Albert Schultens (; 168626 January 1750) was a Dutch

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...

Biography

He was born at

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...

, where he studied for the church. He went on to the

University of Leiden Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, as a reward to the city of Le ...

, applying himself specially to

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

and the cognate tongues. His thesis ''Dissertatio theologico-philologica de utilitate linguae Arabicae in interpretenda sacra lingua'' ("The Use of Arabic in the Interpretation of Scripture") appeared in 1706.Hebrew Bible / Old Testament: The History of Its Interpretation 2:
edited by Magne Saebo, Magne Sæbø After a visit to

Reland Adriaan Reland (also known as ''Adriaen Reeland/Reelant'', ''Hadrianus Relandus'') (17 July 1676, De Rijp, North Holland5 February 1718, UtrechtJohn Gorton, ''A General Biographical Dictionary'', 1838, Whittaker & Co.) was a noted Dutch Orientali ...

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

, he returned to Groningen (1708); then, having taken his degree in

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

(1709), he returned to Leiden, and devoted himself to the study of the manuscript collections there until 1711, when he became pastor at Wassenaer. He disdained parochial work and decided to accept the Hebrew chair at

Franeker Franeker (; fry, Frjentsjer) is one of the eleven historical cities of Friesland and capital of the municipality of Waadhoeke. It is located north of the Van Harinxmakanaal and about 20 km west of Leeuwarden. As of 1 January 2014, it had 12, ...

in 1713. He held this position until 1729, when he was transferred to Leiden as rector of the ''collegium theologicum'', or seminary for poor students. From 1732 until his death (at

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wit ...

) he was professor of

Oriental languages A wide variety of languages are spoken throughout Asia, comprising different language families and some unrelated isolates. The major language families include Austroasiatic, Austronesian, Caucasian, Dravidian, Indo-European, Afroasiatic, Turk ...

at Leiden. Schultens was the chief teacher of the

Arabic language Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

in the whole of the

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during his lifetime. In some sense, he revived Arabic studies. He differed from J. J. Reiske and

Silvestre de Sacy Antoine Isaac, Baron Silvestre de Sacy (; 21 September 175821 February 1838), was a French nobleman, linguist and orientalist. His son, Ustazade Silvestre de Sacy, became a journalist. Life and works Early life Silvestre de Sacy was born in Pa ...

in regarding Arabic as a handmaid to Hebrew. Reiske considered Schultens' treatment of Arabic to be of little value, also maintaining that Arabic studies should not be taught as part of theology, but as a subject matter in its own right, as was

mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and ...

and

medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pract ...

.History of Linguistics 2002: Selected Papers from the Ninth International...
edited by Eduardo R. J. Guimaraes, Diana Luz Pessoa De Barros Schultens vindicated the value of comparative study of the Semitic tongues against those who, like Jacques Gousset, regarded Hebrew as a sacred tongue with which comparative philology has nothing to do. His principal works were ''Institutiones ad Fundumenta Linguæ Hebraicæ'' (1737), ''Origines Hebraeae'' (2 vols., 1724, 1738), a second edition of which, with the ''De defectibus linguae Hebraeae'' (1731), appeared in 1761; ''Job'' (1737); ''Proverbs'' (1748); ''Vetus et regia via hebraezandi'' (1738); and ''Monumenta vetustiora Arabum'' (1740). He left unfinished ''Institutiones Aramææ'' (1745–49).

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schultens, Albert 1686 births 1750 deaths Dutch Arabists Dutch orientalists Dutch philologists 17th-century philologists Linguists from the Netherlands People from Groningen (city) Leiden University alumni University of Franeker faculty Leiden University faculty