ALTING, JAKOB. - Calvinist Hebraist, b. at Heidelberg in 1618, d. at Groningen in 1679. He was the son of the Calvinist theologian Johan Heinrich (q.v.), whose works he published. He learned Hebrew at Emden from Gumprecht ben Abraham; from 1643 he taught it at Groningen and emulated the two Buxtorfs. A convinced Cocceian (q.V. COCCEJUS), he was continually at odds with Samuel des Marest (Maresius).
He published a Syriac grammar (1676). In *Fundamenta punctuationis linguae sanctae* (Groningen 1654; 6th ed. 1701) he founded the grammatical school (continued by Danz and Schultens) which explains vocalic variations in Hebrew morphology by the quantity of pauses (systema trium morarum). In his posthumous *Opera omnia theologica, analytica, exegetica, practica, problematica* et *philologica* *Altingii* (5 vols. fol., ed. Balthasar Bekker, Amsterdam 1686) there are learned exegetical works: *Internuncius Dei geminus Veteris alter, alter Novi Test., seu vaticinii Mosaici Deuteron*. 18; *Schilo seu de vaticinio patr. Jacobi Gen. 49, 10, libri V*; a complete commentary on *Romans* and on *Jeremiah*.
The *Opera omnia* were placed on the Index (decr. 25 May 1684; 10 May 1757).