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Johannes Buxtorf ( la, Johannes Buxtorfius) (December 25, 1564September 13, 1629) was a celebrated
Hebraist A Hebraist is a specialist in Jewish, Hebrew and Hebraic studies. Specifically, British and German scholars of the 18th and 19th centuries who were involved in the study of Hebrew language and literature were commonly known by this designation, a ...
, member of a family of Orientalists; professor of
Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
for thirty-nine years at
Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (B ...
and was known by the title, "Master of the
Rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as '' semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form o ...
s". His massive tome, ''De Synagoga Judaica'' (1st. ed. 1603), scrupulously documents the customs and society of German Jewry in the early modern period. Buxtorf was the father of Johannes Buxtorf the Younger.


Life

Buxtorf was born at Kamen in
Westphalia Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the regio ...
. The original form of the name was Bockstrop, or Boxtrop, from which was derived the family crest, which bore the figure of a goat (German ''Bock'', he-goat). After the death of his father, who was minister of Kamen, Buxtorf studied at Marburg and the newly founded
Herborn Academy The Herborn Academy ( la, Academia Nassauensis) was a Calvinist institution of higher learning in Herborn from 1584 to 1817. The Academy was a centre of encyclopaedic Ramism and the birthplace of both covenant theology and pansophism. Its faculty ...
, at the latter of which
Caspar Olevian Caspar Olevian (or Kaspar Olevianus; 10 August 1536 – 15 March 1587) was a significant German Reformed theologian during the Protestant Reformation and along with Zacharius Ursinus was said to be co-author of the Heidelberg Catechism. That the ...
(1536–1587) and
Johannes Piscator Johannes Piscator (; german: Johannes Fischer; 27 March 1546 – 26 July 1625) was a German Reformed theologian, known as a Bible translator and textbook writer. He was a prolific writer, and initially moved around as he held a number of position ...
(1546–1625) had been appointed professors of theology. At a later date Piscator received the assistance of Buxtorf in the preparation of his Latin translation of the Old Testament, published at Herborn in 1602–1603. From Herborn Buxtorf went to Heidelberg, and thence to Basel, attracted by the reputation of Johann Jakob Grynaeus and J. G. Hospinian (1515–1575). After a short residence at Basel, he studied successively under
Heinrich Bullinger Heinrich Bullinger (18 July 1504 – 17 September 1575) was a Swiss Reformer and theologian, the successor of Huldrych Zwingli as head of the Church of Zürich and a pastor at the Grossmünster. One of the most important leaders of the Swiss R ...
(1504–1575) at Zürich and
Theodore Beza Theodore Beza ( la, Theodorus Beza; french: Théodore de Bèze or ''de Besze''; June 24, 1519 – October 13, 1605) was a French Calvinist Protestant theologian, reformer and scholar who played an important role in the Protestant Reformation ...
at Geneva. On his return to Basel, Grynaeus, desirous that the services of so promising a scholar should be secured to the university, procured him a situation as tutor in the family of Leo Curio, son of
Celio Secondo Curione Celio Secondo Curione (1 May 1503, in Cirié – 24 November 1569, in Basel) (usual Latin form Caelius Secundus Curio) was an Italian humanist, grammarian, editor and historian, who exercised a considerable influence upon the Italian Reformation ...
, well known for his sufferings on account of the Reformed faith. At the insistence of Grynaeus, Buxtorf undertook the duties of the Hebrew chair in the university, and discharged them for two years with such ability that at the end of that time he was unanimously appointed to the vacant office. From this date (1591) to his death in 1629 he remained in Basel, and devoted himself with remarkable zeal to the study of Hebrew and rabbinic literature. He received into his house many learned Jews, that he might discuss his difficulties with them, and he was frequently consulted by Jews themselves on matters relating to their ceremonial law. He seems to have well deserved the title which was conferred upon him of "Master of the Rabbins." His partiality for Jewish society brought him, indeed, on one occasion into trouble with the authorities of the city, the laws against the Jews being very strict. Nevertheless, on the whole, his relations with the city of Basel were friendly. He remained firmly attached to the university which first recognized his merits, and declined two invitations from the
University of Leiden Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, as a reward to the city of Le ...
and Academy of Saumur successively. His correspondence with the most distinguished scholars of the day was very extensive; the library of the university of Basel contains a rich collection of letters, which are valuable for a literary history of the time.


Works

* Manuale Hebraicum et Chaldaicum (1602; 7th ed., 1658). * Synagoga Judaica (1603 in German; afterwards translated into Latin in an enlarged form), a valuable repertory of information regarding the opinions and ceremonies of the Jews. * Lexicon Hebraicum et Chaldaicum cum brevi Lexico Rabbinico Philosophico (1607; reprinted at Glasgow, 1824). * His great Rabbinical Bible, Biblia Hebraica cum paraphrasi Chaldaica et commentariis rabbinorum (2 vols., 1618; 4 vols., 1618–1619), containing, in addition to the Hebrew text, the Aramaic Paraphrases of Targums, punctuated after the analogy of the Aramaic passages in Ezra and Daniel (a proceeding which has been condemned by Richard Simon and others), and the Commentaries of the more celebrated Rabbis, with various other treatises. * Tiberias, sive Commentarius Masoreticus (1620; quarto edition, improved and enlarged by J. Buxtorf the younger, 1665), so named from the great school of Jewish criticism which had its seat in the town of
Tiberias Tiberias ( ; he, טְבֶרְיָה, ; ar, طبريا, Ṭabariyyā) is an Israeli city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. A major Jewish center during Late Antiquity, it has been considered since the 16th century one of Judaism's F ...
. It was in this work that Buxtorf controverted the views of
Elias Levita Elia Levita (13 February 146928 January 1549) ( he, אליהו בן אשר הלוי אשכנזי), also known as Elijah Levita, Elias Levita, Élie Lévita, Elia Levita Ashkenazi, Eliahu Levita, Eliyahu haBahur ("Elijah the Bachelor"), Elye Bok ...
regarding the late origin of the Hebrew vowel points, a subject which gave rise to the controversy between
Louis Cappel Louis Cappel (15 October 1585 – 18 June 1658) was a French Protestant churchman and scholar. A Huguenot, he was born at St Elier, near Sedan. He studied theology at the Academy of Sedan and the Academy of Saumur, and Arabic at the University ...
and his son Johannes Buxtorf II. Buxtorf did not live to complete the two works on which his reputation chiefly rests, his ''Lexicon Chaldaicum, Talmudicum, et Rabbinicum'', and the ''Concordantiae Bibliorum Hebraicorum'', both of which were edited by his son. The lexicon was republished at Leipzig in 1869 with some additions by
Bernard Fischer Bernard Fischer (30 May 1902 – 1 January 1971) was a Luxembourgian footballer. He competed in the men's tournament at the 1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics ( nl, Olympische Zomerspelen 1928), officially known as the Games ...
, and the concordance was assumed by
Julius Fürst Julius Fürst (; 12 May 1805, Żerków, South Prussia – 9 February 1873, Leipzig), born Joseph Alsari, was a Jewish German orientalist and the son of noted maggid, teacher, and Hebrew grammarian Jacob Alsari. Fürst was a distinguished scho ...
as the basis of his own Hebrew concordance, which appeared in 1840.
Wilhelm Gesenius Heinrich Friedrich Wilhelm Gesenius (3 February 178623 October 1842) was a German orientalist, lexicographer, Christian Hebraist, Lutheran theologian, Biblical scholar and critic. Biography Gesenius was born at Nordhausen. In 1803 he became ...
wrote in 1815 that he considered Buxtorf's Hebrew grammar the best yet written.Steven W. Holloway, ed., ''Orientalism, Assyriology and the Bible'', Hebrew Bible Monographs, 10; Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2006; ; p. 5.


References


Further reading


''Athenae Rauricae''
pp. 444–448. * Articles in Ersch and Gruber's ''Encyclopädie'', and Herzog-Hauck, ''Realencyk.''. * Stephen G. Burnett, ''From Christian Hebraism to Jewish studies: Johannes Buxtorf (1564–1629) and Hebrew learning in the seventeenth century (Studies in the history of Christian thought 68).'' Leiden u.a.: Brill 1996. * J. M. Schroeckh, ''Kirchengeschichte'', vol. v. (Post-Reformation period), pp. 72 seq. (Leipzig, 1806). * E. Kautsch, ''Johannes Buxtorf der Ältere'' (1879). * G. W. Meyer, ''Geschichte der Schrift-Erklärung'', vol. iii. (Göttingen, 1804). * J. P. Niceron, ''Mémoires'', vol. xxxi. pp. 206–215. * Rudolf Smend, ''Vier Epitaphe - Die Basler Hebraistenfamilie Buxtorf (Litterae et Theologia 1).'' Berlin: de Gruyter 2010.


External links

*
Synagoga JudaicaDe abbreviaturis Hebraicis liber novus et copiosus, Cui accesserunt operis talmudici Brevis recensio, cum ejusdem librorum & capitum Indice. Item Bibliotheca rabbinica nova, cum Appendice, ordine Alphabethico disposita. Editione hac Ultima. Omnia Castigatiora & Lucupletiora. Franequerae, Apud Jacobum Horreum, 1646

Digitized works by Johannes Buxtorf
at the
Leo Baeck Institute, New York The Leo Baeck Institute New York (LBI) is a research institute in New York City dedicated to the study of German-Jewish history and culture, founded in 1955. It is one of three independent research centers founded by a group of German-speaking J ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buxtorf, Johannes 1564 births 1629 deaths People from Kamen German Calvinist and Reformed theologians Christian Hebraists Academic staff of the University of Basel Judaic studies 16th-century Calvinist and Reformed theologians 17th-century Calvinist and Reformed theologians 17th-century German writers 17th-century German male writers 17th-century German Protestant theologians German male non-fiction writers German Hebraists