De Legibus Hebraeorum Ritualibus

SPENCER, JOHN.

Johann Georg Cott

Tubingen

1732

Latin interspersed with Hebrew. Engraved portrait of author

John Spencer (1630-1693) of Cambridge was an accomplished Hebraist. The present work is credited with shaping the mindset of Deists and later, certain members of the French Enlightenment, who were decidedly skeptical of the Bible and of Judaism. One of the novelties of Spencer’s scholarship, was his belief that rather than the ancient Hebrews having influenced Near Eastern culture, the opposite was true. Particularly in regard to Sabaean culture, it seems Spencer’s inspiration was Maimonides’ Guide, Part III. See A.L. Katchen, Christian Hebraists and Dutch Rabbis (1984), pp. 233-234; EJ, Vol. VIII, col. 58