Hurwitz, Hyman

Hurwitz, Hyman a distinguished Jewish scholar, of whose early life but little is known, was, up to the time of his death (about 1850), professor of Hebrew in the University College, London. He is best known as the author of Vinsdiciae Hebraicae, or A Defence of the Hebrew Scriptures (Lond. 1820, 8vo), which, at the time of its appearance, was highly commented upon by the London Quarterly Review, and by Home in his Bibl. Bib. Hurwitz also published a volume of Hebrew Tales, collected chiefly from the Talmud, to which he pays a very high tribute, and of which, while endeavoring to free it from the objection so frequently made to some of its indecent passages and many contradictions, he says, "I do not hesitate to avow my doubts whether there exists any uninspired work of equal antiquity that contains more interesting, more various and valuable information, than that of the still-existing remains of the ancient Hebrew cases." In 1807 Hurwitz began the publication of text-books for the study of the Hebrew language, which are considered among the best extant in the English language. They were, Elements of the Hebr. Lang. pt. 1, Orthography (Lond. 1807, 8vo; 4th ed. 1848, 8vo): — Etymology and Syntax of the Hebr. Lagn. (4th ed. 1850, 8vo): — Hebrew Grammar (4th ed. 1850, 8vo). — Etheridge, Introd. to Hebr. Lit. p. 183 sq.; Allibone, Dict. of Authors, i, 926.