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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 February 2013
WELL-INFORMED CHRISTIANS IN THE eighteenth century augmented their knowledge of Scripture by a library of commentaries whose messages were conveyed in sermons, hymns, festivals and holy days, and religious art and concordances, as well as through conversation. Knowledge of at least the commonplaces was taken for granted. In the case of Goethe, we can presume a detailed knowledge of Scripture, since he has left us with a vivid account of his interest in the Bible. As a young boy, he determined that he would have to learn Hebrew in order to be able to understand the Bible fully:
Ich eröffnete daher meinem Vater die Notwendigkeit, Hebräisch zu lernen, und betrieb sehr lebhaft seine Einwilligung: denn ich hatte noch einen höhern Zweck. Überall hörte ich sagen, daß zum Verständnis des Alten Testaments so wie des Neuen die Grundsprachen nötig wären. Das letzte las ich ganz bequem, weil die sogenannten Evangelien und Episteln, damit es ja auch Sonntags nicht an Übung fehle, nach der Kirche rezitiert, übersetzt und einigermaßen erklärt werden mußten. Ebenso dachte ich es nun auch mit dem Alten Testamente zu halten, das mir wegen seiner EigentÜmlichkeit ganz besonders von jeher zugesagt hatte.
A tutor was hired and soon enough the pupil began putting endless questions about the meaning of this or that place. The exasperated Dr. Albrecht recommended a massive German translation of an English annotated Bible, which appeared between 1749 and 1770 in 19 volumes.
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