MICIL\ELIS
22G
MICIIAELIUS
strengtliened it equally by his concessions and by his own inadequate and arbitrary defences. Possessed of no settled ])rinciples, every minute difficulty presented itself with intrinsic force and perplexity to his mind; his belief was a reed ready to be shaken by every fresh breeze ; all that he had previously jrained seemed again staked on the issue of each petty skirmish ; and, in the very descriptive comparison of Lessing, he was like the timid soldier who loses his life before an outpost, with- out once seeing the countrj' of which he would gain possession. The theological opinions of this celebrated man are never to be trusted; and, indeed, the serious student cannot but be disgusted with the levity which too frequently appears in his writings, and the gross obscenity which frequently defiles them. After all drawbacks, however, the discriminating and careful stu- dent will seldom consult Michaelis without benefiting by his erudition and clearness of illustration; and often will he lind objections on Scripture refuted with much force and felicitous originality. Dr. Tholuck describes Michaelis as one of the chief pioneers of neology, though not because he indulged in bold neological assumptions, but because he was devoid of religious life, retaining only the external form of orthodoxy, but abandoning its essence and spirit (comp. Tholuck, Vermischte Schrif- ien. ii, 130). See Lebensbisc/irdbiiiif/ von ihm stlhst ahge- fasst (Leipsic and Kinteln, 1703) ; C. (i. Heyne, Klogium J. D. Michaelis (1791); Kitto, Cijclnp. Bibl. Lit. s. v.; ■ Enrjlish C'l/clop. s. v.; Diiring, CMirte Theol. Detdsch- lands, vol. ii, s.v.; Ilagenbach, Ch. Hist, of the 18th and 19lh Centuries, i, 157 sq. ; Kahnis, Hist, of German Prot- estantism, p. 120.
3. JoiiANN Friedricii, aiuillier writer of this family, a pupil of Danzius, is the author of a philological dis- sertation on the derivation and meaning of the sacred name Cri'~X (reprinted in Ugolino, Thesaur, xxiv, lOo- 138). With this treatise it is worth v;hile to compare J. D. IMichaelis's remarks. Supplement, ad Lex. Hebraic. p. 85-87 ; and Gesenius, Thesaur. p. 95-99.
4. JoiiANN Gkorg, who flourished as divinity pro- fessor at Halle, was born at Zerbst IMay 22, 1690 ; was educated at the University of Franeker; in 1715 en- tered the ministry; in 1717 accepted a position in the gymnasium at Frankfort-on-the-Oder; and in 1730 was promoted to a professorship in the university then at that place. In 1735 he was called to llallc, and died there July 16, 1758. He is the author of several learned •works; one, on the fanicus ( '.itcchctical School of Alex- andria, was first publisli.d ill IT.'.'.i: aiiuilicr work is enti- tled L)e profjressu et iiim im nln ,/,„■/ i/iki- saiiitaris hide a prolevanfjelio usque ad .Xoaclnim (1752); he is, how- ever, better known for his Obsei-vationes Saci-ce, a vol- ume of great and varied erudition, comprising certain disputations which he had held at the University of Frankfort. This volume was published at Utrecht in ITSS; we add the titles of such as claim mention in this work : f)e incisura propter mortuos : — De KUscbo, a propro puerorum JiethMunsbim justo Dei judicio vindi- cate : — De cane, s)jinbolo prophetm : — De Spiritu Sancto, sub externa linfjuarum iffnearum symbolo A postolis com- municate:— De c7-ustulis quotidionii poiitlficis maximi: — De Sacerdote, ex minislerio sujjitus nan dirite. In Ugolino, Thesaur. xi. 727-748, there occurs a valuable dissertation, De Thuribulo Adyti, in which our author fully considers the high-priest's sacrificial duties on the great day of atonement, and takes occasion to illus- trate, in an interesting manner, the priesthood of Christ in some of its features as indicated in the Epistle to the Hebrews (ix, 7-1 5). SccDunnti, (!eleh7ie Theol. Deutsch- lands, ii, 516 sq.; Kitto, Cyclop. Jiibl. Lit. s. v. (J. H.W.)
5. JoiiANX HKiNKicit, ujion the whole, the most ac- curately learned of all the accomplished members of his family, was born at Klettcni)erg, in Hohnstein, July 26, IGliH. He studied Oriental literature for some years at Fraidvfort-on-the-Oder, where ho had the cele- brated Ludolf lor his instructor in Ethiopic. He next
studied for a time at Leipsic, and then removed to Halle, the head-quarters of Spener's influence, and became li- brarian to the university, later professor of the Oriental languages, and eventually of divinity. Halle was at that time the most renowned of the German universi- ties; its professors were eminent men, and its schools crowded with eager students, and J. Heinrich Slichaelis was the soul of the place. In connection with A. H. Franke, he instituted the Coller/ium Orientule Theolotji- cum, a seminary for instruction in the Biblical languages. Fifty years before Kennicott'spublication, J. II. Micha- elis, after some tliirty years' conscientious labor, led the way in Old-Testament textual criticism by issuing from the press a carefully-edited Hebrew Bible (Halle, 1720, 2 vols. 4to). Kennicott, who was impetuous in judgment, spoke slightingly of this work, as if the au- thor, from favor of the Masoretic text, had improperly used his manuscripts (sec Kennicott's Annual Account of Hebrew Collections, p. 14G). He afterwards modified his opinion in the following statement, which we ex- tract, as giving a good description of Michaelis's la- bors: "This edition was the first which contained any various readings collected from Hebrew MSS. by a Christian editor. The text is taken from Jablonski's edition, with some few emendations. . . , There were collated for this Bible most of the best printed etUtions, and also five Hebrew jMSS. belonging to the librarj- at Erfurt ; two of which contain the verses in Joshua ex- cluded by the Jlasora. The propriety of selecting va- rious readings from Hebrew IMSS. and ancient versions is set forth in the preface" {Hist, of Hebr. Text. Dissert. ii, 487, Teller's ed. p. 465). Three quarto volumes of exegesis, in the shape of a commentarj' on the Uagio- grapha, entitled Annotationcs I'hilolofjico-Exegetica: in Ilayiographis (Halle, 1720), accompanied the critical text. This is a work of still acknowledged value. J. H. Michaelis was the general editor of the whole work; but he received assistance from his nephew, and from Kambach in portions of it. The annotations on the Psalms, Job, Canticles, Ezra, and the Chronicles were contributed by him (on the critical merit of our author, see Wiseman, Connection between Science, etc. 2d cd. p. 349). Other works of his, worthy of mention here, are, a dissertation, De Paradiso: — a tract, De peculiuribus HebrcBorum loquendi modis (Halle, 1702): — De lesaia propheta ejusque raticinio (Halle, 1710) : — and on the N. T., De textu N.T. Greece (Halle, 1707 •.—fntroductio in .Jacobi epistolam (Halle, 1722, 4to). Johann Hein- rich Michaelis died in 1738. See Diiring, Gelehrte Theol. Deutschlaiuls, vol. ii, s. v. ; Herzog, lieal-L'ncyklopddie, ix, 522 sq.