Johann Jakob Wettstein
Encyclopedia
Johann Jakob Wettstein (March 5, 1693 – March 23, 1754) was a Swiss
theologian, best known as a New Testament
critic
.
. Among his tutors in theology
was Samuel Werenfels
(1657–1740), an influential anticipator of modern scientific exegesis
. While still a student Wettstein began to direct his attention to the special pursuit of his life, the text of the Greek
New Testament
. A relative, Johann Wettstein, who was the university librarian
, gave him permission to examine and collate the principal manuscript
s of the New Testament in the library, and he copied the various readings which they contained into his copy of Gerard of Maastricht's edition of the Greek
text.
In 1713 in his public examination he defended a dissertation entitled De variis Novi Testamenti lectionibus, and sought to show that variety of readings did not detract from the authority of the Bible
. Wettstein paid great attention also to Aramaic and Talmud
ic Hebrew. In the spring of 1714 he undertook a learned tour, which led him to Paris
and England
, the great object of his inquiry everywhere being manuscripts of the New Testament. In 1716 he made the acquaintance of Richard Bentley
at the University of Cambridge
; Bentley took great interest in his work and persuaded him to return to Paris to collate carefully the Codex Ephraemi, Bentley having then in view a critical edition of the New Testament.
of St Leonard's. At the same time he pursued his favorite study, and gave private lectures on New Testament exegesis
. It was then that he decided to prepare a critical edition
of the Greek New Testament. He had in the meantime broken with Bentley, whose famous Proposals appeared in 1720. His earlier teachers, however, J. C. Iselin and J. L. Frey, who were engaged upon work similar to his own, became so unfriendly towards him that after a time he was forbidden any further use of the manuscripts in the library.
Then a rumour began that Wettstein's projected text would take the Socinian side in the case of such passages as i Timothy
iii. 16; and in other ways (e.g. by regarding Jesus
's temptation as a subjective experience, by explaining some of the miracles in a natural way) he gave occasion for the suspicion of heresy
. At length in 1729 the charge of projecting an edition of the Greek Testament savouring of Arian
and Socinian views was formally laid against him. The end of the long and unedifying trial was his dismissal, on May 13, 1730, from his office of curate of St Leonard's.
, where another relative, Johann Heinrich Wettstein (1649–1726), had had an important printing and publishing business. From his office excellent editions of the classics were issued, as well as Gerard of Maastricht's edition of the Greek Testament. Wettstein had begun to print in this office an edition of the Greek Testament, which was suddenly stopped for some unknown reason. As soon as he reached Amsterdam he published anonymously the Prolegomena ad Novi Testamenti Graeci editionem, which he had proposed should accompany his Greek Testament, and which was republished by him, with additions, as part of his great work, 1751. The next year (1731) the Remonstrants
offered him the chair of philosophy in their college at Amsterdam
, vacated by the illness of Jean Leclerc
, on condition that he clear himself of the suspicion of heresy
. He returned to Basel, and procured a reversal (March 22, 1732) of the previous decision, and re-admission to all his clerical offices. But, on his becoming a candidate for the Hebrew
chair at Basel, his orthodox
opponents procured his defeat and he retired to Amsterdam.
At length, he was allowed to instruct the Remonstrant students in philosophy
and Hebrew on certain humiliating conditions. For the rest of his life he continued as professor in the Remonstrant college, declining in 1745 the Greek chair at Basel. In 1746 he once more visited England, and collated Syriac manuscripts for his great work. At last this appeared in 1751-1752, in two folio volumes, under the title Novum Testamentum Graecum editionis receptae cum lectionibus variantibus codicum manuscripts, etc. He did not venture to put new readings in the body of his page, but consigned them to a place between the textus receptus and the full list of various readings. Beneath the latter he gave a commentary, consisting principally of a mass of valuable illustrations and parallels drawn from classical and rabbinical literature, which has formed a storehouse for all later commentators. In his Prolegomena he gave an admirable methodical account of the manuscripts, the versions and the readings of the fathers, as well as the troubled story of the difficulties with which he had had to contend in the prosecution of the work of his life. He was the first to designate uncial manuscripts by Roman capitals, and cursive manuscripts by Arabic
figures (A, B, C, D). He did not long survive the completion of this work. He died at Amsterdam.
Through his laborious study of Codex Alexandrinus
, he found misinterpretations or calculated mistakes of New Testament written in Greek that question the basis of Christianity
. For example, the misreading of Greek word "God" with "who", so the passage from the book of I Timothy no longer read: "Christ as God made manifest in the flesh, and justified in Spirit", but instead read: "Christ who was made manifest in the flesh, and justified in Spirit". This finding, and some other findings led him to question his faith of the Divinity of Christ, which showed up on his later works.
Some opponents rendered his work less valuable because of his prejudice against the Latin version and the principle of grouping manuscripts in families which had been recommended by Richard Bentley and J. A. Bengel
.
See Wettstein's account of his labors and trials in his Nov. Test. i.: 1751. Novum Testamentum Græcum editionis receptæ, cum Lectionibus Variantibus Codicum MSS., Editionum aliarum, Versionum et Patrum, necnon Commentario pleniore ex Scriptoribus veteribus, Hebræis, Græcis, et Latinis, historiam et vim verborum illustrante, in two volumes. Amsterdam: Amstelædami. Reprinted in 1962 by Graz, Austria: Akademische Druck-u. Verlagsanstalt.
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
theologian, best known as a New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
critic
Critic
A critic is anyone who expresses a value judgement. Informally, criticism is a common aspect of all human expression and need not necessarily imply skilled or accurate expressions of judgement. Critical judgements, good or bad, may be positive , negative , or balanced...
.
Youth and study
Johann Jakob Wettstein was born at BaselBasel
Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...
. Among his tutors 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...
was Samuel Werenfels
Samuel Werenfels
Samuel Werenfels was a Swiss theologian. Werenfels was born at Basel and died there.After finishing his theological and philosophical studies at Basel, he visited the universities at Zurich, Bern, Lausanne, and Geneva. On his return he held, for a short time, the professorship of logic, and in...
(1657–1740), an influential anticipator of modern scientific exegesis
Exegesis
Exegesis is a critical explanation or interpretation of a text, especially a religious text. Traditionally the term was used primarily for exegesis of the Bible; however, in contemporary usage it has broadened to mean a critical explanation of any text, and the term "Biblical exegesis" is used...
. While still a student Wettstein began to direct his attention to the special pursuit of his life, the text of the Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
. A relative, Johann Wettstein, who was the university librarian
Librarian
A librarian is an information professional trained in library and information science, which is the organization and management of information services or materials for those with information needs...
, gave him permission to examine and collate the principal manuscript
Manuscript
A manuscript or handwrite is written information that has been manually created by someone or some people, such as a hand-written letter, as opposed to being printed or reproduced some other way...
s of the New Testament in the library, and he copied the various readings which they contained into his copy of Gerard of Maastricht's edition of the Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
text.
In 1713 in his public examination he defended a dissertation entitled De variis Novi Testamenti lectionibus, and sought to show that variety of readings did not detract from the authority of the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
. Wettstein paid great attention also to Aramaic and Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
ic Hebrew. In the spring of 1714 he undertook a learned tour, which led him to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, the great object of his inquiry everywhere being manuscripts of the New Testament. In 1716 he made the acquaintance of Richard Bentley
Richard Bentley
Richard Bentley was an English classical scholar, critic, and theologian. He was Master of Trinity College, Cambridge....
at the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
; Bentley took great interest in his work and persuaded him to return to Paris to collate carefully the Codex Ephraemi, Bentley having then in view a critical edition of the New Testament.
Basel
In July 1717 Wettstein returned to take the office of a curate at large (diaconus communis) at Basel, a post which he held for three years, after which he became his father's colleague and successor in the parishParish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
of St Leonard's. At the same time he pursued his favorite study, and gave private lectures on New Testament exegesis
Exegesis
Exegesis is a critical explanation or interpretation of a text, especially a religious text. Traditionally the term was used primarily for exegesis of the Bible; however, in contemporary usage it has broadened to mean a critical explanation of any text, and the term "Biblical exegesis" is used...
. It was then that he decided to prepare a critical edition
Textual criticism
Textual criticism is a branch of literary criticism that is concerned with the identification and removal of transcription errors in the texts of manuscripts...
of the Greek New Testament. He had in the meantime broken with Bentley, whose famous Proposals appeared in 1720. His earlier teachers, however, J. C. Iselin and J. L. Frey, who were engaged upon work similar to his own, became so unfriendly towards him that after a time he was forbidden any further use of the manuscripts in the library.
Then a rumour began that Wettstein's projected text would take the Socinian side in the case of such passages as i Timothy
First Epistle to Timothy
The First Epistle of Paul to Timothy, usually referred to simply as First Timothy and often written 1 Timothy, is one of three letters in the New Testament of the Bible often grouped together as the Pastoral Epistles, the others being Second Timothy and Titus...
iii. 16; and in other ways (e.g. by regarding Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
's temptation as a subjective experience, by explaining some of the miracles in a natural way) he gave occasion for the suspicion of heresy
Heresy
Heresy is a controversial or novel change to a system of beliefs, especially a religion, that conflicts with established dogma. It is distinct from apostasy, which is the formal denunciation of one's religion, principles or cause, and blasphemy, which is irreverence toward religion...
. At length in 1729 the charge of projecting an edition of the Greek Testament savouring of Arian
Arianism
Arianism is the theological teaching attributed to Arius , a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt, concerning the relationship of the entities of the Trinity and the precise nature of the Son of God as being a subordinate entity to God the Father...
and Socinian views was formally laid against him. The end of the long and unedifying trial was his dismissal, on May 13, 1730, from his office of curate of St Leonard's.
Amsterdam
He then moved from Basel to AmsterdamAmsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, where another relative, Johann Heinrich Wettstein (1649–1726), had had an important printing and publishing business. From his office excellent editions of the classics were issued, as well as Gerard of Maastricht's edition of the Greek Testament. Wettstein had begun to print in this office an edition of the Greek Testament, which was suddenly stopped for some unknown reason. As soon as he reached Amsterdam he published anonymously the Prolegomena ad Novi Testamenti Graeci editionem, which he had proposed should accompany his Greek Testament, and which was republished by him, with additions, as part of his great work, 1751. The next year (1731) the Remonstrants
Remonstrants
The Remonstrants are the Dutch Protestants who, after the death of Jacobus Arminius, maintained the views associated with his name. In 1610 they presented to the States of Holland and Friesland a remonstrance in five articles formulating their points of disagreement from Calvinism.-History:The five...
offered him the chair of philosophy in their college at Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, vacated by the illness of Jean Leclerc
Jean Leclerc (theologian)
Jean Le Clerc, also Johannes Clericus was a Swiss theologian and biblical scholar. He was famous for promoting exegesis, or critical interpretation of the Bible, and was a radical of his age...
, on condition that he clear himself of the suspicion of heresy
Heresy
Heresy is a controversial or novel change to a system of beliefs, especially a religion, that conflicts with established dogma. It is distinct from apostasy, which is the formal denunciation of one's religion, principles or cause, and blasphemy, which is irreverence toward religion...
. He returned to Basel, and procured a reversal (March 22, 1732) of the previous decision, and re-admission to all his clerical offices. But, on his becoming a candidate for the 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...
chair at Basel, his orthodox
Orthodoxy
The word orthodox, from Greek orthos + doxa , is generally used to mean the adherence to accepted norms, more specifically to creeds, especially in religion...
opponents procured his defeat and he retired to Amsterdam.
At length, he was allowed to instruct the Remonstrant students in philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
and Hebrew on certain humiliating conditions. For the rest of his life he continued as professor in the Remonstrant college, declining in 1745 the Greek chair at Basel. In 1746 he once more visited England, and collated Syriac manuscripts for his great work. At last this appeared in 1751-1752, in two folio volumes, under the title Novum Testamentum Graecum editionis receptae cum lectionibus variantibus codicum manuscripts, etc. He did not venture to put new readings in the body of his page, but consigned them to a place between the textus receptus and the full list of various readings. Beneath the latter he gave a commentary, consisting principally of a mass of valuable illustrations and parallels drawn from classical and rabbinical literature, which has formed a storehouse for all later commentators. In his Prolegomena he gave an admirable methodical account of the manuscripts, the versions and the readings of the fathers, as well as the troubled story of the difficulties with which he had had to contend in the prosecution of the work of his life. He was the first to designate uncial manuscripts by Roman capitals, and cursive manuscripts by Arabic
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...
figures (A, B, C, D). He did not long survive the completion of this work. He died at Amsterdam.
Work
Wettstein rendered service to textual criticism by his collection of various readings and his methodical account of the manuscripts and other sources.Through his laborious study of Codex Alexandrinus
Codex Alexandrinus
The Codex Alexandrinus is a 5th century manuscript of the Greek Bible,The Greek Bible in this context refers to the Bible used by Greek-speaking Christians who lived in Egypt and elsewhere during the early history of Christianity...
, he found misinterpretations or calculated mistakes of New Testament written in Greek that question the basis of Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
. For example, the misreading of Greek word "God" with "who", so the passage from the book of I Timothy no longer read: "Christ as God made manifest in the flesh, and justified in Spirit", but instead read: "Christ who was made manifest in the flesh, and justified in Spirit". This finding, and some other findings led him to question his faith of the Divinity of Christ, which showed up on his later works.
Some opponents rendered his work less valuable because of his prejudice against the Latin version and the principle of grouping manuscripts in families which had been recommended by Richard Bentley and J. A. Bengel
Johann Albrecht Bengel
Johann Albrecht Bengel , Lutheran pietist clergyman and Greek-language scholar known for his edition of the Greek New Testament and his commentaries on it.-Life and career:Bengel was born at Winnenden in Württemberg, Germany....
.
See Wettstein's account of his labors and trials in his Nov. Test. i.: 1751. Novum Testamentum Græcum editionis receptæ, cum Lectionibus Variantibus Codicum MSS., Editionum aliarum, Versionum et Patrum, necnon Commentario pleniore ex Scriptoribus veteribus, Hebræis, Græcis, et Latinis, historiam et vim verborum illustrante, in two volumes. Amsterdam: Amstelædami. Reprinted in 1962 by Graz, Austria: Akademische Druck-u. Verlagsanstalt.
External links
- Novum Testamentum Graecum (Amsterdam 1751)