Oldal 67 [67]
THE HEBREW LANGUAGE AND COMPARATIVE LINGUISTICS...
Hebrew and Arabic were twin sister" languages, both descendants ofthe primordial
language”?
Burnett concludes that these philological breakthroughs together gave birth
to such sub-disciplines of biblical studies as textual criticism and comparative
philology.
Not only the theological thinking and comparative philology, but also the
social reality of this period was connected to Hebrew language and society. As
it is declared in De republica Hebraeorum of Petrus Cunaeus (1586-1638),° the
republic of the ancient Hebrews was seen as a model for the Dutch republic of
this era.
HUNGARIAN PROTESTANT PHILOLOGISTS OF THE SIXTEENTH AND
SEVENTEENTH CENTURIES
Hungarian peregrination started in 1522 in Wittenberg and later in other Ger¬
man, Swiss and Dutch universities.” Theology was the most popular area of
studies, and Hebrew, as the holy language, was also one of its major subjects.
Talented Hungarian students were not only engaged in learning of Hebrew
but also involved by their famous teachers in studying and examining other
Semitic languages, such as Aramaic, Syriac and Arabic. These studies also in¬
volved the comparative analyses of the languages of ancient texts Analysis of
these texts strengthened the linguistic sensitivity of the Hungarian students
and broadened their horizons in grammar. The patriotism of the most talented
Hungarian Protestant students prompted them to use their knowledge to write
Hungarian grammars and make linguistic comparisons with the sacrosanct
language, Hebrew.
7 BURNETT, Later Christian Hebraists, 787.
CUNAEUS, Petrus, De republica Hebraeorum, Lugundi Batavorum, Ludovicum Elzevirium, 1617.
On the impact of Dutch Hebraism on Hungarian peregrination see my article on György Komäro¬
mi Csipkes (1628-1678) and the influence from the Netherlands on Christian Hebraism in Hun¬
gary, in S. Schorch, (ed.), Christliche Hebraistik im östlichen Mitteleuropa von der Renaissance
bis zur Aufklärung. Christian Hebraism in Eastern Central Europe from the Renaissance to the
Enlightenment, (Berlin, forthcoming)
Thomas Erpenius (1584-1624) said in his inaugural lecture at Leiden University in 1620 that
“[Hebrew] is susceptible of so much illumination from Arabic, both with regard to expression
and to figures of speech, and the meaning, origin and etymology of words, as to deserve a book in
itself.” JoNEs, Robert, (trans.), Thomas Erpenius (1584—1624) on the Value of the Arabic Language,
Manuscripts of the Middle East 1 (1986) 20.
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