Biography

He was born at Groningen, where he studied for the church. He went on to the University of Leiden, applying himself specially to Hebrew

Hebrew language

Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...

 and the cognate tongues. His dissertation on The Use of Arabic in the Interpretation of Scripture appeared in 1706. After a visit to Reland in Utrecht

Utrecht (city)

Utrecht city and municipality is the capital and most populous city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, and is the fourth largest city of the Netherlands with a population of 312,634 on 1 Jan 2011.Utrecht's ancient city centre features...

 he returned to Groningen (1708); then, having taken his degree in theology

Theology

Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...

 (1709), he returned to Leiden, and devoted himself to the study of the manuscript collections there until 1711, when he became pastor at Wassenaer.

He disdained parochial work and decided to accept the Hebrew chair at Franeker

Franeker

Franeker is one of the eleven historical cities of Friesland and capital of the municipality of Franekeradeel. It is located about 20 km west of Leeuwarden on the Van Harinxma Canal. As of 1 January 2006, it had 12,996 inhabitants. The city is famous for the Eisinga Planetarium from around...

 in 1713. He held this position until 1729, when he was transferred to Leiden as rector of the collegium theologicum, or seminary for poor students. From 1732 until his death (at Leiden) he was professor of Oriental languages at Leiden.

Schultens was the chief teacher of the Arabic language

Arabic language

Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...

 in the whole of the Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 during his lifetime. In some sense, he revived Arabic studies. He differed from J. J. Reiske

Johann Jakob Reiske

Johann Jakob Reiske was a German scholar and physician. He was a pioneer in the fields of Arabic and Byzantine philology as well as Islamic numismatics.-Biography:Reiske was born at Zörbig, in Electoral Saxony....

 and Silvestre de Sacy

Silvestre de Sacy

Antoine Isaac, Baron Silvestre de Sacy , was a French linguist and orientalist. His son, Ustazade Silvestre de Sacy, became a journalist.-Early life:...

 in regarding Arabic as a handmaid to Hebrew

Hebrew language

Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...

. He vindicated the value of comparative study of the Semitic tongues against those who, like Jacques Gousset

Jacques Gousset

Jacques Gousset was a French Protestant theologian and philologist, after 1685 in exile in the Netherlands.-Life:He was born in Blois, the son of Pierre Gousset and Marguerite Papin; he was a cousin of Denis Papin...

, regarded Hebrew as a sacred tongue with which comparative philology has nothing to do.

His principal works were Institutiones ad Fundumenta Linguæ Hebraicæ (1737), Origines Hebraeae (2 vols., 1724, 1738), a second edition of which, with the De defectibus linguae Hebraeae (1731), appeared in 1761; Job (1737); Proverbs (1748); Vetus et regia via hebraezandi (1738); and Monumenta vetustiora Arabum (1740). He left unfinished Institutiones Aramææ (1745-49).