DELITZSCHE, FRANZ JULIUS. - Lutheran exegete and Hebraist, b. at Leipzig on 23 Feb. 1813, d. there on 4 March 1860. Despite his poverty he was able to study theology and Oriental languages, later becoming a lecturer at Rostock, Erlangen, and from 1867 at Leipzig.
His commentaries on the protocanonical books of the Old Testament and on some of the New Testament were highly esteemed for their depth of thought and rabbinic linguistic knowledge. In his later 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 back-translation of the New Testament into Hebrew, which was first published in 1877 and 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), in collaboration with 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 Judaicum «Delitschianum» in Leipzig, and a specialized journal, Saat auf Hoffnung.