenberg.
His opus magnum was the Lexikon Pentaglotton (Frankfurt am Main,
1612; new printings 1635, 1637, 1646, 1653, 1695), of which he
had published a first sample already in 1578 in Epitome bibliorum.
For a better philological interpretation of the Old Testament, along
with Hebrew, other Semitic languages were brought in: Aramaic,
Rabbinical Hebrew, Syriac and Arabic, where Arabic was written in
Hebrew orthography. With his work, Schindler paved the way to stud-
ies on rabbinical language and literature and Oriental languages.
The path Schindler had taken was not continued by his direct
successor. Laurentius Fabricius (1554, Danzig, d. 28 April 1629 in
Wittenberg) restricted his teaching from 1593 to May 1628 mainly to
Hebrew grammar with textual exercises from the books of the Bible,
as he formulated it in his syllabus Ad pietatis et sanctae Hebreae linguae
Studiosos (Wittenberg 1602). However, we can assume that he also
knew Syriac and Arabic and included these in his teaching. That can
be ascertained from a Probuleuma (attestation) of 29 April 1636 that
accords him and his pupil and later successor Martin Trost the merit
of having expanded the chair for Hebrew by adding Syriac, Aramaic
and Arabic.
Rather, we find that Schindler’s heritage was continued by Martin
Trost.36 Born in Höxter in 1588, Trost studied in Wittenberg with
Fabricius. As a result of the upheavals during the Thirty Years’ War,

35
On Schindler, see Zobel, “Die Hebraisten an der Universität zu Wittenberg
(1502–1817),” p. 1177.
36
On Trost, see August Buchner, Dissertationum Academicarum sive programmatum publico
nomine editorum volumen II (Wittenberg: apud Johannen Seelfischium, typis Fincelianis in
Wittenbergae 1651), pp. 569–578.
16 gianfranco miletto & giuseppe veltri

he was active in Köthen (1623), Helmstedt (1625), Söro (Dänemark,

1626) and Rostock (1628) as a Hebrew scholar. On 23 May
1628, he was called back to Wittenberg and initially appointed as
“Extraordinarius Linguarum Orientalium” (Assoc. Prof., this term was
used for the first time in connection with Trost’s special appointment)
at the side of the gravely ill Laurentius Fabricius, whose chair Trost
assumed after the death of Fabricius. Trost died a victim of the plague
on 8 April 1636 in Wittenberg.
In terms of the standards of the day, Trost possessed an extraor-
dinarily good knowledge of Oriental languages, which he had been
studying since his early youth. The main focus of his investigations
was in the field of Syriac. His opus magnum is his Lexicon Syriacum.37 It
is based on the Syriac version of the New Testament. Trost’s special
accomplishment here is that he goes beyond a mere listing of words,
also dealing with phrases and idioms. He gives a translation into Latin
and German. His Hebrew grammar also enjoyed high regard for
a long period. (Grammatica Ebraea generalis, Wittenberg, 1632); it was
revised and reprinted by his pupils and successors Jakob Weller and
Andreas Sennert.
As Trost’s successor, two candidates were short-listed: Johann
Ehrenreich Ostermann and Jakob Weller. Weller (1602–1664)38 was
given the appointment, but not without opposition from the Faculty
of Philosophy, because Weller, who obtained a doctorate in theology
in 1635, was Extraordinarius in the Faculty of Theology. There were
fears that his appointment could lead to renewed interference by the
theologians in the internal affairs of the Faculty of Philosophy. Weller’s
competence in Oriental languages was recognized as beyond question.
He taught Hebrew according to the grammar of his teacher and men-
tor, which he reprinted in a revised edition; he also continued to teach
Syriac. Weller left Wittenberg in 1639 and gave up his chair in order
to pursue a career as a pastor.

37
Lexicon Syriacum: Ex Inductione omnium exemplorum Novi Testamenti Syriaci adornatum;
Adjecta singulorum vocabulorum significatione latina & germanica, cum Indice triplici. Autore
Martino Trostio (Cothenis Anhaltinorum: Fürstliche Druckerei, 1623).
38
On Weller, see Johannes Andreas Gleich, Annales Ecclesiastici oder gründliche
Nachrichten der Reformationshistorie Kur-Sächs. Albertinischer Linie (Dresden, Leipzig: Verlag
Christian Sauereissigs, 1730), 2nd part, pp. 207–312; Wolfgang Sommer, “Jakob
Weller als Oberhofprediger in Dresden,” in Vestigia pietatis, Studien zur Geschichte der
Frömmigkeit in Thüringen und Sachsen, eds. Gerhard Grafet alii (Leipzig: Evangelische
Verlagsanstalt, 2000); Kathe, Die Wittenberger philosophische Fakultät, pp. 193–194.
 hebrew studies in wittenberg (1502–1813) 17

The expansion of the scope of the chair for Hebrew to include

other Semitic languages, a process initiated by Valentin Schindler
and Martin Trost, was continued by Andreas Sennert (1606–1689).
He was born in Wittenberg in 1606, the son of the physician and
professor Daniel Sennert at the University of Wittenberg. He stud-
ied in Leipzig (1626, M.A., 1627), Jena (1628), Straßburg (1634)
and Wittenberg. Already as a young child, Sennert developed a
strong interest in Oriental languages, studying at the age of 10 with
Martin Trost. Sennert traveled to Holland to deepen his knowledge
of Oriental languages. In 1636 he returned to Wittenberg and was
appointed Associate Professor of Oriental Languages in the Faculty of
Philosophy by Elector George I on the recommendation of the univer-
sity. In 1640, he assumed Weller’s chair as full professor. He remained
incumbent of the chair for Hebrew almost 50 years, until 1689, and
had a significant impact in shaping the further course of studies in
Hebrew and Oriental languages at the Leucorea. During his tenure,
the final expansion of Hebrew was implemented to include Oriental
Studies as well. He had a special interest in Arabic. In his inaugural
address, Sennert stressed the necessity of knowing Arabic not only
as an additional philological tool for interpreting the Old Testament
but also because of its importance as a still living language and a
means for direct access to the scientific writings of the Arabs. Many
of his studies deal with rabbinical Hebrew and a synoptic treatment
of various Semitic languages (such as Hypotyposis harmonica linguarum
orientalium chaldaeae, syrae, arabicaeque cum matre ebraea, Wittebergae 1653;
Centuria canonum philologicorum de idiotismis linguarum orientalium hebraeae,
chaldaeae, syrae, arabicae, Wittebergae 1653; Bibliotheca orientalis, sive
idea pleni systematis linguarum orientalium maxime Ebraeae matris, Chaldaeae,
Syrae Arabicaeque . . . nec non Rabbinismi, Wittebergae, 1656). Sennert was
lauded for his work in university administration as rector (1688) and
librarian; in his latter capacity, he was the first to prepare and publish
catalogues of university book holdings. H also collected and published
a large amount of material about life at the university which is a valu-
able source for the history of the Leucorea.
Sennert defended his justified claim to deal with texts and their
interpretation, like his colleagues in Greek and Latin, and not just
grammar, vis-à-vis the Electoral visitors who came to the university
on 12 July 1665. This stance was opposed to the theologians who
sought to restrict the competence of the chair for Hebrew to the
treatment of purely grammatical questions, without any application
18 gianfranco miletto & giuseppe veltri

to theological interpretations. Ultimately he proposed, in keeping with

the example of other universities, to separate Hebrew Studies from
the other Oriental languages.39 This was a clear indication of how the
Faculty of Philosophy wished to break free from the tutelage of theol-
ogy. The study of Hebrew and other Semitic languages was increas-
ingly regarded as an independent discipline, without any theological
justification. Sennert is considered a moderate innovator opposed
to theological dogmatism, and he was celebrated by the Wittenberg
enlighteners as such. Almost along the lines of Galileo, he declared
in reference to the much-debated topic of celestial waters that nature
was the first book for natural scientists, and the Bible was secondary,
though this did not constitute a challenge to divine authority (De aquis
supracoelestibus, et quidem pro negativa earundem, petita maxime ex fontibus
originariis et sacris, quaestio et responsio, Wittenberg, 1670). Sennert, who
continued working as a teacher and scholar into his old age, died in
1689 in Wittenberg.40
After his death, Theodor Dassow41 occupied the chair for Oriental
languages for almost a decade. He was born on 27 March 1648 in
Hamburg into a family of theologians. He attended the Johanneum
in Hamburg and took the courses of Esdras Edzard42 on rabbini-
cal literature. He continued his studies at the University of Gießen
(1669), where he was promoted to magister liberalium artium in 1672.
He then moved to Wittenberg and registered at the university on 7
October 1673 in the Faculty of Philosophy. Before his appointment
as Professor of Oriental Languages, he was initially adjunct professor

39
See Kathe, Die Wittenberger philosophische Fakultät, p. 245.
40
A list of his works can be found in the contribution of Veltri in this special issue,
authored by Gianfranco Miletto.
41
Stephan R. Lange, “Theodor Dassow. Nachlaß und Bibliothek. Postgraduales
Universitätsstudium Bibliothekswissenschaft. Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Institut
für Bibliothekswissenschaft und wissenschaftliche Information” (21 June 1993,
unpubl.). A list of his works can be found in the Appendix I of contribution of Veltri
in this special issue, authored by Gianfranco Miletto.
42
Edzard Esdras Orientalist and pioneer of mission to the Jews (Hamburg
1629–1708). Edzard studied theology (from 1647) in Leipzig and Wittenberg, and
studied rabbinical literature (from 1650) in Basle with Johann Buxtorf the Younger.
After he was awarded the licenciate in theology in 1656 in Rostock, he returned
to Hamburg and devoted himself completely as a private scholar of independent
means to his studies and missionary work among the Jews. Edzard was considered an
outstanding Orientalist in his lifetime, and from 1659 gave private, cost-free instruc-
tion in Hebrew and rabbinical literature. Among his pupils was August Hermann
Francke. See Martin Friedrich, Zwischen Abwehr und Bekehrung, (Tübingen: Mohr, 1988),
pp. 107–123.
 hebrew studies in wittenberg (1502–1813) 19

(1676) and later (1678) Professor of Poetry as well as Assoc. Prof. for
Oriental Languages at the side of Sennert. He undertook research
trips to Holland and England (1676–1678), where he deepened his
studies of rabbinical literature and acquired expensive works in this
field. As Dassow explained in his Rabbinismus philologiae sacrae ancil-
lans (Wittenberg 1674), he regarded rabbinical literature as quite
useful and helpful for biblical interpretation. The beginnings laid by
Reuchlin now found a first concrete application. He was especially
interested in Jewish antiquities, a topic his posthumous opus magnum,
Antiquitates hebraicae, quamplurima utriusque foederis loca difficiliora illustrantes
(Copenhagen and Leipzig 1742) deals with. On 13 April 1699, Dassow
submitted a habilitation thesis on the Lord’s Supper (Disputatio theologica
inauguralis de sublimitate variae unionis in mysterio s. coenae) and was awarded
the licentiate in theology.
That same year, he moved to Kiel as Professor of Theology and
pastor of the Church of St. Nicolas. In 1709, he went to Rendsburg
as superintendent and provost, where he remained until his death on
6 January 1721. He left his library to the University of Wittenberg,
and his posthumous papers (some 1,000 sheets) in still preserved in the
library of the Seminary in Wittenberg.43 Now in preparation is a study
on the archive and the history of Hebrew Studies in Wittenberg and
the universities influenced by the Leucorea.
Johann Christoph Wichmannshausen was his ideal successor due
to his exceptional grounding in Oriental languages and experience in
the interpretation of the Holy Scriptures.44 Born on 3 October 1663
in Ilsenburg, Wichmannshausen studied classical philology and, under
the guidance of Johann Benedikt Carpzov Junior, he studied Oriental
philology in Leipzig (1683) and received the degree magister liberalium
artium on 22 May 1685. He was introduced to rabbinical literature
by the Jewish convert Federicus Albertus Christianus. He deepened
his knowledge of rabbinical texts in Helmstedt, Leiden, Oxford and

43
A list of the manuscripts and his works in the archive of the Predigerseminar can be
found in the Appendix II in the contribution of Veltri in this special issue, authored
by Gianfranco Miletto.
44
On Wichmannshausen, see Woken, Franz: Bibliotheca Theologico-Philologico-
Philosophico-Historica, qua varia difficillima dubia, ad theologiam, vel directe, vel indirecte spectantia,
ex principiis genuinis solvuntur, et varia variorum cogitata ex nuper editis Disput. et programmatibus
breviter adducuntur, nonnullaque ex Mss. Afferuntur, (Wittenbergae: in officina Henningiana,
1732), vol. 1: 148–163: “De professorum orientalium linguarum in Academia
Wittenbergensi meritis in linguas orientales,” Kathe, Die Wittenberger philosophische
Fakultät, pp. 304–307.
20 gianfranco miletto & giuseppe veltri

Cambridge (1688). In 1691–1692, he made an educational trip to

Italy together with the historian Konrad Samuel Schurzfleisch. In
Rome, Wichmannshausen studied Syriac and Arabic with a Maronite
teacher. In 1692, he was appointed Assoc. Professor and returned
to Wittenberg. On 24 March 1693, he was appointed Professor of
Poetry. From 1699 to 1727, Wichmannshausen taught Hebrew,
Syriac, Arabic and Rabbinica. He died on 17 January 1727.
Through Sennert and Dassow, the study of rabbinical literature
and Jewish antiquities also gained a foothold in Wittenberg, and then
became an integral part of the curriculum of the Faculty of Philosophy
at the Leucorea down into the eighteenth century.45 Rabbinical tra-
dition awakened at this time in Wittenberg lively interest, similar to
interest at other European universities, especially in England and the
Netherlands. The teachers in Wittenberg were in close contact with
these centers, as their research trips and the numerous quotations
from contemporary literature in their works attest. Unfortunately, the
relations of these Hebrew scholars in Wittenberg with other European
universities still remain a topic barely researched. Based on current
knowledge, however, we can state that research on the Talmud in
Wittenberg was carried out in conjunction with theology and was seen
as a legal and historical source for Bible exegesis.46
Probably on the basis of Hebrew Studies in Wittenberg and Basle,
as well as Pietistic missionary research, interest was sparked in rab-
binical and more generally in Jewish literature. Doctoral theses and
translations often explored topics in Jewish-humanistic, exegetical,
philosophical or even contemporary Yiddish literature. Many interest-
ing aspects of Jewish literature and philosophy were also discussed in
the faculties of philosophy and theology.47
In the eighteenth century, the nexus between Hebrew and theology
was no longer predominant. Instruction in the language was naturally

45
From 1700 to 1702, a post of Assoc. Prof. for Rabbinical Language was estab-
lished, occupied by Christian Lebrecht Felsius. But on 24 June 1701, he had to leave
his position because he was unable to lecture in Latin. In 1742, the baptized Jew
Johann Christian Neumann from Leipzig was employed as “lector talmudicus.” The situ-
ation changed at the end of the eighteenth century. The request for employment as
lecturer for rabbinical-Talmudic language by the Jewish convert Gotthilf Ringerecht
Frommann was rejected by the university, since the Faculty of Philosophy saw no need
for this. See Kathe, Die Wittenberger philosophische Fakultät, pp. 303, 343, 469.
46
See Carsten Wilke, “Augiasstall oder Bildungsgut? Zum protestantischen
Studium des Talmud in der Barockzeit,” Kalonymos 4 (2001): 14–20, here p. 18.
47
See the contribution of Giuseppe Veltri in this issue.
 hebrew studies in wittenberg (1502–1813) 21

regarded as a required subject for theology students. But applicants

for the chair of Hebrew at the University of Wittenberg were now
expected to have an extensive knowledge of other Oriental languages.
When in 1727 the matter of finding a successor for Wichmannshausen
was broached, the Faculty of Philosophy stressed that the applicant
should present proof of competence in other Oriental languages as
well as Hebrew. That was “because in today’s quite changed situation,
it is a virtual necessity to have better and more precise knowledge
than before of Oriental and more distant peoples, their languages and
histories.”48 In the eighteenth century at the Leucorea, along with
Hebrew, there was instruction in Aramaic, Syriac, Arabic, Turkish,
Persian and Coptic, in part for scholarly interest, partially for practical
purposes, to be used in business and diplomacy.
This expansion of the scope of the subject under the chair for
Hebrew remained in effect until the university was dissolved on 6
March 1816. The unification of the Leucorea in Wittenberg with the
University of Halle the following year as the Friedrichs-Universität
Halle-Wittenberg rescued the great heritage of Wittenberg, which as
the birthplace of Hebrew Studies in Germany had served as a paragon
and model for other universities. In Halle, Hebrew and Semitic studies
linked up with the achievements in Classical Studies in the tradition
of Friedrich August Wolf,49 and gradually a new discipline crystal-
lized which was clearly separate from theology. The upshot was that
between 1821 and 1895, 127 Jewish Orientalists earned their doctor-
ate at the University of Halle; by contrast, in Berlin in roughly the
same period of time, only five Jewish students completed a doctorate
in Oriental Studies, and at the University of Bonn, only a single Jewish
Orientalist finished his studies there.50 However, the prerequisites and
causal factors which accompanied the genesis of Oriental Studies, and
the academic matrix for such studies amply available at the University
of Halle in the nineteenth century are another topic.

48
University Archive Halle-Wittenberg, Rep. 1, No. 1624, fol. 2 (Probuleuma der
philosophischen Fakultät vom 18. Februar 1727), quoted in Kathe, Die Wittenberger
philosophische Fakultät, p. 305.
49
See Giuseppe Veltri, “Athen und Jerusalem: Der Kontrast zwischen Hermeneutik
und kritischer Philologie im Werk von Friedrich August Wolf ”, in Gottes Sprache in der
philologischen Werkstatt, 75–96.
50
Carsten Wilke, “Rabbinerpromotionen an der Philosophischen Fakultät in Halle,
1845–1895,” in: Jüdische Kultur und Bildung in Mitteldeutschland, eds. Giuseppe Veltri and
Christian Wiese (Berlin: Metropol-Verl., 2009), 261–316.
22 gianfranco miletto & giuseppe veltri

Giuseppe Veltri is Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of

Halle-Wittenberg and Director of the Zunz Centre (Halle). He has
published widely in the subjects of hermeneutics and philosophy
including Gegenwart der Tradition (2002), Cultural Intermediaries (2004 with
D. Ruderman); Libraries, Translation and ‘Canonic texts’ (2006); The Jewish
Body (2008, with M. Diemling); Renaissance Philosophy in Jewish Garb
(2009); Judah Moscato’s Sermons, 2 vols. (2011).

Gianfranco Miletto is university private lecturer (“Privatdozent”) at the

University of Halle-Wittenberg. He has published on Biblical Philology
and on the Jewish culture in Italy at the time of the Renaissance and
Counter-Reformation: L’Antico Testamento Ebraico nella tradizione babilonese
(1992); Die Heldenschilde des Abraham ben David Portaleone, 2 vols. (2003);
Glauben und Wissen im Zeitalter der Reformation (2004); Judah Moscato’s
Sermons, 2 vols. (2011).