Hackspan, Theodore

, a Lutheran divine, and eminent oriental scholar, was born in 1607, at | Weimar. Becoming early attached to the study of sacred philology, he endeavoured to acquire a knowledge of the Oriental languages as necessarily connected with it, and therefore, after attending the philosophical and theological schools of Jena for seven years, he went to Altdorf, to profit hy the instructions of Schwenter, who was then esteemed one of the ablest Orientalists. From Altdorf he removed to Helmstadt, where he applied to his theological studies under Calixtus, Horneius, and others, and on his return to Altdorf in 1636 was the first who gave lessons in public on the Oriental languages in that place. In 1654 he became professor of theology, and in both situations evinced great talents and persevering industry. No man in his time was better skilled in the Hebrew, Syriac, Chaldean, and Arabic, and being the first who attempted to teach these languages, he wished to assist his students by proper elementary books, but the German press at that time was so deficient in the requisite types, that he must have abandoned his design if Jodocus Schmidmaier, an advocate at Nuremberg, had not established a printing-office properly supplied with Oriental characters; and at this place Hackspan was enabled to print his valuable works. He died of a decline in 1659. His principal writings are,

1. u Tractatus de usu librorum rabbinicorum," 1644, 4to.

2, “Lucubrationes Frankrallenses, sive specimen aliquod interpretationum et expositionum, quas plurimas in difficillima quaeque utriusque Testamenti loca meditatus est B. C. Bertramus,” Altdorf, 1645, 8vo, reprinted in Crenius’s “Thesaurus.” 3. “Sylloge disputation ujn theologicarum etphilologicarum,” Altdorf, 1663,4to, most of which were published before in separate tracts. 4. “Fides et leges Mohammedis, ex Alcorano,” ibid. 1646, 4to. The following appear to have been printed after his death 5. “Miscellaneorum sacrorum libri duo/' ibid. 1660. 6.” Notae philologico-theologicoe in varia et difficiliora Veteris et Novi Testamenti loca,“ibid. 1664, 3 vols. 8vo. 7.” Observationes Arabico-Syriacae in quaedam loca Veteris et Novi Testamenti," ibid. 1662, 4to, &c. ¹