Adalbert Merx

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Adalbert Merx

Adalbert Ernst Otto Merx (born November 2, 1838 in Bleicherode , † August 6, 1909 in Heidelberg ) was a German Protestant theologian and orientalist .

Life

family

Merx was the son of the pedagogue and afternoon preacher Friedrich Wilhelm Merx (1809–1843) and the writer Eulalia Merx , b. Hoche (1811–1908), who was a sister of the writer and suffragette Louise Aston b. Hoche was. The theologian and historian Johann Gottfried Hoche was his grandfather.

Adalbert Merx was married to Sophie, b. Curtius (1841–1915), widow of the merchant Ernst Matthias Döderlein in St. Petersburg. The couple had seven children, including their two daughters Elisabeth Merx (1874–1945) and Gisela Merx (1875–1965). From the marriage of Elisabeth Merx with the science historian and orientalist Julius Ruska , along with other children, came the physicist and inventor of the electron microscope (Nobel Prize 1986) Ernst Ruska (1906–1988) and the physician and biophysicist Helmut Ruska (1908–1973), a pioneer in medicine - life science electron microscopy. Gisela Merx (1875-1965) was married to Max Wolf , professor of astronomy in Heidelberg and rediscoverer of Halley's comet .

School and study

Adalbert Merx graduated from high school in Halberstadt and from 1851 attended the Pforta state school in Schulpforta near Naumburg (Saale) with a free position . There he received a humanistic and philosophical education. In addition, he learned Syriac and Arabic , as well as English, French and Italian under the guidance of his teacher Karl Steinhart . According to his own statement, it was from this time that he wanted to study linguistics .

Since these studies alone did not offer any secure future prospects, Merx studied from the summer semester of 1857 at the Philipps University of Marburg, in addition to philology , theology and the like. a. with the Old Testament scholar Franz Dietrich . He learned Sanskrit from Johann Gildemeister . At the same time he expanded his knowledge of the oriental languages, which was to prove valuable for his study of the Old Testament.

After three semesters he moved to Halle (Saale) , the then center of biblical-oriental studies, where he spent four semesters. His teachers there were in particular the Semitist Emil Rödiger (1801–1874), the Old Testament scholar Hermann Hupfeld , a representative of the historical-critical direction, and the Arabist Friedrich August Arnold (1812–1869).

Then Merx went to Breslau . There he was in 1862 at the Faculty of Philosophy with a thesis on the Ignatian letters to Polycarp and to the Ephesians and Romans to Dr. phil. PhD. With this sensational work he proved that all writings running under the name of Ignatius of Antioch are spurious, whereas the Syrus Curetonianus or Cureton-Syrian from the 5th century contains the real Ignatius text. From 1862 to 1864 Merx studied in Berlin , where he obtained his theological license in 1864 with an (unprinted) thesis on the tendency and composition of the Book of Job ( De Jobeide ) . In 1865 Merx qualified as a professor at the Theological Faculty of the University of Jena with the writing Cur in libro Danielis iuxta hebraeam aramaea adhibita sit dialectus explicatur .

University career

Merx began his academic career in the summer semester of 1865 in Jena with a lecture on the book Joel . In 1866 he was on the list of candidates for the new chair for Old Testament exegesis . In 1869 Merx was appointed associate professor in Jena. The report of his colleague Ludwig Diestel emphasizes his "thorough philosophical" research into the Old Testament and the establishment of the archive for scientific research into it. In Jena, Merx read not only Old Testament lectures but also Arabic, New Persian and Ethiopian .

In the same year he was appointed to the Philosophical Faculty of the University of Tübingen . As the successor to the orientalist Julius v. Mohl he took over the full professorship for Semitic languages ​​there . In February 1873 Merx succeeded Eberhard Schrader at the theological faculty in Giessen as full professor for the Old Testament . In April 1875 he followed a call to succeed the theologian and Old Testament writer Ferdinand Hitzig at the University of Heidelberg , where he taught until his death.

death

Memorial plaque at the local history museum in Bleicherode

Adalbert Merx died at a funeral speech for his friend and colleague, the church historian Adolf Hausrath , in the Heidelberg mountain cemetery on August 6, 1909. There he found the philosopher Gustav Radbruch , the sociologist Max Weber and the writers Hilde Domin and Elisabeth Alexander in the immediate vicinity his final resting place. His Art Nouveau grave is a listed building (E333-335).

Honors

Adalbert Merx was a privy councilor (1892), go. Council II class (1905), Doctor of Literature (University of Dublin) and member of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences (1909).

Merx's son-in-law Max Wolf named the asteroids (330) Adalberta and (808) Merxia after his father-in-law.

estate

Adalbert Merx's estate is kept at the Heidelberg University Library (Adalbert Merx estate, call number: Heid. Hs. 3762). Three boxes contain: A. Diaries; B. Work, biography and obituary; C. Correspondence; D. Own college transcripts; E. College manuscripts; F. Work manuscripts and poems; G. Lectures; H. Publications; J. Writings by other authors.

plant

As a universal scholar, Adalbert Merx was a respected and internationally renowned scientist. His best-known work is The Gospel of John based on the Syrian palimpsest manuscript found in the Sinai monastery (see: Old Syrian NT translations ). The work was completed after his death and published by his son-in-law Julius Ruska .

Merx's exceptional language skills - he had an excellent command of the Semitic and other Oriental languages ​​- and his interest in fundamental questions about hermeneutics shaped his work as an exegete of the Old Testament. On the basis of the Sinai-Syrian ( Sinaiticus-Palimpsest ) from the late 4th century, found in 1892 by Agnes Smith-Lewis and her twin sister Margaret Dunlop Gibson in St. Catherine's Monastery (Sinai) , he demonstrated the importance of solidly founded textual criticism for the creation of a reliable text. The further development of textual criticism remained part of his academic work throughout his life.

The linguist deciphered Phoenician , Hebrew and Aramaic inscriptions, published a Syrian grammar (1867–1870) and a New Syrian reader (1873) and edited Samaritan and Arabic texts. He also wrote a translation of Turkish proverbs (1877, 1893). The work Die Prophetie des Joel (1879) contains his exegetical and hermeneutic principles with explicit reference to Adolf Hilgenfeld , professor for the New Testament in Jena, and the Old Testament scholars Ludwig Diestel and Carl Gustav Adolf Siegfried (1830–1903), the latter a well-known representative historical-critical research on the Old Testament. To celebrate the fortieth anniversary of the reign of Grand Duke Friedrich von Baden , Merx gave his speech on April 28, 1892 at the University of Heidelberg on the ideas of the state and statesman in connection with the historical development of mankind. On the occasion of the birthday of the Baden Grand Duke Karl Friedrich , Merx gave his academic speech in 1893, the idea and basic lines of a general history of mysticism . In 1998 Merx's translation of a section from Muallim Naci's autobiography from Turkish into German appeared: From Muʿallim Nadschi's [Mu'allim Ná´g¯i] Sünbüle: The story of his childhood (G. Reimer, Berlin, 1898). Merx's late major work The Four Canonical Gospels according to their oldest known texts (1897-1911) is a treatise on the Sinai-Syrians (Sinai Palimpsest).

In the course of his research, Merx made several trips to the Middle East.

Publications (selection)

  • Meletemata, critica de epistolarum Ignatianarum versione syriaca commentatio. Halle, 1861 (Inaugural dissertation, Breslau, 1862).
  • Bardesanes of Edessa: together with a study of the relationship between the Clementine recognitions and the Book of Laws of the Countries . CEM Pfeffer, Halle, 1863.
  • Cur in libro Danielis iuxta hebraeam aramaea adhibita sit dialectus explicatur. Halle, 1865. (Habilitation thesis) ( digitized version )
  • Grammatica Syrica. Vol. 1-2, Orphanotropheum, Halle, 1867-1870. ( Digitized version ) (digitized version, vol. 1 ; vol. 2 )
  • The inscription of Umm el Awamid I. In: Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländische Gesellschaft Volume 21 (1867), p. 476.
  • The poem of Job. Hebrew text, critically edited and translated, with ... introduction. Mauke's Verlag, Jena 1871.
  • Turkish proverbs translated into German. Venice, Armenian printing house. First edition, 1877.
  • A speech on the interpretation of the Old Testament in particular. Lecture given in Heidelberg in the scientific preachers' association in Baden and the Palatinate on July 3, 1878. Bookstore of the orphanage, Halle / S. 1879. ( digitized version )
  • The prophecy of Joel and its interpreters. From the oldest times to the reformers. An exegetical-critical and hermeneutical-dogma-historical study. Bookshop of the orphanage, Halle / S. 1879. ( digitized version )
  • The Saadjan [Sa'adjã Gã'¯on] translation of the Song of Songs into Arabic ([Arab:] Tasbî.h attasãbîh) . Winter, Heidelberg 1882.
  • Chrestomathia Targumica quam collatis libris manu scriptis antiquissmimis tiberiensibusque impressis celeberrimis. E codicibus ad codices vocalibus babylonicis instructis. Reuther, Berlin 1888.
  • The ideas of the state and statesman in connection with the historical development of mankind. Speech to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the reign of His Royal Highness the Grand Duke Friedrich von Baden held in the auditorium of Heidelberg University on April 28, 1892 . Hörning, Heidelberg 1892. ( digitized version )
  • Turkish proverbs translated into German. Armenian printing house, Venice 1893.
  • Idea and basic lines of a general history of mysticism. Academic speech on the birthday of the most blessed Grand Duke Karl Friedrich on November 22nd, 1892 at the presentation of the annual report and the announcement of the academic prizes. Hörning, Heidelberg 1893.
  • The four canonical gospels according to their oldest known texts. Translation and explanation of the Syrian palimpsest manuscripts found in the Sinai monastery. 2 parts in 4 volumes, G. Reimer, Berlin 1897–1911.

literature

  • Klaus Breuer:  Merx, Adalbert. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 17, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1994, ISBN 3-428-00198-2 , p. 194 f. ( Digitized version ).
  • Markus Iff: Liberal Theology in Jena. A contribution to the history of theology and science at the end of the 19th century . De Gruyter, Berlin 2011.
  • Oskar Herrigel: In memory of Adalbert Merx . In: Protestant monthly journals. Vol. 14, 1910, pp. 41-50, 89-103 (W-catalog).

Web links

Commons : Adalbert Merx  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikisource: Adalbert Merx  - Sources and full texts

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Klaus Breuer:  Merx, Adalbert. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 17, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1994, ISBN 3-428-00198-2 , p. 194 f. ( Digitized version ).
  2. ^ Franz Brümmer: Lexicon of German poets and prose writers from the beginning of the 19th century to the present. Vol. 1, 6th edition, Philipp Reclam jun., Leipzig, 1913, pp. 83-84 gives 1811 as the year of birth.
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g Markus Iff: Liberale Theologie in Jena. A contribution to the history of theology and science at the end of the 19th century , De Gruyter, Berlin 2011, p. 57.
  4. ↑ Markus Iff: Liberal Theology in Jena. A contribution to the history of theology and science at the end of the 19th century. De Gruyter, Berlin 2011, p. 57. (Based on: O. Herrigel: To the memory of Adalbert Merx. ) In: Protestantische Monatshefte 14 (1910), 41-53, 89-103
  5. ↑ William Cureton (accessed August 5, 2015), And: en: Curetonian Gospels (accessed August 5, 2015). William Cureton (1808–1864) was a British orientalist and in 1858 the editor of documents from a comprehensive collection of manuscripts in the ancient Syriac language, the so-called Cureton-Syrian ("Syrus Curetonianus"), which contains the Ignatian letters. In 1841 the coptologist Henry Tattam had acquired the manuscripts from a monastery in the Egyptian Natron Desert for the British Museum . The Syrus Curetonianus , together with the Sinai Syrian ( Sinaiticus Palimpsest ), forms the versions of the four canonical Gospels known in the Syrian Church under the name Evangelion Dampharshe (separate Gospels).
  6. ↑ Markus Iff: Liberal Theology in Jena. A contribution to the history of theology and science at the end of the 19th century , De Gruyter, Berlin 2011, p. 58.
  7. ↑ Markus Iff: Liberal Theology in Jena. A contribution to the history of theology and science at the end of the 19th century , De Gruyter, Berlin 2011, p. 58f.
  8. ↑ Frank-Ulrich Vögely's final resting place (accessed on August 4, 2015)
  9. ↑ Merx, Adalbert (1838-1909). digilibrary.de, accessed on August 1, 2015 .
  10. ^ Daniel King: Merx, History of the Syriac Grammatical Tradition. P. 2 , accessed on July 17, 2017 (English).
  11. ↑ Adalbert Merx estate. Kalliope network, November 4, 2010, accessed August 4, 2015 .
  12. ↑ a b Markus Iff: Liberal Theology in Jena. A contribution to the history of theology and science at the end of the 19th century , De Gruyter, Berlin 2011, p. 59.
  13. ↑ Old Syrian NT translations (accessed on August 5, 2015), en: Syriac Sinaiticus (accessed on August 5, 2015), Evangelienharmonie (accessed on August 8, 2015), fr: Diatessaron (accessed on August 8, 2015). Sinai-Syrer ("Sinai Palimpsest"), the manuscript collection discovered by Agnes Smith Lewis, dates from the late 4th century and comprises 358 pages. The palimpsest contains the old Syrian translation of the four Gospels of the New Testament (in the order: Matthew, Mark, John, Luke), which were overwritten around 778 AD with a "Vita" of saints and martyrs. It is one of the two oldest surviving Old Syrian translations of the four Gospels - the other is contained in the Cureton Syriac ("Syrus Curetonianus") - the origin of which is believed to have originated before the Peschitta . - Not to be confused with the Codex Sinaiticus , a Bible manuscript from the middle of the 4th century that contains large parts of the OT and the oldest complete copy of the NT in ancient Greek. This codex was discovered in 1844 by Konstantin von Tischendorf in the Katharinenkloster (Sinai).
  14. ↑ The Diatessaron (Greek "through four", "out of four") also ( Evangelion Damhalte, ܐܶܘܰܢܓܶܠܝܳܘܢ ܕܰܡܚܰܠܛ̈ܶܐ ) comes from the 2nd half of the 2nd century. The Old Syrian Gospel Harmony was widely used in the Syrian Church up to the 5th century. Eusebius of Caesarea (260 / 64-339 o.340) attributes the work to the Assyrian Tatian . Written around 170, the Diatessaron tells a unified history of the life and work of Jesus taking into account all four canonical Gospels. The Diatessaron was replaced by the Peshitta, a translation of the Bible into the Syrian language, the beginnings of which date back to the 1st century and which is used today in the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch and the Assyrian Church of the East .
personal data
SURNAME Merx, Adalbert
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Merx, Adalbert Ernst Otto (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German theologian and orientalist
DATE OF BIRTH November 2, 1838
PLACE OF BIRTH Bleicherode
DATE OF DEATH August 6, 1909
Place of death Heidelberg