Kraft, Johann Melchior, a German theologian, ■was born at Wetzlar June 11, 1673. He pursued his the- ological studies at Wittenberg University, where he ob- tained the master's degree in 1G93. In lG9o he began lectures at the University of Kiel, and in 1098 he be- came pastor at SUderstapel ; in 1705 pastor at Sandes- neben ; in 1709 archdeacon at Husum. and shortly after counsellor of the Danish Consistorj'. He died July 22, 1751. His most important works are Emendanda et Cor- rif/eiida quccdam in historia versivnis Germnnicm Bihlio- rum (Dr. J. F. Mayero edita, Schleswig, 1705, 4to) : — Po- droma historice versinnis Bihliorum Germanicm (ibid, 1714, 4to): — Aiisfuhrliche Ilistorievom Exorcismo (\\a.\n- burg, 1750, 8vo). — Doring, Ge/e/wte Theol. Deutschlands, ii, 18-2 sq.
Kraft, Johann "Wilhelm, a German theologian, was born at AUendorf ]\larch 1 1, 1G9(). He went to Mar- burg University in 1712, and in 1723 became pastor of the Reformed Church at Marburg; later (in 1738) he re- moved to Hanau, but returned to Marburg in 1747, to assume the duties of a professorship in theology at his alma mater. He died Nov. 25, 17G7. His most impor- tant works are Fasciculi observationum sacrariiin ir, quibits varia Scripturce loca atqiie aiyumenta theologica illiisfrantnr (Marb. 1758-1766, 8vo) : — Sdagraphia theo- logicB moralis ex resipiscentia et fide tanquam ex (jenui- no geniinoqiie omnium virtutum Christianarum fonte li- quido derivatcs (Rintel and Hersf. 1760, 8vo). — Doring Gelfhrie Theol. Deutschlands, ii, 185.
Kraft, Justus Christoph, a German divine, son of the jireceding, was born at Marburg Jan. 2, 1732, and was educated at the university of his native place and at Giittingen. In 1757 he became pastor at Weimar, and in 1762 at Cassel, whence he moved to Frankfort- on-the-]\Iain in 1769. He died there Jan. 22, 1795. For a list of his sermons as published, see During, Gelehrte Theol. Deutschlands, ii, 187.
Kragh, Petek, a Danish missionary, born at Grim- ming. near Jtanders, Nov. 20, 1794, was sent as mission- ary to (irceiiland about 1820, and returned to his native country in 18-J8. The date of his deatli is not known to us. Kragh wrote extensively, and translated into the vernacular of the people among whom he preached the Gosjiel of Christ, parts of the O. T., sermons, works on practical religion, etc. lie also pubUshed in Danish and (irecnlandish, y/«?w Eqedcs Aftensnmtaler med sine
disciides (Cojienhagen, 1837, 8vo) Vapercau, Diet, des
Cvntempdrainx, s. v.
Krakewitz, Ai.iskut Joachim vox. a Gcnnan Lu- theran divine, was Ixirn at (ievezin. near Stargard, in ^leckltMiliurg, May 28, 1G74, and was educated for the ministry at the universities of Kostock, Copenhagen, Leipzig, and other (Jernian high-schools of note. He l)ccame jirofessor of Hebrew at Rostock in 1G98 ; in 1708 also jirofessor extraordinary of theology, and in 1713 was promoted to the full ]irofcssorsliip. In 1721 he re- m )ved to the university at Grcifswald, and tlierc held a prominent position as a theologian. His works, mainly of a controversial nature, arc limited to i)amphlet form. See Alh/emeines JJist. Lexikon, Addenda, s. v.
Kraliz, 15iblk oi'", the most celebrated Bohemian version of the Holy Scriptures, issued, in tlic IGth cen- turv. bv the Bohemian and Moravian Brethren. It was
translated, in fifteen years, by a committee of their bish- ops and ministers, among whom the most prominent were John ^Eneas, Jolin Nemczansky, Zacharias Aris- ton. and Isaiah CepoUa, aided by two Hebrew scholars of Jewish extraction. The work of translating and printing was carried on in the castle of Kraliz — hence the name of this Bible — near WiUimowitz, in the west of Moravia, at the expense of Baron von Zierotin, the i)roprietor of the domain, and a member of the Brethren's Church. He set up for this purpose a spe- cial and costly printing-press, which was superintended by Zacharias Solin, an ordained minister of the Breth- ren. The first edition appeared in six folio volumes, as follows: Part i, the Five Books of Moses, in 1579 ; Part ii, Joshua to Esther, in 1580: Part iii, the Poetical Books, in 1582; Part iv, the Prophetical Books, in 1587; Part v, the A]iocrypha, and Part vi, the New Testament, in 1593. The sixth part was a reprint of the Bohemian N. T. translated from the Greek b}' John Blahoslaw, a very learned bishop of the Church, who was no longer living. In IGOl a second edition appeared, and in 1G13 a third. The last was in one volume quarto. The Kraliz Bible was the first Bohemian version made from the original, six other translations having preceded it, all based on the Vulgate. It was, moreover, the first di- vided into chapters and verses, and the first which sep- arated the apocryphal from the canonical books. To each single verse, throughout the entire work, was ap- pended a very brief commentary. The correctness of the translation is generally conceded, and the purity of the style universally admired. This Bible is still the classic standard for the Bohemian tongue. At the pres- ent day, however, it exists as an antiquarian work only, a copy costing about 300 florins. This is owing to the destruction to which it was doomed in the Bohe- mian anti-Reformation, when it was everywhere con- fiscated and committed to the flames by the Jesuits and soldiers who passed through the country in search of Protestant books. A compendium of it was republish- ed at Prague, by J. L. Koher, in 1861 to 1865. It con- stitutes, moreover, the text, word for word, of the Bohe- mian Bible issued by the British and Foreign Bible So- ciety. Gindely, Geschichte d. Buhmischen Bruder, ii,309, 310; Czerwenka, GescAtV/i'^e d. Evanfi. Kirche inBuhmen, ii, 500, etc. ; Croger, Gesch. d. alien Briiderkirche, ii, 157, etc. (E, UE S.)