Johann Friedrich Schleusner (16 January 1759 – 21 February 1831) was a German Protestant theologian. He was considered one of the more prominent German theological scholars of his time.

Life

Schleusner was born on 16 January 1759 in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

. He enrolled on 19 May 1775 at the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 Decemb ...

, where he obtained a "Magister" degree in Theology on 18 February 1779. In 1781 he began lecturing at the university, and was also the morning preacher at the Leipzig University church. On 7 October 1782 he became a Bachelor of Theology. In Easter 1785, he became an assistant professor of theology at the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded ...

. He obtained a doctoral degree on 2 April 1791 in

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, t ...

. In 1794 he took the position of the fourth professor of theology at the

University of Wittenberg Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (german: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg), also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg and the largest and oldest university i ...

, with the associated positions of provost of the Wittenberg

Castle Church All Saints' Church, commonly referred to as ''Schlosskirche'' (Castle Church) to distinguish it from the '' Stadtkirche'' (Town Church) of St. Mary's – and sometimes known as the Reformation Memorial Church – is a Lutheran church in Wittenberg, ...

and assessor at Wittenberg

consistory Consistory is the anglicized form of the consistorium, a council of the closest advisors of the Roman emperors. It can also refer to: *A papal consistory, a formal meeting of the Sacred College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church *Consistory ...

. He was rector of Wittenberg University in the winter semesters 1798, 1804 and 1808. In 1805 he became the third theological professor. In 1817, the government established a post-graduate seminary at Wittenburg, appointing Carl Ludwig Nitzsch as its head and Schleusner as second director, but placing the third director, Heinrich Leonhard Heubner in charge of affairs. In February 1829, Schleusner was forced to retire due to a stroke, and he died of a second stroke on 21 February 1831 in Wittenberg. Schleusner was married to Sophie Christiane Weber (7 February 1768 – 30 July 1801). His son George Schleusner also gained recognition in Wittenberg.

Works

Perhaps Schleusner's best known work is his ''Novum lexicon Graeco-Latinum in Novum Testamentum'', published in 1792, which translated

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

words found in the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

into

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

, the scholarly language of his day. This lexicon was used as the basis for other vernacular dictionaries, such as ''The Tyro's Greek and English lexicon'' published in 1825. The lexicon has been criticized for needlessly multiplying definitions of words, and not being truly scientific.

Bibliography

* Catalogus bibliothecae Joannis Friderici Schleusneri itebergae d. 3 Julii 1832distrah., Wittenberg 1832 * Novvs thesavrvs philologico-criticvs, Leipzig 1820–21 5 Bd. * Sylloges emendationum coniecturalium in versiones graecas V. T. p. ..., Wittenberg 1799-1807 * Novum lexicon Graeco-Latinum in Novum Testamentum, congessit et variis observationibus philologicis illustravit ..., 2 Bd., Leipzig 1792, Leipzig 1801, Leipzig 1808, Leipzig 1819 * Therasaurus s. lexicon in LXX et reliquos interpreters graecos et scriptores apocryphos V. T. 5. Bd. * Observationum nonnullarum de patrum Graecorum auctoritate et usu in constituenda versionum Graecarum V. T. lectione genuina p. ..., Wittenberg 1795–1798 * Cvrae hexaplares in Psalmorvm libros ex Patribvs graecis, Göttingen 1785

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schleusner, Johann Friedrich 1759 births 1831 deaths 18th-century German Protestant theologians 19th-century German Protestant theologians 19th-century German male writers German male non-fiction writers 18th-century German male writers