Christian Knorr von Rosenroth (15/16 July 1636 – 4 May 1689) was a German

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 ...

and

Christian Cabalist Christian Kabbalah arose during the Renaissance due to Christian scholars' interest in the mysticism of Jewish Kabbalah, which they interpreted according to Christian theology. It is often transliterated as Cabala (also ''Cabbala'') to distingu ...

born at Alt-Raudten (today Stara Rudna) in

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...

. After having completed his studies in the universities of

Wittenberg Wittenberg ( , ; Low Saxon language, Low Saxon: ''Wittenbarg''; meaning ''White Mountain''; officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg (''Luther City Wittenberg'')), is the fourth largest town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Wittenberg is situated on the Ri ...

and

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 traveled through the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. At Amsterdam, he became acquainted with an Armenian prince, with the chief Rabbi, Meier Stern, Dr.

John Lightfoot John Lightfoot (29 March 1602 – 6 December 1675) was an English churchman, rabbinical scholar, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge and Master of St Catharine's College, Cambridge. Life He was born in Stoke-on-Trent, the son of ...

and

Henry More Henry More (; 12 October 1614 – 1 September 1687) was an English philosopher of the Cambridge Platonist school. Biography Henry was born in Grantham, Lincolnshire on 12 October 1614. He was the seventh son of Alexander More, mayor of Gran ...

. Influenced by them, and others, he studied Oriental languages, chemistry, and the cabalistic sciences. On his return, he settled at Sulzbach where he became the privy counsellor of

Christian Augustus, Count Palatine of Sulzbach Christian Augustus (German: Christian August) ( 26 July 1622 – 23 April 1708 ) was the Palatinate-Sulzbach, Count Palatine of Sulzbach from 1632 until 1708. Life Christian Augustus was born in Sulzbach-Rosenberg, Sulzbach in 1622 as the eldest s ...

. He devoted himself to the study of

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 ...

. Later he became a student of the

Kabbalah Kabbalah ( he, קַבָּלָה ''Qabbālā'', literally "reception, tradition") is an esoteric method, discipline and Jewish theology, school of thought in Jewish mysticism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ( ''Məqūbbāl'' "rece ...

, in which he believed to find proofs of the doctrines of

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

. At the request of

Franciscus Mercurius van Helmont Franciscus Mercurius van Helmont (baptised 20 October 1614 – December 1698) was a Flemish alchemist and writer, the son of Jan Baptist van Helmont. He is now best known for his publication in the 1640s of his father's pioneer works on chemistry ...

he helped translate, edit and publish in Latin Jan van Helmont's writings on

chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

. He also dedicated time to translate

Thomas Browne Sir Thomas Browne (; 19 October 160519 October 1682) was an English polymath and author of varied works which reveal his wide learning in diverse fields including science and medicine, religion and the esoteric. His writings display a deep curi ...

's vast-ranging work of scientific journalism,

Pseudodoxia Epidemica ''Pseudodoxia Epidemica or Enquiries into very many received tenents and commonly presumed truths'', also known simply as ''Pseudodoxia Epidemica'' or ''Vulgar Errors'', is a work by Thomas Browne challenging and refuting the "vulgar" or common ...

, totalling over 200,000 words into German, completing this task in 1680 for publication in Frankfurt and Leipzig. He also composed a number of hymns, including "Jesus, Sun of Righteousness", "

Morgenglanz der Ewigkeit "" (Morning splendour of eternity) is a Christian hymn with German text originally by Christian Knorr von Rosenroth, written around 1690 and set to music for private devotion. It became known with a 1662 melody by Johann Rudolf Ahle. The song is pa ...

" ("Dayspring of Eternity", or "Come, Thou Bright and Morning Star"). A longer biography is available in

Scholem Scholem, derived from the Hebrew word shalom, meaning "peace", is a surname, and may refer to: *Gershom Scholem (1897–1982), also known as Gerhard Scholem, a German-born Israeli Jewish philosopher and historian, the brother of Werner Scholem. * W ...

(1974).

Kabbalah

In Knorr Rosenroth's view the ''

Adam Kadmon In Kabbalah, Adam Kadmon (, ''ʾāḏām qaḏmōn'', "Primordial Man") also called Adam Elyon (, ''ʾāḏām ʿelyōn'', "Most High Man"), or Adam Ila'ah (, ''ʾāḏām ʿīllāʾā'' "Supreme Man"), sometimes abbreviated as A"K (, ''ʾA.Q.' ...

'' of the cabalists is

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

, and the three highest ''

sefirot Sefirot (; he, סְפִירוֹת, translit=Səfīrōt, Tiberian: '), meaning '' emanations'', are the 10 attributes/emanations in Kabbalah, through which Ein Sof (The Infinite) reveals itself and continuously creates both the physical realm and ...

'' represent 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 ...

. He intended to make a

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 ...

translation of the ''

Zohar The ''Zohar'' ( he, , ''Zōhar'', lit. "Splendor" or "Radiance") is a foundational work in the literature of Jewish mystical thought known as Kabbalah. It is a group of books including commentary on the mystical aspects of the Torah (the five ...

'' and the ''Tiḳḳunim,'' and he published as preliminary studies the first two volumes of his ''Kabbala Denudata, sive Doctrina Hebræorum Transcendentalis et Metaphysica Atque Theologia'' (Sulzbach, 1677–78). They contain a cabalistic nomenclature, the ''Idra Rabbah'' and ''Idra Zuṭa'' and the ''Sifra di-Ẓeni'uta,'' cabalistic essays of Naphtali Herz ben Jacob Elhanan, ''History of Messianic Speculation in Israel''

Abba Hillel Silver Abba Hillel Silver (January 28, 1893 – November 28, 1963) was an American Rabbi and Zionist Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support fo ...

2003 "Naphtali Herz ben Jacob Elhanan (end of 16 a), German Kabbalist and disciple of Luria, author of 'Emek ha-Melek, a treatise on the elements of Kabbala" etc. Rosenroth published two other volumes under the title ''Kabbala Denudata'' (Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1684), containing the ''Sha'ar ha-Shamayim'' of

Abraham Cohen de Herrera Abraham Cohen de Herrera ( he, רבי אברהם כהן בן דוד דה-הירירה), also known as Alonso Nunez de Herrera or Abraham Irira (c. 1570 – c. 1635), was a religious philosopher and cabbalist (a student of Israel Sarug, who was one ...

and several of the writings of

Isaac Luria Isaac ben Solomon Luria Ashkenazi (1534Fine 2003, p24/ref> – July 25, 1572) ( he, יִצְחָק בן שלמה לוּרְיָא אשכנזי ''Yitzhak Ben Sh'lomo Lurya Ashkenazi''), commonly known in Jewish religious circles as "Ha'ARI" (mean ...

. He was created Baron von Rosenroth by the Emperor Leopold I. A partial

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

translation of the ''Kabbala Denudata'' was made by

S. L. MacGregor Mathers Samuel Liddell (or Liddel) MacGregor Mathers (8 or 11 January 1854 – 5 or 20 November 1918), born Samuel Liddell Mathers, was a British occultist. He is primarily known as one of the founders of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a cerem ...

in 1887 which is still in print by several publishers under the title ''The Kabbalah Unveiled.''

References

External links

Kabbalah Denudata
Extracts of the Kabbalah Denudata, translated to English by

Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers Samuel Liddell (or Liddel) MacGregor Mathers (8 or 11 January 1854 – 5 or 20 November 1918), born Samuel Liddell Mathers, was a British occultist. He is primarily known as one of the founders of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a cerem ...

The Study of Christian Cabala in English: Addenda
Addendum C: The Contents of Kabbala denudata with Sources in English, pages 139–151

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knorr Von Rosenroth 1636 births 1689 deaths 17th-century German people 17th-century Christians Christian Kabbalists Christian Hebraists Silesian nobility People from Austrian Silesia People from Lubin County German-language poets 17th-century German translators

Kabbalah

See also

References

External links

Notes