ADLER, JAKOB GEORG CHRISTIAN. - Danish orientalist (1756–1834), from 1792 general superintendent of the duchy of Schleswig. In his youth (1780–82) he consulted the principal libraries of Europe, especially those of Rome, where, supported by great scholars (Card. Borgia, Assemani, etc.), he perfected his knowledge of the Oriental languages and collated Greek and Oriental manuscripts as a contribution to biblical textual criticism. In Copenhagen he held the chair of Syriac (1783) and of theology (1788).
His works in the biblical field are noteworthy: Iudaeorum codicis sacri rite scribendi leges ad recte aestimandos codices manu scriptos antiquos perutiles. E Libello Thalmudico... (1779; Latin translation with annotations); Novi Testamenti versiones syriacae simplex, philoxeniana et hierosolymitana (1789); on pp. 137–202 he drew particular attention to the Jerusalem version, in the Palestinian dialect, in cod. Vatic. syr. 19. Also worthy of mention are A.’s works in the Arabic field, e.g., Abulfedae Annales muslemici (5 vols., 1789–93). Adalberto Metzinger