the Old Testament. Unlike his predecessor, Matthäus Adrien, Aurogallus' approach to the study of Hebrew matched that of Luther. Both he and Luther considered the primary purpose of the study of Hebrew as a philological means to determine the true meaning of the Scriptures. Despite this, Aurogallus included a list of common abbreviations found in rabbinical commentaries in his Compendium Hebreae Grammatices. He also based his discussion of the etymology of biblical names in his De Hebraeis, urbium, regionum, populorum, fluminum, montium, & aliorulocorum, nominibus (Names of Hebrew, cities, regions, peoples, rivers, mountains and other places) on Rashi and Targumim, as well as classical and medieval authors, demonstrating a much deeper interest in Hebrew scholarship for its own sake than Luther. This utilization of rabbinical texts in the study of Hebrew was contrary to Luther’s strict conception of the study of Hebrew in a purely Christian context. It helped move Hebrew studies towards becoming a discipline in its own right, rather than a subcategory of theology. Aurogallus also expanded the consideration of semitic sources of biblical commentary to Aramaic, and wrote a grammar of Chaldean (a Neo-Aramaic language), which was added to his Hebrew grammar in later printings. Works Compendium Hebreae Chaldeaequae grammatices (Compendium of Hebrew and Chaldaic Grammar) (1523–25, 1531 Wittenberg) De Hebraeis, urbium, regionum, populorum, fluminum, montium, & aliorulocorum, nominibus (1526 Wittenberg, 1539 & 1543 Basel) Chronik der Herzöge uund Könige von Böhmen (Chronicle of the Dukes and Kings of Bohemia (lost) Hebräisch historisch-geographisches Reallexicon (Hebrew historical-geographic lexicon) (1526–1539) References 1490 births 1543 deaths 16th-century Bohemian people 16th-century German people Linguists from Germany German Hebraists Czech Hebraists German male non-fiction writers German Bohemian people German people of German Bohemian descent People from the Kingdom of Bohemia People from Chomutov People from Wittenberg