Fürst, Julius

German Hebraist and Orientalist; born May 12, 1805, at Zerkowo, Prussia, where his father, Jacob, was darshan; died at Leipsic Feb. 9, 1873. Fürst studied at Berlin (where Hegel and Neander were among his teachers), Breslau, and Halle (at the latter place under Gesenius), taking his degree in 1832. He settled in Leipsic as privat-docent, lecturing on Chaldaic, Syriac, Hebrew grammar and literature, Biblical exegesis, etc. In 1864, on the completion of his twenty-fifth year as privat-docent, he received the title of "professor" from the Saxon state, and was honored by election to several scientific societies. Fürst wrote:

Julius Fürst.

  * Lehrgebäude der Aramäischen Idiome, oder Formenlehre der Chaldäischen Grammatik, Leipsic, 1835.
  * Ḥaruze Peninim. Perlenschnüre Aramäiseber Gnomen und Lieder, oder Aramäische Chrestomathie, ib. 1836 (published as a text-book to the "Lehrgebäude").
  * Oẓer Leshon ha-Ḳodesh. Concordantia Librorum Veteris Testamenti Sacrorum, etc., ib. 1837-40 (in collaboration with Franz Delitzsch; a revision of Buxtorf's concordance). See Concordance.
  * Pirḳe Abot. Die Sprüche der Väter, ib. 1839.
  * Ari Nohem. Polemic on the genuineness of the Zohar, etc., ib. 1840.
  * Hebräisches und Chaldäisches Schulwörterb. über das Alte Testament, ib. 1842 (translated into English, Swedish, and Dutch).
  * Maggid Emet. Die Mission des Dr. Lilienthal in Russland Beleuchtet und in Ihren Unseligen Folgen Dargestelt, ib. 1843. Fürst only edited the book, written by the modern Hebrew scholar Mordecai Aaron Günzburg, as a response to Lilienthal's .
  * Urkunden zur Gesch. der Juden, part 1, ib. 1844.
  * Emunot we-De`ot, oder Glaubenslehre und Philosophie von Sa'adja Fayyûmi (German transl.), ib. 1845.
  * Cultur-und Litteraturgesch. der Juden in Asien, part 1, ib. 1849.
  * Hebräisches und Chaldäisches Handwörterb. über das Alte Testament, 2 vols., ib. 1857-61 (with a supplement: Zur Gesch. der Hebräischen Lexicographie, translated into English by S. Davidson).
  * Gesch. des Karäerthums, 3 vols., Leipsic, 1862-69.
  * Bibliotheca Judaica: Bibliographisches Handbuch, Umfassend die Druckwerke der Jüdischen Litteratur, etc., 3 vols., ib. 1863.
  * Gesch. der Biblischen Litteratur und des Jüdisch-Hellenistischen Schriftthums, 2 vols., ib. 1867-70.
  * Der Kanon des Alten Testaments nach den Ueberlieferungen in Talmud und Midrasch, ib. 1868.
  * Illustrierte Prachtbibel, comprising twenty-four books of Holy Scripture, with German translation and explanatory notes, Leipsic, 1874.



Fürst was the founder (1840) and editor of the weekly "Der Orient," the supplement of which, the "Literaturblatt," possesses great scientific value. In this and other periodicals he published many essays, criticisms, and scientific treatises. He also edited for some years the "Sabbathblatt," founded 1842. In addition he contributed to various works by other authors. Thus, for Zunz's Bible he translated the books of Daniel and Ezra (1838), and for Goldenthal's  (1845) wrote a treatise on the Talmudic explanation and interpretation of proper names. Franz Delitzsch's "Zur Gesch. der Jüdischen Poesie" (Leipsic, 1836) was largely inspired by Fürst.

The scientific value of Fürst's works has been disputed; some of them have become obsolete. The "Geschichte des Karäerthums" and the "Bibliotheca Judaica," however, are still indispensable reference-books.

Bibliography:

  * Delitzsch, Zur Gesch. der Jüdischen Poesie, p. 124, where a didactic poem of Fürst's, "Ḥoḳ we-Emunah," composed "from his 14th-22d year," is mentioned, and which is not otherwise known;
  * Fürst, Bibl. Jud. i. 306 et seq.;
  * Hilberg, Illustrierte Monatshefte, i. 133 et seq.;
  * Steinschneider, Hebr. Bibl. xiii. 140.



S. H. B.