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Johann Gottfried Eichhorn (16 October 1752, in Dörrenzimmern – 27 June 1827, in
Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the capital of the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, the population was 118,911. General information The ori ...
) was a German Protestant
theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...
of the Enlightenment and an early orientalist. He was a member of the
Göttingen School of History Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the capital of the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, the population was 118,911. General information The ori ...
.


Education and early career

Born at Dörrenzimmern (now part of the city of
Ingelfingen Ingelfingen is a town in the Hohenlohe district, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated on the river Kocher, 4 km northwest of Künzelsau, and 36 km northeast of Heilbronn. Twin towns Ingelfingen is twinned with: * Sain ...
), in the Principality of Hohenlohe-Oehringen, Eichhorn was educated at the state school in Weikersheim, where his father was superintendent, at the gymnasium at
Heilbronn Heilbronn () is a city in northern Baden-Württemberg, Germany, surrounded by Heilbronn District. With over 126,000 residents, it is the sixth-largest city in the state. From the late Middle Ages, it developed into an important trading centre. ...
and at the
University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded ...
(1770–1774), studying under
Johann David Michaelis Johann David Michaelis (27 February 1717 – 22 August 1791) was a Prussian biblical scholar and teacher. He was member of a family that was committed to solid discipline in Hebrew and the cognate languages, which distinguished the University ...
. In 1774 he received the rectorship of the gymnasium at Ohrdruf, in the duchy of
Saxe-Gotha Saxe-Gotha (german: Sachsen-Gotha) was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine branch of the Wettin dynasty in the former Landgraviate of Thuringia. The ducal residence was erected at Gotha. History The duchy was established in 1640, wh ...
.


Professorship in Jena 1775–1788

In 1775 he was made professor of
Oriental languages A wide variety of languages are spoken throughout Asia, comprising different language families and some unrelated isolates. The major language families include Austroasiatic, Austronesian, Caucasian, Dravidian, Indo-European, Afroasiatic, Tur ...
at the Faculty of Theology at
Jena University The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (german: Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany. The un ...
. His published habilitation lecture was about "monetary matters of the early Arabs (De rei numariae apud Arabas initiis)" on the basis of the chronicle of Makin ibn al-'Amid. Later he edited the "Briefe über das arabische Münzwesen" by Johann Jacob Reiske. As a supplement to it he compiled the first commentated bibliography of Islamic numismatics in 1786 with more than 100 pages. It is still a reference tool for numismatic literature prior to this date. He also edited some historical works of the Reiske, who died 1774. Eichhorn was acquainted with him from time of his study in Göttingen. During his professorship in Jena he wrote his seminal ''Introduction to the Old Testament (Einleitung in das Alte Testament)'' which was a breakthrough in the historical understanding of the
Pentateuch The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the sa ...
. In 1776 he founded the first important journal for
Oriental studies Oriental studies is the academic field that studies Near Eastern and Far Eastern societies and cultures, languages, peoples, history and archaeology. In recent years, the subject has often been turned into the newer terms of Middle Eastern studi ...
, the ''Repertorium für biblische und morgenländische Litteratur'', which he edited until 1788.


Professorship in Göttingen 1788-1827

In 1788 he was elected professor ordinarius at Göttingen, where he lectured not only on
Oriental languages A wide variety of languages are spoken throughout Asia, comprising different language families and some unrelated isolates. The major language families include Austroasiatic, Austronesian, Caucasian, Dravidian, Indo-European, Afroasiatic, Tur ...
and on the exegesis of the
Old Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England * Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, M ...
and
New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chris ...
s, but also on political history. Eichhorn was elected a corresponding member, living abroad, of the Royal Institute of the Netherlands in 1815. He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, ...
in 1825. His health was shattered in 1825, but he continued his lectures until attacked by fever on 14 June 1827. His son, Karl Friedrich, became a famous jurist.


Achievements in theology

Eichhorn has been called "the founder of modern Old Testament
criticism Criticism is the construction of a judgement about the negative qualities of someone or something. Criticism can range from impromptu comments to a written detailed response. , ''"the act of giving your opinion or judgment about the good or bad q ...
." He recognized its scope and problems, and began many of its most important discussions. "My greatest trouble," he says in the preface to the second edition of his ''Einleitung,'' "I had to bestow on a hitherto unworked field--on the investigation of the inner nature of the Old Testament with the help of the Higher Criticism (not a new name to any humanist)." His investigations led him to the conclusion that "most of the writings of the Hebrews have passed through several hands." He took for granted that all the supernatural events related in the Old and New Testaments were explicable on natural principles. He sought to judge them from the standpoint of the ancient world, and to account for them by the superstitious beliefs which were then generally in vogue. He did not perceive in the biblical books any religious ideas of much importance for modern times; they interested him merely historically and for the light they cast upon antiquity. He regarded many books of the Old Testament as spurious, questioned the genuineness of the
First First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...
and
Second The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds e ...
letters of Peter and the
Epistle of Jude The Epistle of Jude is the penultimate book of the New Testament as well as the Christian Bible. It is traditionally attributed to Jude, brother of James the Just, and thus possibly brother of Jesus as well. Jude is a short epistle written in ...
, denied the Pauline authorship of the
First First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...
and
Second The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds e ...
letters to Timothy and to
Titus Titus Caesar Vespasianus ( ; 30 December 39 – 13 September 81 AD) was Roman emperor from 79 to 81. A member of the Flavian dynasty, Titus succeeded his father Vespasian upon his death. Before becoming emperor, Titus gained renown as a mi ...
. He suggested that the canonical gospels were based upon various translations and editions of a primary
Aramaic The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated in ...
gospel, but did not appreciate as sufficiently as
David Strauss David Friedrich Strauss (german: link=no, Strauß ; 27 January 1808 – 8 February 1874) was a German liberal Protestant theologian and writer, who influenced Christian Europe with his portrayal of the "historical Jesus", whose divine nature he ...
and the Tübingen critics the difficulties which a natural theory has to surmount, nor did he support his conclusions by such elaborate discussions as they deemed necessary. He challenged the Augustinian hypothesis solution to the synoptic problem and proposed an original gospel hypothesis (1804) which argued that there was a lost Aramaic original gospel that each of the Synoptic evangelists had in a different form.Udo Schnelle ''The history and theology of the New Testament writings'' 1998 Page 163 "A comprehensive basis for the original-gospel hypothesis was provided in 1804 by Johann Gottfried Eichhorn (1752-1827), who argued for an Aramaic original gospel that each of the Synoptic evangelists had in a different form."


Selected bibliography

*''Geschichte des Ostindischen Handels vor Mohammed'' (Gotha, 1775) *''De rei numariae apud arabas initiis'' (Jena 1776) *''Allgemeine Bibliothek der biblischen Literatur'' (10 vols., Leipzig, 1787–1801) *''Einleitung in das Alte Testament'' (5 vols., Leipzig, 1780–1783) *''Einleitung in das Neue Testament'' (1804–1812) *''Einleitung in die apokryphischen Bücher des Alten Testaments'' (Göttingen, 1795) *''Commentarius in apocalypsin Joannis'' (2 vols., Göttingen, 1791) *''Die Hebr. Propheten'' (3 vols., Göttingen, 1816–1819) *''Allgemeine Geschichte der Cultur und Literatur des neuern Europa'' (2 vols., Göttingen, 1796–1799) *''Literargeschichte'' (1st vol., Göttingen, 1799, 2nd ed. 1813, 2nd vol. 1814) *''Geschichte der Literatur von ihrem Anfänge bis auf die neuesten Zeiten'' (5 vols., Göttingen, 1805–1812) *''Übersicht der Französischer Revolution'' (2 vols., Göttingen, 1797) *''Weltgeschichte'' (3rd ed., 5 vols., Göttingen, 1819–1820) *''Geschichte der drei letzten Jahrhunderte'' (3rd ed., 6 vols., Hanover, 1817–1818) *''Urgeschichte des erlauchten Hauses der Welfen'' (Hanover, 1817).


Notes


References

* * Rudolf Smend, ''Deutsche Alttestamentler in 3 Jahrhunderten'', Göttingen 1989, pp. 25–37. * Bodo Seidel, "Aufklärung und Bibelwissenschaft in Jena. Erörterungen an Hand des Werkes zweier Jenenser Theologen. Oder: Warum und wie betreibt man in der Späten Aufklärung historische Bibelkritik," in: Friedrich Strack (ed), ''Evolution des Geistes. Jena um 1800'' (Deutscher Idealismus 17), Stuttgart 1994, pp. 443–459. * Norbert Nebes, "Orientalistik im Aufbruch. Die Wissenschaft vom Orient in Jena zur Goethezeit," in: Jochen Golz (ed.): ''Goethes Morgenlandfahrten. West-östliche Begegnungen''. Frankfurt a/M, Leipzig 1999, pp. 66–96; * Henning Graf Reventlow, ''Epochen der Bibelauslegung'', vol. 4, Munich 2001, pp. 209–226; * Stefan Heidemann, "Der Paradigmenwechsel in der Jenaer Orientalistik in der Zeit der literarischen Klassik," in: Michael Hofmann - Charis Goers (eds.): ''Der Deutschen Morgenland. Bilder des Orients in der deutschen Literatur und Kultur von 1770 bis 1850'', Munich 2008, pp. 243–257.


See also

*
Orientalism In art history, literature and cultural studies, Orientalism is the imitation or depiction of aspects in the Eastern world. These depictions are usually done by writers, designers, and artists from the Western world. In particular, Orientalist p ...


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Eichhorn, Johann Gottfried 1752 births 1827 deaths 18th-century German Protestant theologians 19th-century German Protestant theologians 19th-century German male writers Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences German orientalists Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences People from Ingelfingen University of Göttingen alumni Academic staff of the University of Göttingen Academic staff of the University of Jena German male non-fiction writers 18th-century German male writers 18th-century biblical scholars 18th-century Christian biblical scholars Members of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities