The Anabaptists and the Jews: The Example of Eatzer, Denck and the cW~rmsProphets" by James Samuel Beck A Thesis subrnitted to the Faculty of Wycliffe College and the Histoncal Department of the Toronto School of Theology in partial fuLGLment of the requirements for the degree of Master ofArts awarded by the University of St. Michael's College Toronto 2000 O James S. Beck National Library Bibliothèque nationaIe 1*1 of Canada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographie Services services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395. rue WelIingon Ottawa ON KIA ON4 Ottawa ON Kt A ON4 Canada Canada The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence dowing the exchsive permettant à la National Lïbrary of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distniute or sell reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies of diis thesis in microfom, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microficheffilm_ de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts fiom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. The Anabaptists and the Jews: The Example of Hiitzer, Denck and the TomsProphets" James Samuel Beck Master of Arts 2000 Faculty of Wycliffe College, Historical Department of the Toronto School of Theology, University ofSt. Michael's Coilege Abstract: In 1527 in the city of Worms, Ludwig Katzer, with the sterling assistance of Hans Denck, published the first German translation of ~e Prophets fkom the Hebrew text, popularly titled the "Worms Prophets." Martin Luther's criticism of the translation was that it was iduenced too much by the Jews. Until now no effort has been made to ascertain whether there was a Jewish influence on the ccWormsProphets." The purpose of this investigation is to discem the nature and degree of Jewish influence on the transnation. Such an investigation provides an opporhmity to begin to fill the gap in the larger question of the Anabaptists' contacts with and attitudes toward the Jews, a study which b.as been lomg overdue. My study of extemal and interna1 evidence shows that Hatzer and Denck were in contact with certain Jews of the city of Worms and that they made use of Jewish expertise and the long tradition of Rabbinic biblical scholarship to aid them in their translation, Based on the nature of the translation it is safe to Say that this contact reinforced the incipient incginations of Hatzer and Denck away fiom Christian orthodoxy and toward anti-Trirutarianism. The heart of the thesis is a detailed investigation of the annotations to the "Worms Prophets" with the purpose of ident-g the dominamt interpretive tradition which informed the efforts of the tramlators. The evidence reveals that HIattzer and Denck depended primarily on the Jewish interpretive tradition and that the source of trhat tradition was one or more of the Rabbis of Worms. Contents Introduction ........................................................... Pagel 1. The Jews in Christian Europe ....................................... Page 7 A . Medieval Europe and the Jews .......................... Page 8 B . The Renaissance and the Jews .......................... Page 14 C. The Reforrnation and the Jews .......................... Page 21 Summary ...................................................... Page30 II . Anabaptists and the Jews: Encounters and Attitudes ..................... Page 33 A . Limitations of opportunity for encounters ................. Page 33 B . Anti-Judaism ....................................... Page 35 C. Sabbatarianism and other Judaizing Reforms .............. Page 39 D . Unitarianism, Ad-Trinitariankm and beyond ............. Page 45 Summq ...................................................... Page46 Denck, Hatzer. Hebraica and the Jews ................................ Page 49 A . Hans Denck and the Jews ............................. Page 49 I . Hebrew Language ....................... Page 49 2 . Encounters with Jews ..................... Page 50 3 . hternal Evidence ........................ Page 54 B . Ludwig Hatzer and the Jews ........................... Page 59 1. Hebrew Language ................... .... Page 59 2. Encounters with Jews ..................... Page 62 3 . Interna1 Evidence ........................ Page 63 Summary ...................................................... Page 67 IV . External Evidence: Jews and Aaabaptists in Worms .. ................... Page 70 A . History of the Jewish Community ....................... Page 70 B . Prominent Jews in Worms and their encounters with Christians .................................................. Page71 C . The Anabaptist Community in Worms ................... Page 78 Summary .................................................. Page80 V . Interna1 Evidence: The "Worms Prophets" and Baruch der Prophet ........ Page 8 1 A . The Hebrew Bible and the Early Reformation: The Development of the Tools of Hebraica .... Page 81 1. The Hebrew Text of the Bible .............. Page 82 2 . Grmars. Lexicons. and Concordances ...... Page 83 B. Printing history of the "Worms Prophets" ................. Page 86 Acknowledgements The number of people to whom 1 must express my gratitude is surprisingly Iong. Were it not as long as it is, this project would be less than it is. I wish to Say thank you to Dr. Edith Schipper of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich, Nom Hoebger of the Munich Stadtbibliothek, Doris Lampert at the Hessische Landes- und Hochschulbibliothek in Darmstadt, and Dr. Helmar Hartel at the Herzog Augurt Bibliothek, Wolfenbuettel who all generously assisted me in a circuitous but ultimaiely rewarding intemet search for a very rare document. I am also gratefbl to Lois Bowman and her staffat the Menno Simons Historical Lïtrary, Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, Virginia who made available their two editions of the Worms Prophets and provided space for three days of research on those volumes. My gratitude also extends to the staffs of the various libraries of the University of Toronto system, particularly the fiendly staff at the Centre for Refomation and Renaissance Stuclies. Individuals to whom I am indebted include Drs. Werner Packull, Victor Thiessen, and Bradley Walton for their valuable assistance with recalcitrant passages in Latin and Geman, and Dr. Richard Ascough for his sfllistic suggestions on the introduction. Three people without whose assistance I simply codd not have managed deserve special mention. Dr. Michael Milway, former curator of The Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies, encouraged me throüghout the project and proofiead an at times very shwfirst draft - including most of the languages in Appendix A! My advisor, Dr. A. J. Reimer, agreed to take me as bis student and encouraged and supported me through some seerningly fallow periods. He read through two dr& of the thesis and his capacity for encouragement and constructive iv cnticism helped to mould the project. Finally, my wife Alicia, while working on her own doctoral program, took time out to assist me in my research on the Worms Prophets at Eastern Mennonite University, gave up her own study space for an extended period of tÏme to facilitate my needs, supported me heroically through dificult times, and continues to love me far beyond my woah. To these three people this thesis is dedicated. While all of the above-mentioned people contributed generously to the qudity of this project, any and all errors that remain are my own. By the way, if you cmhear me, Uncle Bob Sloane, I'm finaily finished tbat thesis! Introduction With the rise of the Radical Reformation,' the Jews were no longer the only discemible religious minoïity in Western Europe, and the Radicals were persecuted with a similar kind of zeal that had been accorded to the Jeivs in the past, in a Last doomed effort to preserve the UILity of what had been European Chn~tendorn.~This persecution brought the sects of the Radical Reformation to sr comparable existentid level of exile and persecution that had been the lot of Jews for centuries. Finding themselves in similar sociai circumstances, the logic of the Anabaptist sociai views and their emphasis on the importance of the Law brought them closer to the thinking of the Jews. In a simdar state of powerlessness in the midst of crisis, the Anabaptists developed a strong sense of Messianic expectation that very possibly was ionuenced by a similar Messianic fervour among the Jews at the tirne.) ' The terrns "Radical Reformation" and "Anabaptism" will not be used interchangeably. Radical Reformation was a term coined by G.H. Williams in an effort to provide a more accurate name for what Roland Bahton had called the Lefi Wing of the Reformation. While both terms are not without diffrculty and considerable debate, here the Radical Reformation will be understood in terms similar to those expressed by Williams in his remarkable monograph of the same name and includes a11 the radicalizing impulses in the Refomation movement, of which Anabaptism is understood to be a founding group, and out of which a number of the other radical sects deveIoped. 'P. Sigal, lne Emergence of Conternporary Judaism, vol. 3 (Allison Park, Pennsylvania: Pickwick Publications,