Adalbert Merx

Adalbert Merx (2 November 1838 in Bleicherode near Nordhausen, Germany – 6 August 1909 in Heidelberg, Germany) German theologian and orientalist.

He studied at the University of Jena, where he became extraordinary professor in 1869. Subsequently he was ordinary professor of philosophy at the University of Tübingen, and in 1873 professor of theology at the University of Giessen. From 1875 till his death he was professor of theology of the University of Heidelberg. In the course of his researches he made several journeys in the East.

Among his many works are:
*"Grammatica syriaca" (1867-1870)
*"Vocabulary of the Tigre language" (1868)
*"Das Gedicht vom Hiob" (1871)
*"Die Prophetie des Joel und ihre Ausleger" (1879)
*"Die Saadjanische Übersetzung der Hohe Liedes ins Arabische" (1882)
*"Chrestomathia Targumica" (1888)
*"Historia artis grammaticae apud Syros" (1889)
*"Ein samaritanisches Fragment" (1893)
*"Idee und Grundlinien einer allgemeiner Geschichte der Mystik" (1893)
*"Die Bücher Moses und Josua; eine Einfuhrung fur Laien" (1907)
*"Der Messias oder Ta'eb der Samaritaner, nach bisher unbekannten Quellen" (1909)

Merx devoted much of his later research to the elucidation of the Sinaitic Palimpsest discovered in 1892 by Mrs. Agnes Smith Lewis, the results ("Die Evangelien des Markus und Lukas nach der Syrischen im Sinaikloster gefundenen Palimpsesthandschrift") being embodied in "Die vier kanonischen Evangelien nach dem ältesten bekannten Texte" (4 vols., 1897-1905). His last work was an edition of the books of Moses and Joshua.

References

*1911