I Rashi, Ibn-Ganach, Ibn-Ezra, Parchon, etc. See Stein- schneider, Bibliographisches jfandbuch, p. 95; Zunz,Zur
I Geschichte und Literatur, p. Ill ; Ginsburg, in Kitto, Bibl. Cyclop, s. v.
Moses or Sataxow. See Sataxow.
I Moses ben-Shesheth, a Jewish interpreter of the IJiblf, who deserves to \>e ranked among the ablest exegetists of his people, dourishe<I during the 12th cen- tury in Spain and Italy. But little is accessible regard- ing his iiersonal history. His works, however, remain, anil tliey are masterpieces, whetlier treating of Hebrew grammar, Old-Testament lexicography, or the Jewish Scri])tures. His ablest and most valuable work, .) Coni- mentury upon the Books of Jeremiah and Lzekiel, vcas recently brought out in England from a Bodleian MS.,
i with an English translation and notes by S. R. Driver (Lond. 1872, cr. 8vo). In this work Moses ben-.Shesheth
, confines himself almost exclusively to the discussion of grammatical and lexicographical difficulties, and avoids all haggadic exposition. His interpretations are most- ly rational, sometimes novel, and show throughout the independent tldnker, guided only by grammatical rules.
I The great value of such old grammarians is )iow more and more api)reciated ; ami the remark of ^lunk, " that
i the profound works of Gesenius and Ewahl may still
j be improved by the dicta of such a man as Ibn-Ga-
] nach," may be api)lied also to our author. The work before us consists rather of notes on the pro))hets, and
: seems to have been originally an extra-commentary to another more extended one, as many dilHcult pas- sages and words in Jeremiah and Ezekiel are passed
I over witliout any remark, which could not have escaped
I the attention of rabbi Moses. The author knew the works of Ibn-Ganach, R. Jehudah Chayug, and Moses Kimchi, whom he often quotes; but he never alludes to E. David Kimchi, more celebrated than his brother Moses, nor to Rashi, although he frequently agrees with
I them. It is to be hoped that Mr. Driver will continue the good work begun thus auspiciously, and give us anj' other of rabbi Moses's works now buried in ^IS. form in the BoiUcian Library. A sketch of his life also will be appreciated. (J. II. W.)
Moshabbehites, or Assimilators, a heretical sect of tlic Moliammedans; so called because they hold to a
I resemblance between (lod and his creatures, supposing
, him to be a figure composed of members or parts, each
! spiritual or corporeal, and cajiable of local motion, of ascent and descent, etc. Soiue of this sect believe that the divine nature may be united with the human in the same person, for they grant it possible that God may appear in a human form, as Gabriel did ; and to con- firm this opinion, they allege IMohammed's words "that he saw the Lord in a most beautiful form, and Closes talking with God face- to face." See Broughton, IJibli- otheca Historico-Sacra, ii, 144.
Mosheim, Johann Laurenz von, a (Jerman theologian noted as an ecclesiastical historian of great nurit, was liorn of a noble family at Lubeck, Oct.0, 1894. He was educated at the (iymnasium of Lubeck and the University of Kiel, where, shortly after the completion of his studies in 1718, he succeeded Albert zum Fclde as professor of philosophy in 1719. In 1723. at the in- vitation of the duke of Brunswick, he became ]irofessor of theolog\- in the Tniversity of Ilehnstiidt. where he remained until 1747 ; when, after having at various times refused several tempting otfers from the high schools of Leipsic, Dantzic. Kiel, and others, he was ap|iointed to the professorship of theology at (iiittingen and the chan- cellorship of the university. Here his lectures on the- ology attracted all classes of stu<lents. He died .Sep- tember 9, 1755. He was thrice married. By his first wife he had two sons and one daughter, and by his third wife one daughter, afterwards duchess of Xoailles. Mosheim is regarded as the most learned Lutheran theo- logian of his time. AVith a superior classical education he combined a thorough knowledge of the English,
MOSHEIM
691
MOSHEIM
French, and Italian languages and their literature, and was such a master of the purest German that he was esteemed one of. the founders of modern German pul- pit literature. The whole number of Mosheim's works is 161. He himself printed at HelmstJidt in 1731 a cat- alogue raisonnee of the works which he had brought out up to that time. Among his theological works, special attention is due to one on Bible morality, entitled Sitten- lehre der Ileiligen Schrift (new ed. continued by J. P. Miller, Helmst. 1770-78, 9 vols. 8vo). But his most im- portant contributions to theological literature are his ec- clesiastical histories, of which his best known work is the Tnstituiiones Idistorice Eccksiasticm, Antiquioi-is et Recentioris, libri iv. It is written in Latin, and was first published in 2 vols. 12mo in 1726, and the en- larged edition, in composing which he examined the original authorities, was published in 4to in 1755, just before his death. Another edition was published in 1764, with an account of Mosheim's writings by Miller, one of his pupils. It was translated into German by Yon Einem and by J. E. Schl^el. Schlegel's transla- tion is the better, and is enriched with valuable notes. It has also been translated into French, Dutch, and English. The first English version was made in 1764 by Dr. Maclaine, but is very unfaithful. Dr. Maclaine's professed object was to improve Mosheim's style, by adding words and rounding off periods. His alterations and additions constantly express his own sentiments instead of Mosheim's, and sometimes flatly contradict the author. (See, however, Maclaine.) In 1832 a faith- ful translation, with valuable notes, was published by Dr. ;\Iurdoi?k, of New Haven, Oonn., of which there are many reprints; revised, N.Y. 1839. Mosheim's £'cc^m- astical History extends from the birth of Christ to the beginning of the 18th century. Each century is treat- ed separately, under the two heads of external and in- ternal history. The internal history comprises " pros- perous events," or the extension of the Church by the efforts of its public rulers and private members, and "calamitous events," such as persecutions and infidel attacks. The internal history includes the history, 1, of the Christian doctors ; 2, of the doctrines and laws of the Church ; 3, of its ceremonies and worship ; 4, of heresies. This arrangement is open to several ob- jections, of which the chief are — that it is too artificial ; ■ that what Mosheim calls external and internal history' constantly run into each other (and indeed it is not easy to understand how any part of the history of a com- munity can be said to be "external" to it); and, lastly, it imposes on the historian the necessity of deciding what no human mind can decide, namelj", what events are prosperous and what calamitous to the Church. But the work of INIosheim is open to a graver objection. He has not treated his subject witli the proper spirit of pious interest, though his own orthodoxy is undoubted. Nevertheless, his deep knowledge, his patient research, his general candor and impartiality, and his philosophi- cal spirit, entitle Mosheim to a place among the best Church historians. His works gave an impulse to the study of Church history in Germany, which has pro- duced, among other works, those of PfafF, Baumgarten, Walch, Semler, Schrockh, Henke, Schmidt, Neander, etc. Of these, that of Schrockh, a pupil of Mosheim, is the fullest, extending to 45 vols, 8vo. " In his Ecclesiastical IIi.-;fori/,'' says Hagenbach— certainly a most competent critic — "Mosheim has labored with a candor which grants to all who differ from him an impartial presenta- tion of their views, and insures justice to all; he has subjected their systems to a thoroughly scientific treat- ment, and in this he has been very happily likened to Melancthon." The most discriminating estimate of Mosheim seems to us to be that of Hase, who says : "Mosheim, conscious of historical talents, with a power of combination alwaj's bold, and sometimes extravagant, and an acciuaintance with men in various and friendly relations, is universally acknowledged to have been a master of ecclesiastical historical writing'" (Ch. Hist, p; 9).