Johann Albrecht Bengel

1687-1752. Lutheran minister and theologian. Trained at Tübingen, he taught at a seminary in Denkendorf (1713-41), then became superintendent of Herbrechtingen (1741) and Alpirsbach (1749). His chief work was a critical edition of the NT (1734) which became the starting point for modern textual criticism. This work was followed by the Gnomon novi testamenti (1742), a commentary in which he gives a word-by-word explanation of the Greek text in capable fashion. John Wesley* translated most of its notes and incorporated them into Notes Upon the New Testament (1755). Bengel wrote also several apocalyptic works, among them Erklärte Offenbarung Johannis (1740), in which he tried to fix the number of the beast and set the date of the beginning of the Millennium at 1836. Among evangelical scholars, Bengel's Gnomon is still in use.