Abstract

Abstract:

In the fall of 1542 the aging Luther, sitting at his dinner table, is reported to have exclaimed, "Oh, the Hebrews!" He quickly clarified that he was not referring to Jews but rather was speaking "about our people." These Hebrews, Luther complained, "greatly Judaize[d]" when they interpreted the Hebrew Bible. Above all, he was upset that the leading Basel Hebraist Sebastian Münster still was not pleased with the German Bible translation produced by Luther's team at Wittenberg. Münster's own biblical translation stuck only to the grammar and had failed to look at the wider sentence and meaning. This episode, a brief but telling recollection from Luther's students, speaks to the Reformer's preoccupation with the Christian study of Hebrew and the proper translation of the Old Testament. These subjects occupied a constant place in Luther's mind during the last decade of his life.

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