ADLER, JAKOB GEORG CHRISTIAN. — Danish Orientalist (1756–1834), from 1792 general superintendent of the Duchy of Schleswig. In his youth (1780–82) he visited the principal libraries of Europe, especially those of Rome, where, favoured by eminent scholars (Cardinal Borgia, Assemani, etc.), he perfected his knowledge of Oriental languages and collated Greek and Oriental manuscripts as a contribution to biblical textual criticism. At Copenhagen he held the chairs of Syriac (1783) and Theology (1788).
His biblical works are highly esteemed: *Iudaeorum codicis sacri vite scribendi leges ad veste aestivam admodum* (1779); *with Latin version and annotations*; *Novi Testamenti versiones syriacae simplex, philosophianae et hierosolymitanae* (1789): on pp. 137–202 he drew particular attention to the Jerusalem version in Palestinian dialect; in cod. Vat. syr. 19. Also noteworthy are his contributions to Arabic studies, e.g. *Abulfedae Annales muslemei* (5 vols., 1789–95). Adalberto Metzinger