Lazarus Goldschmidt (born at

Plungė Plungė (; Samogitian: ''Plongė'') is a city in Lithuania with 17,252 inhabitants. Plungė is known for Plungė Manor and its park, Samogitian Art Museum. In the Oginskiai manor park stands the Perkūnas oak a natural monument. The Lourdes o ...

, December 17, 1871; died in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, April 18, 1950) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

writer and translator. He translated the

Babylonian Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cent ...

into

, and was the first to translate the entire Babylonian Talmud. He received his rabbinical education at the

Talmudic The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the ce ...

school A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes comp ...

in Slobodki, near Kovno. In 1888 he went to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, and in 1890 entered the

Berlin University Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...

, where, under the guidance of Professors Dillmann and Schrader, he devoted himself to the study 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 ...

, especially Ethiopic. By 1903, Goldschmidt, living at the time in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

, had published the following works: "''Das Buch Henoch''," retranslated from the Ethiopic into

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 ...

, and edited with introduction, notes, and explanations (Berlin, 1892); "''Bibliotheca Aethiopica''," a list and description of all the known Ethiopic prints ( Leipsic, 1893); "''Das Buch der Schöpfung'' ( ספר יצירה)," critical text, translation notes, etc. (

Frankfort-on-the-Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its n ...

, 1894); "''Baraita de-Ma'ase Bereshit''," the story of the Creation, ascribed to Arzelai bar Bargelai ( Strasburg, 1894; this supposed

Midrash ''Midrash'' (;"midrash"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. he, מִדְרָשׁ; ...

is an

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 ...

translation of the Ethiopic "

Hexaemeron The term Hexameron ( Greek: Ἡ Ἑξαήμερος Δημιουργία ''Hē Hexaēmeros Dēmiourgia'') refers either to the genre of theological treatise that describes God's work on the six days of creation or to the six days of creation them ...

" of Pseudo-Epiphanias, edited by Trumpp in Ethiopic with a German translation,

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

, 1882, and the name of the supposed author is an anagram of Goldschmidt's Hebrew name, Eliezer ben Gabriel); "''Vita do Abba Daniel''," Ethiopic text, published, translated, and annotated in collaboration with F. M. E. Pereira ( Lisbon, 1897); "''Die Aethiopischen Handschriften der-Stadtbibliothek zu Frankfurt a. M.''" (Berlin, 1897). In the year 1896 Goldschmidt commenced the publication of the Babylonian Talmud (from the editio princeps), with German translation, variants, and explanations. By 1903, the sections Zera'im and Mo'ed have been published, together with a part of the section Neziḳin. Both the edition of the text and the translation have been severely criticized by David Hoffmann in

Brody Brody ( uk, Броди; russian: Броды, Brodï; pl, Brody; german: Brody; yi, בראָד, Brod) is a city in Zolochiv Raion of Lviv Oblast (province) of western Ukraine. It is located in the valley of the upper Styr River, approximately ...

's "''Zeitschrift für Hebräische Bibliographie''," i. 67-71, 100-103, 152-155, 181-185. Goldschmidt replied in a pamphlet, "''Die Recension des Herrn Dr. D. Hoffmann über Meine Talmudausgabe im Lichte der Wahrheit'',"

Charlottenburg Charlottenburg () is a locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Established as a town in 1705 and named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen consort of Prussia, it is best known for Charlottenburg Palace, the ...

, 1896. See also "''Theologische Literaturzeitung''," 1896, pp. 477-479, and 1897, pp. 631-633. His translation of the Babylonian Talmud appeared from

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

1897 to completion in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

1935.Subject concordance to the Babylonian Talmud: Lazarus Goldschmidt, Rafael Edelmann - 1959 - "With the publication in 1935 of the ninth volume of his edition and German translation of the Babylonian Talmud Lazarus Goldschmidt (1871-1950) had concluded the enormous task which he started on in his early twenties.."

References

External links

*
Lazarus Goldschmidt's German translation of the Babylonian Talmud at Sefaria.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goldschmidt, Lazarus Talmud translators Translators from Aramaic Translators to German People from Plungė 1871 births 1950 deaths Jewish translators