Griesbach, Johann Jakob, an eminent German Protestant theologian, was born at Butzbach, in Hesse Darmstadt, Jan. 4, 1745. He received his early edu- cation at Frankfort-on-the-Main, where his father was pastor, and afterwards visited successively the univer- sities of Tubingen, Halle, and Leipzig, where he studied theology under the leaders of the different schools. He staid longest at Tubingen, where the old dog- matic sj'stem and method were still prevalent ; but, having gone to Halle, Semler's teachings exerted a lasting influence on his mind, and led the way to his subsequent career. He became tutor in the imiversity in 1771, but, before entering on his duties, he made a journe}' through part of Germany and Holland, and visited London, Oxford, Cambridge, and Paris. Crit- ical examination of the text of the Bible was then much in favor, and young Griesbach followed the cur- rent in the line in which he was soon to surpass all competitors, both in the opinion of posteritj', and even in that of his contemporaries. However unimportant such critical researches may appear, on account of their mechanical minuteness, in view of the higher interests of religion and of science, we must remember that they were then not only useful, but necessarj', even ai)art from their immediate and manifest object. On his return Griesbach settled at Halle, where he became professor in 1773; in 1775 he removed to Jena in the same capacity, and afterwards remained permanently attached to that university. His services were fully
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appreciated, and rewarded with lienors and appoint- ments even of a civic nature ; tlius he was appointed to represent the state and the university at the diets and on other public occasions. He died March 24, 1812.
Griesbach's name is inseparably connected with the criticism of the text of the N. T., so niucli so, indeed, as to throw all his works on other subjects entirely in the shade, and to form an epoch in that special depart- ment. In order to form a just estimate of his services, it is necessary to be thoroughly acquainted with the state of this science at the time. See Criticism, Bib- lical. Griesbach's studies in regard to the text were first directed to the collecting and appreciation of va- rious readings. This field had often been gone over before, and it was thought tiiat much less would be discovered in it than was found afterwards b3- paying greater attention to the quotations of the Greek fa- thers, and to some versions heretofore but little noticed, such as the Philoxenian, the Armenian, and the Gothic. Next he attempted to establish, on the basis of the ideas of Bengel and Semler, a history of the ancient text as a necessary' basis for every improvement of it. On this history, all the details of which have not, however, proved correct, but have given a great im- pulse to researches, Griesbach founded a new theory of criticism, the rules of which were to regulate the choice and value of the various readings in individual passages, and which was based essentially on a combi- nation of historical facts and logical principles. Final- 1}', Griesbach undertook the task on which his reputa- tion chiefl}' rests, viz. the publication of a criticallij ('•■tended edition of the text of the New Testament. Till then, among nearly 360 editions, there had been but two forms of text, both originating in the 16th century, when criticism was jet in its infancy. They were the so-called Textus receptus, which the Lutheran Church considered as unimpeachable ; and the Com- plutenskin, which circulated among the Roman Catho- lics. Bengel alone had dared to depart somewhat from the former, and that only by introducing a few readings of the latter. Griesbach's innovation excited great alarm among the partisans of the existing texts. Joachim Ilartmann, professor at Rostock, attacked him in a pamphlet in 1775 ; but this, as well as other simi- lar attacks, were answered bj' the prefixce of Gries- bach's second edition. His editions of the N. T. ap- peared in the following order: 1. Librl N. T.historici (Halle, 1774, pt. i, ii), containing the first three gospels arranged synoptically. To this belongs as vol. ii (1775), the first edition of the Epistles and of Revelation, and to the latter, again as vol. i, a second (non-synoptical) edition of the historical books. The synopsis was after- wards reprinted, sometimes separateh'. 2. The princi- pal edition (Halle, and London, 1796,"l806, 2 pts. 8vo), very complete, and with important prolegomena. 3. A costly edition (Leipz. 4 vols, small 4to, or small folio, 1803-1807, in copper types ; 4th and 5th pocket edi- tions, Leipzig, 1805, 1825), like the preceding, but with the principal variations only. A new edition of the principal critical work of Griesbach was commenced in 1827 by David Schulz, but the first part onl}' has appeared. The text of Griesbach has not remained intact in all these editions. It has often been used or referred to by others, and its peculiar readings, at least, are alwaj'S introduced in the new critical editions. The other critical works of Griesbach are, De codici- hus evv, origenianis (1771) : — Ciirm in hisforiam textus epp. paul. (1777) : — Symbolce criticce ad supplendas et corrigendas vaiias X. T. lectiones (pt. i, 1785 ; ii, 1793) : — Commentarius criiicus in textnm (Jr. N. T. (1794 sq.). Little need be said of his other works. They are mostly academical essays on exegesis, historj% and dogmatics, and were pulilished by Gabler in 2 parts (Kkinere Schriften, 1825). Some of them, howeVer, possess yet a certain interest, as serving to show the progress made by science under the influence of the- III.-S s s