Johann Severin Vater (; May 27, 1771, Altenburg – March 16, 1826, Halle) was a German

theologian 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 ...

, biblical scholar, and

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

Biography

He was a student and professor at

Jena Jena () is a German city and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants, while the city itself has a po ...

and Halle. In 1809, he became professor 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 name ...

. In 1820, he resumed his chair at Halle. Although he taught theology, he is chiefly known as a philologist. In 1817, Vater was elected a member of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

Work

Following Alexander Geddes, he applied the fragmentary hypothesis to the whole of the

Pentateuch The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the ...

, treating it as an aggregate of numerous minor documents that had been compiled together. Vater's major work, ''Commentar über den Pentateuch'' was published in three volumes in Halle between 1802 and 1806. This work's primary purpose was to advance the Supplementary Hypothesis against the earlier Documentarian endeavors of

Jean Astruc Jean Astruc (19 March 1684, in Sauve, France – 5 May 1766, in Paris) was a professor of medicine in France at Montpellier and Paris, who wrote the first great treatise on syphilis and venereal diseases, and also, with a small anonymously publi ...

Johann Gottfried Eichhorn Johann Gottfried Eichhorn (16 October 1752, in Dörrenzimmern – 27 June 1827, in Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the capital of the eponymous district. The River Lei ...

, and

Karl David Ilgen Karl David Ilgen (26 February 1763, in Sehna, a village near Eckartsberga – 17 September 1834, in Berlin) was a German Protestant Old Testament scholar and classical philologist. He studied theology and philology at the University of Leipzig, a ...

. Many of Vater's conclusions – most prominently, his assertion of the late nature of the Pentateuch as compared to the historical books – mirror the independent work of

Wilhelm Martin Leberecht de Wette Wilhelm Martin Leberecht de Wette (12 January 1780 – 16 June 1849) was a German theologian and biblical scholar. Life and education Wilhelm Martin Leberecht de Wette was born 12 January 1780 in Ulla (now part of the municipality of Nohra), Thur ...

, whose ''Beiträge zur Einleitung in das Alte Testament'' was published in 1806-7. Against de Wette, though, Vater supposed, based on historical book allusions to Deuteronomy, that at least some parts of Deuteronomy had existed prior to the collection of the Pentateuch.

Writings

Besides the ''Commentar'', his works include: * Hebrew grammar (1797) * ''Handbuch der hebräischen, syrischen, chaldäischen und arabischen Grammatik'' (1801) * Polish grammar (1807) * Russian grammar (1809) * Continuation of Adelung's ''Mithridates'' (1809–17) * ''Literatur der Grammatiken, Lexika und Wörtersammlungen aller Sprachen der Erde'' (1815) He also edited and continued

Henke Henke is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Adolph Henke (1775–1843), German physician and pharmacologist known for his work in medical forensics * Brad William Henke (1966–2022), American actor and football player ...

's ''Allgemeine Geschichte der christlichen Kirche'' (1818–23).

Honors and memberships

Elected a member of the

American Antiquarian Society The American Antiquarian Society (AAS), located in Worcester, Massachusetts, is both a learned society and a national research library of pre-twentieth-century American history and culture. Founded in 1812, it is the oldest historical society i ...

in 1821.American Antiquarian Society Members Directory
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Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vater, Johann Severin University of Jena alumni Academic staff of the University of Halle Academic staff of the University of Königsberg 19th-century German Protestant theologians German biblical scholars 1771 births 1826 deaths Linguists from Germany Members of the American Antiquarian Society 19th-century German male writers Linguists of Eskaleut languages German male non-fiction writers