PFEIFFER, AUGUSTUS, born 1640 at Lauen burg in Lower Saxony. After studying in various places, he took his degree of Master of Arts at Wittenberg, and was made one of the professors of its university. In 1671 he became Dean of Medzibor in Silesia, and afterwards attained to other honours and emoluments, till, having taken his doctor's degree in 1681, he became successively Archdeacon of St. Thomas' at Leipsic, ordinary professor of Oriental languages, and professor extraordinary of theology. He died in the office of superintendent at Lubeck in 1690. Pfeiffer was one of the most skilful philologists of his day. He is said to have known seventy languages. His library was rich in Hebrew, Arabic, Coptic, Ar menian, Persian, and Chinese MSS. ; and he left many learned works, of which we may mention '. Dubia vexata Scriptura Sacra sive loca Vet. Test., circa quce auctores dissident re/ harent, adductis et modest? expensis aliorum sententizs, sire- cinch" deciJa, tamque drlucide expedita, ut cuivis de vero seam a' diversis interpretamentis constarifire& gueat necnon ebraica atgue exotica Novi e suisfonti bus derivata, etc., Leipsic 1685, 4to, ibid. 1713. The execution of this work is not inferior to its promise. At the end are dissertations on the Con versation between Cain and Abel ; on Enoch ; on the primitive language; on the Seraphim ; on the qualification given to yoseph ; on the Shiloh ; on the Vow of 7ephtha ; on a passage of the 22d Psalm according to the Hebrew ; on the name of years; on the Galilean dialect of Peter. 2. Her
tneneutica Sacra, sive legitima Sacral literas inter pretandi ratio, Leipzig 1694, Svo. 3. Antiquitates ebraicas selectee uncle guamplurinth Scripturce locis facula accenditur, Leipsic 1687, I2M0 ; an excel lent little work with ingenious solutions of several difficult passages of Scripture. 4. Critica Sacra, gum agit de Sacra. codicis partitione,editionibus yards, etc., rid subjunguntur fractal= quatuor—(1.) de Anti gals ritibus Ebreeorum ; (2.) de et sub is linguarum orientalium omnium ; (3.)de cam pendiarid ration legendi Scripta rabbinico-talmudi ca ; (4.) de accentuation tarn prosaicd guam metricd facile discena'a, Leipzig 1680, Svo, Dresden 168o, 8vo—a work full of erudition ; (5.) Pra'lectiones an prophetiam "no, Wittenberg 1671 and 1706, Leipzig 'ME:, 4to ; commended by Rosenmiiller. 6. Synopsis noblliorum algae selectiorwn e sacra guerstionum, Wittenberg 1667, I2mo. All these works, and some others, are collected in two vols. 4to, published at Utrecht in 1704, with the title Opera ph ilokka. —M. H.