KOHEN
143
KOHLREIF
er of the law and a Cabalistic hicrophant, there occurred a frightful contiagratioii, iu -which all the Jewish quar- ter was burned to ashes. Iu this wofid calaraitj' Kohen, as a potent Cabalist, was called upon by the distracted people to bring into exercise those supernatural re- sources which he professed to command, in order to stay the progress of the fiery flood. lie was weak enough to make the trial. Of course he utterly failed. This exposure, combined -^vith the circumstance that the fire had first broken out in his own house, turned the popular feeling of the Jews against him, and Eabbi Naphthali Kohen was once more obliged " to grasp the wandering staff," and begin the world anew. He now hent his steps towards the place of his birth, and ended his days in connection with the spiagogue at Ostrow. Kohen was quite a poet, and wrote several hymns and anthems which have become the common property of the synagogue and the Jewish people. iVIany curious notices of him may be found in the Jiklische Merkwur- dir/lfiten of Johann Jacob Schudt. See Griitz, Gesch. d. Juden, X, 348 sq. ; see also Etheridge, Introd. to Hebrew Literatiii-e, p. 4A5 sq. (J. H.W.)
Kohen, Neheniiah, a noted Jewish fanatic, who flourished in Poland in the second half of the 17th cen- tury, and pretended to be a prophet or preciu-sor of the Messiah, was a rival of the celebrated iSabbathai Zewi, who claimed about the same time to be the veritable Messiah so long looked for by his people. Invited by Sabbathai to visit him, Nehemiah quickly set out for Abydos, and was immediately upon arrival admitted to an audience which lasted some three days. The rival- ry which, on accomit of their pecidiar profession, natu- rally existed between the two pretenders, made each fear for his life from the other, and, as Sabbathai had actually hired several base fellows to assassinate Nehemiah, the latter fled to Adrianople. He there embraced JMoham- medanism, and revealed to the Turkish government the plottings of Sabbathai, and this course ultimately led to the accession of this pretended Messiah likewise to the fold of the prophet of Islam. See Griitz, Gesch. d. Judcn, X, 241 sq. See Sabbathai.
Kohen-Zedek, ben-Josepii, a noted Jewish rabbi, and head of the school at Pumbaditha, flourished from 917 to 93G. He was one of the ablest presidents of this Jewish high-school, and labored earnestly, and for some time with considerable show of success, to make it the first and best authority of Pabbinic learning. Sura Academy was several times worsted in the struggle, and Kohen-Zedek well-nigh succeeded in abolishing the exiliarchate which Sura possessed, but in 925 he was finally led to acknowledge David ben-Sakkai as exili- arch, and in turn secured Sura's confirmation of his ga- onate at Pumbaditha. Kohen-Zedek died in 936. See Griitz, Gesch. d. Juden, v, 296 sq.
Kohl, JoiiANN Petek, a learned German, was born at Kiel IMarch 10, 1698. In 1725 he was called to St. I'ctersburg to teach belles-lettres and ecclesiastical his- tory. Three years after he left tliat city because he be- came passionately in love with Elizabeth, daughter of Peter the (ireat, a passion which caused him to commit many extravagances. He retired first to Hamburg, af- terwards to Altona, where he passed the remainder of his life in study. He bequeathed his fine library, which contained some rare manuscripts, to the library of the gymnasium at Altona. He died October 9, 1778. His works are, Theologim gentilis Cimbricm jmrioris specimen (Kiel, 1723, 8vo) : — Ecclesia G7-(eca Liitherizans, sive ex- ercitatio de consensu ef dissrnsu orientalis Grcecce speciatim Enssicce el occidentfdis Lnllteranm ecclesim in dogmatibus (Lubeck, 1723, 8vo) : — Introductio in historiam et i-em lit- eruriam Slavorum in primis sacram, sire historia crit- ica i^ersionum Slavonica7-um maxime insifpiium, nimiruni codieis sacri et Ephi-emi Syri; accedunt duo sermones Ephremi, nnndum editi, de S. Cocna fidei Luther ancR testes (Altona, 1729, 8vo). The conclusions of these two ser- mons of saint Ephrem by KoliI have been refuted by Le
Bran and Renaudot : also by an unknown person, who has published Antiruthicon, seu confutatio annotatiomun Kohlii ad S. Ephremi Sermones (Rome, 1840, 8vo) : — Deliciw Epistolic(P, sice epistolarum argumenti mm minus raritdte quam orationis cultu insignium fasciculus, Ma- joragii,Graivii,Bartholini, Schejferi aliorumqrie vironim, cum jircejcdione de vita scriptisque Majoragii (Leipzig, 1731, 8vo) : — De Epistolis a Jo. Hevelio partim, jmrtim ad ipsum scripiis adhuc ineditis — dissertations placed in the supplement of the Leipzig A eta Eruditorum, ix, 359. Kohl also intended to publish several works on the ec- clesiastical history of the Slavic nations, but the MSS. of only a few have been found. — lloefer, A'^ouc. Biog. Ge- nerate, xxvii, 30.
Kohler, Christian and Jerome, two I>rothers who distingiushed themselves among the enthusiasts of Berne in the middle of the 18th century, were natives of Brligglen. Ignorant and poor. Christian became a mechanic and Jerome a wagoner, and they appear to have led very irregidar lives until 1745, when they were converted in a revival then taking place in the country. They soon claimed to have dreams and visions in which Christ and other persons appeared to them, and they went about preaching and exhorting. They may at first have been sincere, but appear afterwards to have made popular credulity a means of gain. They claimed to be the t\vo witnesses spoken of in the book of Reve- lation, and made many followers. Among other things, they predicted the end of the world for Christmas, 1748, and afterwards renewed their prediction for later pe- riods. They pretended to be able to redeem souls out of purgatory, and thus swindled a great many persons. Finally, a price was set on their heads. On Oct. 8, 1752, Jerome was caught; he was brought to Borne, judged, and executed, Jan. 16, 1763. His brother, in the mean time, was made prisoner at Neueburg, but of his subse- quent fate there is no record. Their principal disciple in Viol, John Sahli, was condemned to death for contu- macy March 19, 1753; but their other followers were not much disturbed, and the sect died out slowly. See Kyburg, Das entdeckte Geheimniss d. Bosheit in d. Briig- gler-Sekte (Ziir. 1753); Originalakten im Berncr Staats- archii: ; Simler, Sammlung z. Kirchengesch. pt. i, p. 249 ; JMcister, Helcetische Scenen d. neuern Schicarmerei u. In- toleranz (Ziirich, 1785"), p. 161 ; Schlegel, Kirchengesch. d. 18 Jahrh. (pt. ii, HeUbronn, 1788) ; Tillier, Gesch. d. eidgenossischen Freistaates Bern (Berne, 1839), vol. v; Hagenbach, D. ernngel. Protestantismus in s. geschichtl. Entivickelung, iii, 193 sq. ; Wetzer und Welte, Kiixhen- Lexikon, vi, 239.