Friedrich Eduard König (November 15, 1846 – February 10, 1936,

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

Lutheran divine and Semitic scholar.

Biography

He was born at

Reichenbach im Vogtland Reichenbach im Vogtland is a town in the Vogtlandkreis district of Saxony in eastern Germany. With a population of 20,108, it is the second-largest town in the Vogtlandkreis after Plauen. It is located close to the A72 between Plauen (at c. 18&n ...

and was educated at the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (), 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 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

(1867–71). Afterwards, he worked as a religious instructor at the Royal Realgymnasium in

Döbeln Döbeln (; , ) is a town in Saxony, Germany, part of the Mittelsachsen district. It sits on the banks of the Freiberger Mulde, Freiberger Mulde river. Location and geography Döbeln is situated in the Central Saxon Hills, Central Saxon Hill co ...

(1871–76) and at the

Thomasschule zu Leipzig St. Thomas School, Leipzig (; ) is a co-educational and public boarding school in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany. It was founded by the Augustinians in 1212 and is one of the oldest schools in the world. St. Thomas is known for its art, language and m ...

(1876–79). He then became a lecturer (1879) and an associate professor of theology (1885) at the University of Leipzig. In 1888 he became a full professor at

Rostock Rostock (; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Roztoc''), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (), is the largest city in the German States of Germany, state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the sta ...

and in 1900 at the

University of Bonn The University of Bonn, officially the Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (), is a public research university in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the () on 18 October 1818 by Frederick Willi ...

, where, as a theologian attacking Panbabylonism, he became involved in the so-called "Babel-Bible Dispute".

Published works

As a linguist he attempted to apply the phonetic and physiological methods of modern

philology Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...

to Hebrew and Ethiopic in such works as * ''Gedanke, Laut und Accent als die drei Factoren der Sprachbildung'' (1874) – Thought, sound, and accent: as the three factors of language formation comparatively and physiologically represented in Hebrew. * ''Neue Studien über Schrift: Aussprache und allgemeine Formenlehre des Aethiopischen'' (1877) – New studies on Scripture: pronunciation and general morphology of Ethiopian. * ''Historisch-kritisches Lehrgebäude der Hebräischen Sprache'', 3 books, (1881–97) – Historical-critical teaching of the Hebrew language.Historisch-kritisches Lehrgebäude der hebräischen Sprache
/ref> Among his innumerable publications are also: * ''Religious History of Israel'' (1885); translation of ''Die Hauptprobleme der Altisraelitischen Religionsgeschichte'' (1884). * ''Einleitung in das Alte Testament'' (1893). * ''The exiles' book of consolation contained in Isaiah XL-LXVI : a critical and exegetical study''; translated from the German by J.A. Selbie (1899). * ''The Emphatic State in Aramaic'' (1901

In: The American Journal of Semitic Language Vol. 17, No. 4, Jul., 1901. * ''Neueste Prinzipien der alttestamentlichen Kritik'' (1902). * ''Bible and Babylon : Their Relationship in the History of Culture'', translated by William Turnbull (1903). Pilter Kessinger Publishing Company 2006, ; translation of ''Bibel und Babel : eine kulturgeschichtliche Skizze'' (1902). * ''Die Gottesfrage und der Ursprung des Alten Testaments'' (1903). * ''Ahasver der ewige Jude nach seiner ursprünglichen Idee und seiner literarischen Verwertung betrachtet'' (1907). * ''Geschichte des Reiches Gottes bis auf Jesus Christus'' (1908). *''Hebräisches und aramäisches Wörterbuch zum Alten Testament'' (1910

* ''Geschichte der alttestamentlichen Religion, kritisch dargestellt'' (1912).

References

External links

Jewish Encyclopedia
1846 births 1936 deaths German biblical scholars People from the Kingdom of Saxony Leipzig University alumni Academic staff of Leipzig University Academic staff of the University of Bonn Academic staff of the University of Rostock {{Germany-academic-bio-stub