DELITZSCH, FRANZ JULIUS. - Lutheran exegete and Hebraist, b. in Leipzig on 23 February 1813, d. there on 4 March 1890. Despite his poverty he was able to study theology and Oriental languages, later becoming a lecturer in them at Rostock, at Erlangen and, from 1867, at Leipzig.
His commentaries on the protocanonical books of the Old Testament and on some of the New Testament are very numerous and highly esteemed for depth of ideas and for rabbinic linguistic knowledge. In his last studies (Neuer Commentar über die Genesis, 1887; Messianische Weissagungen in geschichtlicher Folge, 1890), abandoning the conservative tone of his earlier works, he made notable concessions to rationalistic criticism. For about fifty years he worked on the retranslation of the New Testament into Hebrew, which was first printed in 1877 and which saw its 12th edition in 1901 (Die Bücher des Neuen Bundes aus dem Griechischen in's Hebräische übersetzt). He also published the Hebrew text of several biblical books (Genesis, 1869; Isaiah, 1872; Minor Prophets, 1878; Psalms, 1880; Proverbs, 1880; Ezekiel, 1884; Chronicles, 1888, Jeremiah, 1890), with the collaboration of S. Baer. His studies also led him to take an interest in the Jews, whose conversion he zealously promoted, founding a special institute, the Institutum Iudaicum "Delitschianum" of Leipzig, and a specialized journal, the Saat auf Hoffnung.
Bibliography3 works
Faustino Salvoni