LEUSDEN JOHANN 1688 Sefer Tehilim Liber Psalmorum p5 A2 JEHOVA

Johannes Leusden (also called Jan (informal), John (English), or Johann (German)) (26 April 1624 – 30 September 1699) was a Dutch

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

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 ...

and orientalist. Leusden was born in

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Net ...

. He studied in Utrecht and

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

and became a 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 ...

in Utrecht, where he died, aged 75. Leusden was one of the most prominent

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...

experts of his time, and wrote several works about the Bible and about Hebrew

philology Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...

(''Philologus Hebraeus'', 1656; ''Philologus Hebraeo-Mixtus'', 1663; ''Philologus Hebraeo-Latino-Belgicum'', 1668; ''Philologus Hebraeo-Graecus'', 1670; ''Korte Hebreusche en Chaldeusche taalkonst'', 1686). In 1661, together with the Amsterdam book printer

Joseph Athias Joseph Athias (c. 1635 – 12 May 1700) was a merchant, bookprinter and the publisher of a famous Hebrew Bible which was approved by States-General of the Dutch Republic and both Jewish and Christian theologians. Life Joseph was born in Lisb ...

, he published his ''Biblia Hebraica'', the first edition of the Hebrew Bible with numbered verses. The ''Catholic Encyclopedia'' of 1913 dismissed Leusden's copious notes to the text as being "of little value".A.J. Maas, 'Joseph Athias', in C. Herbermann (ed.), ''Catholic Encyclopedia'' (Robert Appleton Company, New York 1913), 2. The 1667 edition was strongly criticized in 1669 by the Protestant

Samuel Desmarets Samuel Des Marets or Desmarets ( la, Maresius; Oisemont, 1599 – Groningen, 18 May 1673) was a French Protestant theologian.'III. Maréts (Samuel des)' in L.M. Chaudon, ''Dictionnaire Universel, Historique, Critique, et Bibliographique'', 19 Vols ...

, who died in 1673. Athias answered the charges in a short work whose title begins, ''Caecus de coloribus''. Athias’ pamphlet was a full-blown attack on a senior Christian theologian in the

United Provinces of the Netherlands The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands ( Dutch: ''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden''), and commonly referred to in historiography ...

. That the true author of the pamphlet was not Athias but Johannes Leusden, and that the Utrecht professor had published it in Athias’ name, is an assessment that scholars have followed ever since.T. Dunkelgrün, 'Like a blind man judging colors: Joseph Athias and Johannes Leusden defend their 1667 Hebrew Bible', in S. Berger, E. Schrijver and I. Zwiep (eds.), ''Mapping Jewish Amsterdam: The Early Modern Perspective. Dedicated to Yosef Kaplan on the Occasion of his Retirement'', Studia Rosenthaliana 44 (Peeters, Leuven and Paris 2012), pp. 79-115.

References

1624 births 1699 deaths Dutch Calvinist and Reformed theologians Dutch biblical scholars Christian Hebraists Writers from Utrecht (city) 17th-century Calvinist and Reformed theologians {{Netherlands-academic-bio-stub