August Wilhelm Knobel

Karl August Wilhelm Knobel ( born February 7, 1807 in Tschecheln at Sorau, † May 25 1863 in Gießen ) was a Protestant theologian.

Life

Knobel was the son of a farmer. His intellectual talent was recognized early in the school in Sorau and decisively promoted by his teachers, even after the end of schooling: One of his former teachers - Conrector dab, who joined as a professor of altklassische literature at the University of Kazan later - asked him after the death of his father (22 April 1828) financial resources available to help Knobel was able to finish his studies.

Knobel began in 1826 at the University of Breslau to study theology, philosophy, classical philology and history, where he graduated in 1831 as Doctor of Philosophy and Licentiate of Theology. He then took in Wroclaw on academic teaching, first as a lecturer, from 1835 as Associate Professor. Both positions were not remunerated; Knobel lived of income as a religion teacher at the teacher training college in Wroclaw and as a censor for the Evangelical theological writings in Silesia.

After he works on the Old Testament a name in the specialist had been able to do - in 1836 he published his comment Ecclesiastes to the book, in 1837 was followed by a two-volume work on the prophecy of the Hebrews, 1838, he was then appointed in Wroclaw Doctor of Theology - Knobel received end 1838 almost simultaneously a reputation both at the University of Göttingen and a little later at the University of Giessen, bringing the financially hopeless conditions in Wroclaw were over. In Göttingen, he should take the place of the orientalist Heinrich Ewald, who had recently been dismissed as one of the Göttingen Seven. Like other university teachers also renounced Toss out the Göttingen dismissed for political reasons colleagues in the back drop.

On January 1, 1839 Knobel joined the Ordinary professor at Giessen, where he was responsible only for teaching and exegesis of the Old Testament. His biographer in the general German biography emphasizes repeatedly that Knobel was an excellent university teachers. His extensive scientific publications, interpretations and commentaries on various books of the Old Testament as part of the short Condensed exegetical manual ( KEH ) experienced multiple editions.

Writings

• Commentary on the Book of Ecclesiastes, Leipzig 1836 ( online resource )
• The prophecy of the Hebrews, Wroclaw 1837 ( digitized version of the second part of the volume)
• The prophet Isaiah, in: KEH, 5 Lfg, Leipzig 1843, 5th edition 1890 ( edited by August Dillmann ); ( Digitized version of the 1st edition )
• Exegetical vade mecum for Prof. Ewald in Tübingen, casting 1844 Note: A theological and literary polemic against Heinrich Ewald, who had the Isaiah commentary reviewed dismissively.
• History of the Samaritans, in: session record from the memoranda of the Society for Science and the Arts in Giessen, Volume 1, Issue 1, casting 1847
• The table of nations in Genesis, ethnographic studies, casting 1850 ( digitized )
• The Genesis, in: KEH, 11 Lfg, Leipzig 1852, 6th Edition 1892 ( edited by August Dillmann ) ( digital copy of the 2nd edition 1860)
• The books of Exodus and Leviticus, in: KEH, 12 Lfg, Leipzig 1857, 3rd edition 1897 ( edited by B. Ryssel ) ( Ditalisat )
• The books Numbers, Deuteronomy and Joshua, in: KEH, 13 Lfg, Leipzig 1861, 2nd edition 1886 ( edited by August Dillmann )

In the table of nations in Genesis, ethnographic studies of 1850 Knobel tries to clarify the identity of the sons and grandsons of Noah. And considers the identifications on the basis of similar names for misses. " The arbitrary driving around and hunting Make out similar sounding names could lead to nothing. ". Knobel assumes that the table of nations is part of the base font of the Pentateuch and in vorsalomonischer time ( before 1000 BC) was created. He believes that the author was to the Baltic Sea, northern and western Africa and western Asia known through the voyages of the Phoenicians Europe, and that the Noahiten must meet the then-known major nations. He thus comes to an equation of Shem to the red ( brown ), Ham and Japheth with the black with the white people and believes that the differences in skin color " language families " or higher. He sits Ashkenaz with the Germans and the Celts Riphat with the same.