Adalbert Merx (2 November 1838 – 6 August 1909) was a German

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...

and orientalist.

Biography

He studied at the

University of Jena The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany. The university was established in 1558 and is cou ...

, where he became an associate professor in 1869. Subsequently, he was a full professor of

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

at the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (; ), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The University of Tübingen is one of eleven German Excellenc ...

, and in 1873 a professor of theology at the

University of Giessen University of Giessen, official name Justus Liebig University Giessen (), is a large public research university in Giessen, Hesse, Germany. It is one of the oldest institutions of higher education in the German-speaking world. It is named afte ...

. From 1875 till his death he was a professor of theology of the

University of Heidelberg Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is List ...

. In the course of his researches he made several journeys in the East. Merx devoted much of his later research to the elucidation of the Sinaitic Palimpsest discovered in 1892 by Mrs. Agnes Smith Lewis, the results (''Die Evangelien des Markus und Lukas nach der Syrischen im Sinaikloster gefundenen Palimpsesthandschrift'') being embodied in ''Die vier kanonischen Evangelien nach dem ältesten bekannten Texte'' (4 volumes, 1897–1905). His last work was an edition of the books of

Moses In Abrahamic religions, Moses was the Hebrews, Hebrew prophet who led the Israelites out of slavery in the The Exodus, Exodus from ancient Egypt, Egypt. He is considered the most important Prophets in Judaism, prophet in Judaism and Samaritani ...

and

Joshua Joshua ( ), also known as Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' Literal translation, lit. 'Yahweh is salvation'), Jehoshua, or Josue, functioned as Moses' assistant in the books of Book of Exodus, Exodus and ...

Works

Among his many works are: *''Grammatica syriaca'' (1867–1870)
''Vocabulary of the Tigre language''
Written down by Moritz von Beurmann, published with a grammatical sketch by Adalbert Merx (1868). *''Das Gedicht vom Hiob'' (1871) *''Die Prophetie des Joel und ihre Ausleger'' (1879) *''Die Saadjanische Übersetzung der Hohe Liedes ins Arabische'' (1882) *''Dionysii Thracis ars grammatica, qualem exemplaria vetustissima exhibent'' (with Gustav Uhlig, 1883) – an edition of

Dionysius Thrax Dionysius Thrax ( ''Dionýsios ho Thrâix'', 170–90 BC) was a Greek grammarian and a pupil of Aristarchus of Samothrace. He was long considered to be the author of the earliest grammatical text on the Greek language, one that was used as a st ...

.Gustav Uhlig
de.Wikisource *''Chrestomathia Targumica'' (1888) *''Historia artis grammaticae apud Syros'' (1889) *''Ein samaritanisches Fragment'' (1893) *''Idee und Grundlinien einer allgemeiner Geschichte der Mystik'' (1893) *''Die Bücher Moses und Josua; eine Einführung für Laien'' (1907) *''Der Messias oder Ta'eb der Samaritaner, nach bisher unbekannten Quellen'' (1909)

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Merx, Adalbert 1838 births 1909 deaths People from Bleicherode Syriacists 19th-century German Protestant theologians German orientalists German male non-fiction writers 19th-century German male writers Old Testament scholars