Johann Jakob Griesbach
Johann Jakob Griesbach (4 January 1745 – 24 March 1812) was a German biblical
Education and career
He was born at
On his return to Halle, Griesbach acted for some time as Privatdozent, but in 1773 was appointed to a professorial chair; in 1775 he went to the
New Testament text critic
Griesbach's critical edition of the
For the construction of his critical text Griesbach took as his basis the Elzevir edition. Where he differed from it he placed the Elzevir reading on the inner margin along with other readings he thought worthy of special consideration (these last, however, being printed in smaller type). To all the readings on this margin he attached special marks indicating the precise degree of probability in his opinion attaching to each. In weighing these probabilities he proceeded upon a particular theory which in its leading features he had derived from J. A. Bengel and J. S. Semler, dividing all the manuscripts into three main groups – the Alexandrian, the Western and the Byzantine.[1]
A reading supported by only one recension he considered as having only one witness in its favour; those readings which were supported by all the three recensions, or even by two of them, especially if these two were the Alexandrian and the Western, he unhesitatingly accepted as genuine. Only when each of the three recensions gives a different reading does he proceed to discuss the question on other grounds.[1]
See his Symbolae criticae ad supplendas et corrigendas variarum N. T. lectionum collectiones (Halle, 1785, 1793), and his Commentarius criticus in textum Graecum N. T., which extends to the end of Mark and discusses the more important various readings with great care and thoroughness (Jena, 1794 if.).[1]
Among the other works of Griesbach (which are comparatively unimportant) may be mentioned his university thesis De codicibus quatuor evangelislarum Origenianis (Halle, 1771) and a work upon systematic theology (Anleitung zur Kenntniss der populären Dogmatik, Jena, 1779). His Opuscula, consisting chiefly of university "Programs" and addresses, were edited by Gabler (2 vols, Jena, 1824).
Gospel Synopsis
In 1776 Griesbach published his Greek Gospel synopsis of Matthew, Mark and Luke as a volume separate from his critical edition of the New Testament (cf. above), of which it had previously been a part, and thereby established the tool of a synopsis as an essential research aid in New Testament studies.
For Griesbach's hypothesis concerning the interrelation of the Gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark and Luke, and its modern variant, see Griesbach hypothesis.
Johann Jakob Griesbach Bicentenary Colloquium 1776-1976
To mark the bicentenary of the publication of Griesbach's Gospel synopsis as a separate volume a group of distinguished international biblical scholars met in July 1976 at Münster/Westphalia for The Johann Jakob Griesbach Bicentenary Colloquium 1776-1976.
A selection of the papers presented at the colloquium appraising Griesbach's life, work and influence, aimed "to indicate why an understanding of this scholar's contribution to New Testament criticism is important both for the history of New Testament scholarship and for contemporary research", together with the text in Latin and in English translation of The Dissertation of J. J. Griesbach, Doctor of Theology and Principal Professor in the University of Jena, in which he demonstrates that the entire Gospel of Mark has been extracted from the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, written in the name of the University of Jena (1789–1790), now revised and furnished with many additions, are to be found in
Works
- Griesbach, Johann Jakob (1809). Novum Testamentum Graece. Quattuor Evangelia complectens. Vol. I. Londini.
- Novum Testamentum Graece. Actas et Epistolas Apostolorum cum Apocalypsi complectens. Vol. II. Londini: Londini, impensis F.C. et J. Rivington. 1818.
- Hē kainē diathēkē: Novum Testamentum Graece. Cura Leusdenii et Griesbachii (1817)
- Hē Kainē Diathēkē: Novum Testamentum Graece. Cura Leusdenii et Griesbachii (1823)
- Griesbach, Johann Jacob (1793). Symbolae criticae ad supplendas et corrigendas variarum N. T. lectionum collectiones. Halle.
- The four Gospels of the New Testament, in Greek, from the text of Griesbach (1825)
See also
Notes
References
- public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Griesbach, Johann Jakob". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 12 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 594. This work in turn cites:
- Herzog-Hauck, Realencyklopädie
- Carl Bertheau (1879), "Griesbach, Johann Jacob", Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (in German), vol. 9, Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 660–663
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
External links
- Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz (1990). "Johann Jakob Griesbach". In Bautz, Friedrich Wilhelm (ed.). Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL) (in German). Vol. 2. Hamm: Bautz. ISBN 3-88309-032-8.
- Hē Kainē Diathēkē: Griesbach's text, with the various readings of Mill and Scholz (London 1859)