BLEEK, FRIEDRICH German biblical scholar, professor of theology at Bonn from 1829 to 18S9, was born on July 4 at Ahrensbok, in Holstein. He studied in Berlin from 1814 to 1817, under De Wette, Neander and Schleier macher. From he was Repetent in theology under De Wette, and published two dissertations in Schleiermacher's and G. C. F. Liicke's Journal (1819-2o, i g22) ; one on the origin and composition of the Sibylline Oracles and another on the author ship and design of the Book of Daniel. In 1823 he received the appointment of professor extraordinarius.
In 1829 he accepted Lucke's chair in the recently founded Uni versity of Bonn. In 1843 he was raised to the office of consistorial councillor, and was selected by the university to hold the office of rector. He died of apoplexy on Feb. 2 7 1859.
Bleek's works belong entirely to the departments of biblical criticism and exegesis. His views on questions of Old Testament criticism were "advanced" for his own day; but with respect to the New Testament his position was conservative, and he was an opponent of the Tubingen school. His greatest work, his com mentary on the epistle to the Hebrews (Brief an die Hebraer erlautert durch Einleitung, t]bersetzung, and f ortlauf enden Com mentor, 3 pts. 1828-40, abridged ed. 1868) won praise from men like De Wette and Fr. Delitzsch. In 1846 he published his contri butions to the criticism of the gospels (Beitrage zur Evangelien Kritik, pt. i.) which contained his defence of St. John's gospel.
Bleek's other works include Einleitung in das Alte Testament (3rd ed. 1869, Eng. trans. by G. H. Venables from 2nd ed. 1869) ; in 1878 a new edition (the 4th) appeared under the editorship of J. Well hausen, who made extensive alterations and additions; Introduction to the New Testament (3rd ed., W. Mangold, 1875, Eng. trans. from and German ed. by William Urwick 1869-70) ; Synoptische Erklarung der drei ersten Evangelien (Eng. trans., 1862) ; Vorlesungen uber die Apokalypse (Eng. trans. 1875) ; Lectures on Colossians, Philemon and Ephesians (5865).
See Herzog-Hauck, Realencyklopadie; F. Lichtenberger's Histoire des idees religieuses en Allemagne, vol. iii ; Diestel's Geschichte des Alten Testamentes (1869) ; and T. K. Cheyne's Founders of Old Testament Criticism (1893).