Johann Gottlob Carpzov (26 September 1679,

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

– 7 April 1767,

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) was a German Christian Old Testament scholar, a nephew of

Johann Benedict Carpzov II Johann Benedict Carpzov II (24 April 1639 – 23 March 1699) was a German Christian theologian and Hebraist. He was a member of the scholarly Carpzov family. He studied Hebrew under Johannes Buxtorf II, in Basel. He was appointed professor of Or ...

and a son of Samuel Benedict Carpzov. He was the most famous and most important Biblical scholar of the Carpzov family. After attending universities at

Wittenberg Wittenberg, officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is the fourth-largest town in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, in the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. It is situated on the River Elbe, north of Leipzig and south-west of the reunified German ...

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

and Altdorf, he was titular professor of Oriental languages at

from 1719 to 1730, and preacher and theologian until his death. Like his uncle, he was an opponent of the Pietists. His critical works were: ''Introductio in libros canonicos bibliorum Veteris Testamenti'' 1721, 4th ed. 1757; ''Critica Sacra'' (I. Original text, II. Versions, III. Reply to Whiston), 1728; ''Apparatus Historico-Criticus Antiquitatum et Codicis Sacri et Gentis Hebrææ'', 1748. The ''Apparatus'' is in the form of annotations to

Thomas Goodwin Thomas Goodwin ( Rollesby, Norfolk, 5 October 160023 February 1680), known as "the Elder", was an English Puritan theologian and preacher, and an important leader of religious Independents. He served as chaplain to Oliver Cromwell, and was app ...

's ''Moses and Aaron'', and appended to it are dissertations on "The Synagogue Treated with Honor" (a statement of what the Christian Church has retained of ancient Jewish customs), on "The Charity System of the Ancient Jews" (discussion of the question whether צדקה in the Old Testament ever means "alms"), and others. According to the ''Jewish Encyclopedia'',

Carpzov represents both an advance and a retrogression in Biblical science — an advance in fullness of material and clearness of arrangement (his ''Introductio'' is the first work that deserves the name), and a retrogression in critical analysis, for he held fast to the literal inspiration of the Hebrew text of the Old Testament and bitterly opposed the freer positions of Simon,
Spinoza Baruch (de) Spinoza (24 November 163221 February 1677), also known under his Latinized pen name Benedictus de Spinoza, was a philosopher of Portuguese-Jewish origin, who was born in the Dutch Republic. A forerunner of the Age of Enlightenmen ...
, and Clericus. His antiquarian writings are still interesting and useful.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carpzov, Johann Gottlob 1679 births 1767 deaths 17th-century German writers 18th-century German Protestant theologians German biblical scholars German Lutheran theologians German male non-fiction writers 18th-century German male writers Lutheran biblical scholars