Johann Stephan Rittangel ( la, Rittangelius) (1606 – 1652) was a German controversial writer and

Christian Hebraist A Christian Hebraist is a scholar of Hebrew who comes from a Christian family background/belief, or is a Jewish adherent of Christianity. The main area of study is that commonly known as the Old Testament to Christians (and Tanakh to Jews), but C ...

Life

He was born at

Forscheim Forchheim () is a town in Upper Franconia (german: Oberfranken) in northern Bavaria, and also the seat of the administrative district of Forchheim. Forchheim is a former royal city, and is sometimes called the Gateway to the Franconian Switze ...

near

Bamberg Bamberg (, , ; East Franconian: ''Bambärch'') is a town in Upper Franconia, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main. The town dates back to the 9th century, when its name was derived from the nearby ' castle. C ...

. It is stated that he was born a Jew, became converted to Roman Catholicism, then became a Calvinist, and lastly joined the Lutheran Church. He became professor of Oriental languages at

Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was named ...

.Jewish Encyclopedia, ''Rittangel, Johann Stephanus''.
/ref> Rittangel visited the Netherlands and England in 1641–2. He taught Hebrew in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

, where he dressed like a rabbi, but others found him hard to place. He obtained a Hebrew manuscript of the ''

Sefer Yezirah ''Sefer Yetzirah'' ( ''Sēp̄er Yəṣīrā'', ''Book of Formation'', or ''Book of Creation'') is the title of a book on Jewish mysticism, although some early commentators treated it as a treatise on mathematical and linguistic theory as opposed ...

'' through the Mennonite merchant Gerebrand Anslo, for translation into Latin.Young, p. 45. He was in London in late 1641, meeting

Comenius John Amos Comenius (; cs, Jan Amos Komenský; pl, Jan Amos Komeński; german: Johann Amos Comenius; Latinized: ''Ioannes Amos Comenius''; 28 March 1592 – 15 November 1670) was a Czech philosopher, pedagogue and theologian who is considere ...

and

John Dury John Dury (1596 in Edinburgh – 1680 in Kassel) was a Scottish Calvinist minister and an intellectual of the English Civil War period. He made efforts to re-unite the Calvinist and Lutheran wings of Protestantism, hoping to succeed when he moved ...

. His English contacts were interested in his direct knowledge of the Karaites, and the

Samuel Hartlib Samuel Hartlib or Hartlieb (c. 1600 – 10 March 1662)
M. Greengrass, "Hartlib, Samuel (c. 1600–1662)", ''Oxford D ...

papers contain an account by Rittangel of them.

Johann Moriaen Johann Moriaen (born Nuremberg c.1591-1668) was a German alchemist and early chemist, known as an associate of Samuel Hartlib. He was active in recruiting for Hartlib's network of intellectuals, the Hartlib Circle, and communicating with them. He wa ...

of the

Hartlib Circle The Hartlib Circle was the correspondence network set up in Western and Central Europe by Samuel Hartlib, an intelligencer based in London, and his associates, in the period 1630 to 1660. Hartlib worked closely with John Dury, an itinerant figure ...

saw to the publication of the ''Yezirah'' translation in Amsterdam in 1642. Rittangel's knowledge of the Karaites was reported to be from a visit in 1641 to a community at

Trakai Trakai (; see names section for alternative and historic names) is a historic town and lake resort in Lithuania. It lies west of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. Because of its proximity to Vilnius, Trakai is a popular tourist destination. T ...

, according to

Mordecai ben Nissan Mordecai ben Nissan the Elder ( Heb. מרדכי בן ניסן הזקן, ''Mordechai ben Nissan ha-Zaken'') was a Karaite Jewish scholar who lived at Krasny Ostrów, Poland (now Kukeziv, Ukraine) in the second half of the 18th century. Education ...

. Rittangel died at Königsberg in 1652.

Works

Rittangel issued a number of translations of Hebrew works: * of the ''Sefer Yezira'', as ''Liber Jezirah qui Abrahamo Patriarchae adscribitur'', 1642; * of the

Passover Haggadah The Haggadah ( he, הַגָּדָה, "telling"; plural: Haggadot) is a Jewish text that sets forth the order of the Passover Seder. According to Jewish practice, reading the Haggadah at the Seder table is a fulfillment of the mitzvah to each Jew ...

, 1644, published also in his ''Libra Veritatis'' (Franeker, 1698); and * one of the earliest translations of Jewish prayers, under the title ''Hochfeyerliche Sollennitaeten, Gebethe und Collecten Anstatt der Opfer, Nebst Andern Ceremonien so von der Jüdischen Kirchen am Ersten Neuen-Jahrs-Tag Gebetet und Abgehandelt Werden Müssen'', Königsberg, 1652. His posthumous work ''Bilibra Veritatis'' was written to substantiate the claim that the

Targum A targum ( arc, תרגום 'interpretation, translation, version') was an originally spoken translation of the Hebrew Bible (also called the ''Tanakh'') that a professional translator ( ''mǝturgǝmān'') would give in the common language of the ...

s prove the

doctrine of the Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the F ...

. This is also the subject of his ''Veritas Religionis Christianæ'' (Franeker, 1699).

References

*
Ch. 2 online at the Newton Project

Notes

External links

Online Books pageWorldCat pageWorldCat pageCERL pageEMLO page
;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Rittangel, Johann Stephan 1606 births 1652 deaths Christian Hebraists German male writers