Friedrich Bleek (4 July 1793, in
Ahrensbök in
Holstein
Holstein (; ; ; ; ) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider (river), Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost States of Germany, state of Germany.
Holstein once existed as the German County of Holstein (; 8 ...
(a village near
Lübeck
Lübeck (; or ; Latin: ), officially the Hanseatic League, Hanseatic City of Lübeck (), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 220,000 inhabitants, it is the second-largest city on the German Baltic Sea, Baltic coast and the second-larg ...
)27 February 1859, in
Bonn
Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...
), was a German Biblical scholar.
Life
At 16 Bleek's father sent him to the gymnasium at Lübeck, where he became so interested in ancient languages that he abandoned his idea of a legal career and resolved to devote himself to the study of theology. After spending some time at the university of Kiel, he went to Berlin, where, from 1814 to 1817, he studied under
De Wette,
Neander Neander may refer to:
;Surname
* August Neander (1789–1850), a German theologian and church historian
* Ernst Neumann-Neander (1871–1954), founder of the now defunct Neander (motorcycle), Neander motorcycle manufacturer
* Joachim Neander (1650� ...
and
Schleiermacher
Friedrich Daniel Ernst Schleiermacher (; ; 21 November 1768 – 12 February 1834) was a German Reformed theologian, philosopher, and biblical scholar known for his attempt to reconcile the criticisms of the Enlightenment with traditional ...
. So highly were his merits appreciated by his professors — Schleiermacher was accustomed to say that he possessed a special charisma for the science of Introduction — that in 1818 after he had passed the examinations for entering the ministry he was recalled to Berlin as a Repentant or tutorial fellow in theology, a temporary post which the theological faculty had obtained for him.
Besides discharging his duties in the theological seminary, he published two dissertations in Schleiermacher's and
GCF Lücke's ''Journal'' (1819-1820, 1822), one on the origin and composition of the
Sibylline Oracles
The ''Sibylline Oracles'' (; sometimes called the pseudo-Sibylline Oracles) are a collection of oracular utterances written in Greek hexameters ascribed to the Sibyls, prophetesses who uttered divine revelations in a frenzied state. Fourteen b ...
, ''Über die Entstehung und Zusammensetzung der Sibyllinischen Orakel'', and another on the authorship and design of the
Book of Daniel
The Book of Daniel is a 2nd-century BC biblical apocalypse with a 6th-century BC setting. It is ostensibly a narrative detailing the experiences and Prophecy, prophetic visions of Daniel, a Jewish Babylonian captivity, exile in Babylon ...
, ''Über Verfasser und Zweck des Buches Daniel''. These articles attracted much attention, and were distinguished by those qualities of solid learning, thorough investigation and candour of judgment which characterized all his writings.
Bleek's merits as a rising scholar were recognized by the minister of public instruction, who continued his stipend as Repentant for a third year, and promised further advancement in due time. But the attitude of the political authority underwent a change. De Wette was dismissed from his professorship in 1819, and Bleek, a favorite pupil, incurred the suspicion of the government as an extreme democrat. Not only was his
stipend
A stipend is a regular fixed sum of money paid for services or to defray expenses, such as for scholarship, internship, or apprenticeship. It is often distinct from an income or a salary because it does not necessarily represent payment for work pe ...
as Repentant discontinued, but his nomination to the office of professor extraordinarius, which had already been signed by the minister Karl Altenstein, was withheld. At length it was found that Bleek had been confounded with a certain Baueleven Blech, and in 1823 he received the appointment.
During the six years that Bleek remained at Berlin, he twice declined a call to the office of professor ordinarius of theology, once to
Greifswald
Greifswald (), officially the University and Hanseatic City of Greifswald (, Low German: ''Griepswoold'') is the fourth-largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania after Rostock, Schwerin and Neubrandenburg. In 2021 it surpa ...
and once to Kanigsberg. In 1829, however, he was induced to accept Lücke's chair in the recently founded
University of Bonn
The University of Bonn, officially the Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (), is a public research university in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the () on 18 October 1818 by Frederick Willi ...
, and entered upon his duties there in the summer of the same year. For thirty years he laboured with ever-increasing success, due not to any attractions of manner or to the enunciation of novel or bizarre opinions, but to the soundness of his investigations, the impartiality of his judgments, and the clearness of his method. In 1843 he was raised to the office of
consistorial councillor, and was selected by the university to hold the office of rector, a distinction which has not since been conferred upon any theologian of the
Reformed Church
Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Christian, Presbyterian, ...
. He died suddenly of
apoplexy
Apoplexy () refers to the rupture of an internal organ and the associated symptoms. Informally or metaphorically, the term ''apoplexy'' is associated with being furious, especially as "apoplectic". Historically, it described what is now known as a ...
on 27 February 1859.
Bleek's works belong entirely to the departments of
Biblical criticism
Modern Biblical criticism (as opposed to pre-Modern criticism) is the use of critical analysis to understand and explain the Bible without appealing to the supernatural. During the eighteenth century, when it began as ''historical-biblical c ...
and exegesis. His views on questions of
Old Testament
The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...
criticism were advanced in his own day; for on all the disputed points concerning the unity and authorship of the books of the
Old Covenant
Abrahamic religions believe in the Mosaic covenant (named after Moses), also known as the Sinaitic covenant (after the biblical Mount Sinai), which refers to a covenant between the Israelite tribes and God, including their proselytes, not lim ...
he was opposed to received opinion. But with respect to the
New Testament
The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...
his position was conservative. An opponent of the
Tübingen
Tübingen (; ) is a traditional college town, university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer (Neckar), Ammer rivers. about one in ...
school, his defence of the genuineness and authenticity of the gospel of St John is among the ablest that have been written; and although on some minor points his views did not altogether coincide with, those of the traditional school, his critical labors on the New Testament must nevertheless be regarded as among the most important contributions to the maintenance of orthodox opinions.
His greatest work, his commentary on the
epistle to the Hebrews
The Epistle to the Hebrews () is one of the books of the New Testament.
The text does not mention the name of its author, but was traditionally attributed to Paul the Apostle; most of the Ancient Greek manuscripts, the Old Syriac Peshitto and ...
(''Brief an die Hebraer erlautert durch Einleilung, Ubersetzung, und fortlaufenden Commentar'', in three parts, 1828, 1836 and 1840) won the highest praise from men like De Wette and
Fr. Delitzsch. This work was abridged by Bleek for his college lectures, and was published in that condensed form in 1868. In 1846 he published his contributions to the criticism, of the gospels (''Beiträge zur Evangelien Kritik'', pt. i.), which contained his defence of
St John's gospel, and arose out of a review of
JHA Ebrard's ''Wissenschaflliche Kritik der Evangelischen Geschichte'' (1842).
Posthumously-published works
The following works were published after Bleek's death:
#His Introduction to the Old Testament (''Einleitung in das Alte Testament''), (3rd ed., 1869); En,g. trans. by GH Venables (from 2nd ed., 1869); in 1878 a new edition (the 4th) appeared, under the editorship of
Julius Wellhausen
Julius Wellhausen (17 May 1844 – 7 January 1918) was a German biblical scholar and orientalist. In the course of his career, his research interest moved from Old Testament research through Islamic studies to New Testament scholarship. Wellhau ...
, who made extensive alterations and additions
#his Introduction to the New Testament (3rd ed., W Mangold, 1875), Eng. trans. (from 2nd German ed.) by
William Urwick (1869, 1870)
#his Exposition of the First Three Gospels (''Synoptische Erklärung der drei ersten Evangelien''), by
H Holtzmann (1862)
#his Lectures on the Apocalypse (''Vorlesungen über die Apokalypse''), (Eng. trans. 1875). Besides these there has also appeared a small volume containing Lectures on
Colossians,
Philemon and
Ephesians
The Epistle to the Ephesians is the tenth book of the New Testament.
Traditionally believed to have been written by the Apostle Paul around AD 62 during his imprisonment in Rome, the Epistle to the Ephesians closely resembles Colossians ...
(Berlin, 1865)
Bleek also contributed many articles to the ''Studien und Kritiken''. For further information on Bleek's life and writings, see Kamphausen's article in Herzog-Hauck, ''Realencyklopädie''; Frédéric Lichtenberger's ''Histoire des idées religieuses en Allemagne'', vol. iii.; Diestel's ''Geschichte des Alten Testamentes'' (1869); and
TK Cheyne's ''Founders of Old Testament Criticism'' (1893).
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bleek, Friedrich
1793 births
1859 deaths
German biblical scholars
19th-century German Protestant theologians
Academic staff of the University of Bonn
19th-century German male writers
19th-century German writers
German male non-fiction writers