Wilhelm Gesenius

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Wilhelm Gesenius
Signature Wilhelm Gesenius.PNG

Heinrich Friedrich Wilhelm Gesenius (born February 3, 1786 in Nordhausen , † October 23, 1842 in Halle an der Saale ) was a German theologian , scholar of the cultures and history of the Middle East and one of the most important scholars and researchers of the Semitic languages, especially the Hebrew .

Life

Birthplace of Wilhelm Gesenius in Nordhausen, Baltzerstraße 20, with a memorial plaque (was destroyed in the bombing in early April 1945 )

Heinrich Friedrich Wilhelm was born as the son of the Nordhausen doctor Wilhelm Gesenius . He initially received private lessons and then attended the high school in Nordhausen until 1803. After the early death of his father, he was accepted by the philologist and then rector of the grammar school, Christian Ludwig Lenz (1760-1833).

Gesenius studied philosophy and theology with Heinrich Henke at the University of Helmstedt . He received his doctorate in theology and philosophy in 1813, was the Royal Prussian Consistorial Councilor , since 1810 extraordinary professor and in the same year full professor at the theological faculty of the University of Halle , member of the Berlin Academy of Sciences , the Asian Societies of Paris, Great Britain and Ireland and the Philosophical Society at Cambridge. His lectures were extremely popular. In an obituary it is reported that he had up to a thousand listeners at times, with a total of 1500 students at the University of Halle-Wittenberg.

On his 50th birthday in 1836, his hometown Nordhausen awarded him the honorary citizenship of the city.

Grave site of the Gesenius family

Gesenius was with Henriette Gesenius geb. Schneidewind (1797-1853) married. The common grave is on the Stadtgottesacker in Halle an der Saale (Department I, grave 227). His son, Friedrich Wilhelm Gesenius , also became an English language teacher for foreign languages.

Scientific work

Gesenius' work on Hebrew language research is considered groundbreaking. He was one of the first to pursue the study of Semitic languages with scientific standards. As a moderate (theological) rationalist , he came into opposition to the contemporary attitude that Semitic languages ​​are sacred. Comprehensive historical, archaeological and religious-historical knowledge give his works additional authority as the leading orientalist of his time.

Lexicography and grammar were his main areas. The influence of his work extends to the present day. His Hebrew grammar is still published and used today in reprographic reprints of the early 20th century editions. His Hebrew and Aramaic Concise Dictionary of the Scriptures of the Old Testament appeared in several parts from 1810 to 1812, there were shorter versions of it for school lessons and several revisions and new editions. It established the modern lexicography of Hebrew, and Gesenius' influence is likely to eclipse all other Hebrew lexicographers. The dictionary was last published in its 18th edition in 2013 in a fundamental revision by Rudolf Meyer and Herbert Donner , which had previously appeared in seven separate deliveries from 1987 to 2012. Both the grammar and the dictionary were published in Latin and English and were models for grammars and dictionaries in other languages.

The dictionary formed the basis for Semitic studies as a comparative language subject. But Gesenius did much more in the field of Semitic languages:

  • The Aramaic part of the concise dictionary set the standard for Aramaic lexicography for a long time. At the time of Gesenius, Aramaic was still called Chaldean.
  • His essay on the Maltese language from 1810 laid the basis for Maltesiology . Gesenius was able to prove that Maltese is not a form of Punic , but is related to Maghrebian , thus an independent development of Arabic .
  • Gesenius conducted intensive research in the field of Phoenician and Punic. The result of his research led to the publication of Scripturae linguaeque pheniciae monumenta from 1837.
  • Gesenius also created a basis for the study of Semitic inscriptions. He was a successful Semitic epigraphist .
  • The script Himjarite language and script and decipherment of the latter gives the first interpretation of Sabaean inscriptions . The Sabaean language was still completely unknown at the time.
  • Gesenius published several writings on the literary heritage of the Samaritans and thus became the founder of Samaritanology . He was the first to subject the material to a systematic analysis.

Gesenius visiting professorship

Institute for Biblical Studies Halle in House 25 of the Francke Foundations

The Gesenius tradition is kept alive to this day, especially at the University of Halle. It is customary for students to make a pilgrimage to the city cemetery in front of the Hebraicum , in which "the Gesenius" is a common aid, and to place a stone on its grave.

Since 2012, a Gesenius visiting professorship has been awarded to outstanding Hebraists at the Institute for Biblical Studies there at irregular intervals. A special feature is that the language of instruction in the courses of the visiting professors is mostly modern Hebrew . The following Gesenius visiting professors have existed so far:

Fonts

Bust in the city museum "Flohburg" in Nordhausen
  • Hebrew reader. 1814, 7th edition 1844
  • History of the Hebrew Language and Script. 1815, archive.org
  • De pentateuchi Samaritani origine, indole et auctoritate commentatio philologico-critica. Hall 1815, archive.org
  • Hebrew Elementary Book. 1813
  • Extensive grammatical-critical teaching structure of the Hebrew language. With comparison of the related dialects. 1817
  • The Prophet Isaiah, translated and accompanied by a philological, critical and historical commentary. 3 d., 1820 f.
  • Thesaurus philologicus criticus linguae hebraeae et chaldaeae Vet.Test. Vol. I, 1828, Vol. II, 1839, Vol. III, 1, 1842, Vol. III, 2, 1853, Indices, 1858, the last 2 vols. v. E. Roediger
  • Paleolographic studies of Phoenician and Punic writing. 1835
  • Scripturae linguaeque Pheniciae monumenta quotquot supersunt edita et inedita ad autographorum optimorumque exemplorum fidem. 3 parts, Leipzig 1837

literature

Web links

Commons : Wilhelm Gesenius  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikisource: Wilhelm Gesenius  - Sources and full texts

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Nordhausen City Archives, Hans-Jürgen Grönke (Ed.): Nordhausen personalities from eleven centuries . Geiger, Horb am Neckar 2009, ISBN 978-3-86595-336-0 , p. 99 f.
  2. ^ Journal for Old Testament Science (BZAW), 427, p. XI, with reference to: Necrolog Wilhelm Gesenius. In: Intelligence Journal of the Allgemeine Literatur-Zeitung. No. 62–63, November 1842, p. 509 (accessed via De Gruyter Online)
  3. ↑ Journal for Old Testament Science (BZAW), 427, p. XIII.
  4. ^ List of Gesenius visiting professors .
personal data
SURNAME Gesenius, Wilhelm
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gesenius, Heinrich Friedrich Wilhelm (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German theologian and linguist
DATE OF BIRTH February 3, 1786
PLACE OF BIRTH Nordhausen
DATE OF DEATH October 23, 1842
Place of death Halle on the Saale