Hebraist

Hebraist

A Hebraist is a specialist in Hebrew and Hebraic studies. Specifically, British and German scholars of the 18th and 19th centuries who were involved in the study of Hebrew language and literature were commonly known by this designation, at a time when Hebrew was little understood outside practicing Jewish communities.

The 18th century British academy was rife with pseudo-scholars, mystics, and "enthusiasts" interested in the Hebrew language for diverse and polemical reasons. The linguistic and historical advances brought by the discovery of Sanskrit, the putative deciphering of Egyptian hieroglyphics by some scholars, and archaeological insights into the ancient Near East, brought major sea-changes in the scholarly understanding of Biblical history. Interest in the Hebrew language intensified as debates raged about whether there was a historical flood of Noah, and whether Hebrew was the most ancient language in the world, taught by God to Adam. Historical linguistic scholarship led the way in these debates. Some Hebraists had posts in academies or churches, while others were strictly amateur.

Some Hebraists proposed theories that the vowels in the text of the Hebrew Bible, superadded to the text by the scribal tradition, were a Jewish conspiracy to mask the true meaning of Scripture. As a result, a genre of Hebraic scholarship concentrated on running the words of the Biblical text together, removing the vowels, dissecting the words in different ways, and adding alternate vowels so as to give an alternate sense to the text.

William Blake was a great fan and practitioner of this field of scholarship, and many of his poems can be much more fully understood in the light of his particular readings of the Hebrew texts.

References

* Spector, Sheila A. "Blake as an Eighteenth-Century Hebraist." Blake and His Bibles. Ed. David V. Erdman. West Cornwall: Locust Hill Press, 1990. 179-229.

ee also

*Christian Hebraist
*Jewish grammatical tradition


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Hebraist — He bra*ist, n. [Cf. F. h[ e]bra[ i]ste.] One versed in the Hebrew language and learning. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • hebràist — m, {{c=1}}v. {{ref}}hebreist{{/ref}} (i izvedene riječi) …   Veliki rječnik hrvatskoga jezika

  • hebraist — hebràist m DEFINICIJA v. hebreist (i izvedene riječi) ETIMOLOGIJA vidi Hebreji …   Hrvatski jezični portal

  • Hebraist — Die Hebraistik beschäftigt sich wissenschaftlich mit der Hebräischen Sprache und Kultur. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 Geschichte 2 Althebraistik 3 Samaritanistik 4 Siehe auch 5 Weblinks …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Hebraist — noun Date: 1751 a specialist in Hebrew and Hebraic studies …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • Hebraist — /hee bray ist, bree /, n. 1. a person versed in the Hebrew language. 2. a person imbued with the spirit of the Hebrew people or given to their principles or practices. [1745 55; HEBRA(IZE) + IST] * * * …   Universalium

  • Hebraist — noun A scholar who specializes in the study of the Hebrew language …   Wiktionary

  • Hebraist — ◆ He|bra|ịst 〈m. 16〉 Kenner, Erforscher, Lehrer, Student der Hebraistik ◆ Die Buchstabenfolge he|br... kann in Fremdwörtern auch heb|r... getrennt werden. * * * He|b|ra|ịst, der; en, en: Wissenschaftler auf dem Gebiet der Hebraistik. * * *… …   Universal-Lexikon

  • Hebraist — ◆ He|bra|ịst 〈m.; Gen.: en, Pl.: en〉 Kenner, Erforscher der Hebraistik   ◆ Die Buchstabenfolge he|bra… kann auch heb|ra… getrennt werden …   Lexikalische Deutsches Wörterbuch

  • Hebraist — He|bra|ist der; en, en <zu ↑...ist> jmd., der sich wissenschaftlich mit der hebr. Geschichte u. Sprache beschäftigt …   Das große Fremdwörterbuch

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