C. W. H. Pauli

Zebi Nasi Hirsch Prinz (Hebrew Tzvi Nassi) in German Heinrich Prinz, and later Rev. Christian William Henry Pauli (11 August 1800 in Breslau – 4 May 1877 in Amsterdam) was a convert to Christianity, missionary for the London Jewish mission, and Hebrew grammarian.^[1][2]

He was born as the youngest of six children, and orphaned at 14.^[3] Although he is referred to as "Rabbi Tzvi Nassi" in some Messianic Jewish reprints of his proof of the Trinity from the Zohar, there is no indication that he was ever a rabbi. At the age of 21 he published in German, under the name Heinrich Prinz Sermons for pious Israelites.^[4] He was converted by L. A. Petri.^[5]

In England as Rev. Christian William Henry Pauli he became a missionary for the London Society for promoting Christianity among the Jews of Joseph Frey, first in Berlin, then at Amsterdam.^[6] In 1839 as C. W. H. Pauli he published Analecta Hebraica, a Hebrew grammar.^[7] It is frequently incorrectly claimed that Pauli was a lecturer in Hebrew at Oxford University,^[8] but he was never a member of Oxford or any other university.^[9]

In 1844 as Rev. Christiaan Wilhelm Hirsch Pauli he moved to the Netherlands, Zion's Chapel where he worked for 30 years.^[10][11][12] In 1844 he reported on an outrage committed on the Jews at Weesp, near Amsterdam.^[13][14]

Works

• 1824 Heinrich Prinz Predigten für fromme Israeliten zur Erbauung und zur wahren Aufklärung in Sachen Gottes. in Jahrbücher der Theologie und theologischer Nachrichten, Volume 2 Friedrich Heinrich Christian Schwarz
• 1839 Christian William Henry Pauli Analecta Hebraica Oxford 1839
• 1871 The Chaldee Paraphrase on the Prophet Isaiah of Jonathan ben Uzziel translated by C.W.H. Pauli. - Targum Isaiah.
• 1863 The Great Mystery, or How can Three be One (London, 1863) - an endeavour to prove the doctrine of the Trinity from the Zohar, in which he made further critical comments against Gesenius including that he had misunderstood the grammar and perpetuated a hoax concerning the pluralis excellentiae of Elohim.^[15]

References

1. Johannes Friedrich Alexander de Le Roi Die evangelische Christenheit und die Juden in der Zeit der... 1891 reprinted in Johann F. A. de Le Roi Geschichte der evangelischen Judenmission seit Entstehung des neueren Judentums: Volumes 1-2 - 1899 Pauli, dessen spätere Geschichte in Verbindung mit der Londoner Mission mitzutheilen sein wird, hiess als Jude Zebi Nasi ... Erst 21 Jahre alt, gab er bereits »Predigten für fromme Israeliten« heraus, die er als Lehrer gehalten hatte;"
2. Paul Gerhard Aring, Christliche Judenmission Gesamthochschule Duisburg Neukirchener Verlag, 1980 p140
3. JFA de Le Roi "Derselbe ist 1800 in Breslau als jüngstes von 6 Kindern seiner Eltern geboren."
4. Heinrich Prinz Predigten für fromme Israeliten zur Erbauung und zur wahren 1823
5. Sohn eines Rabbiners aus Breslau, für das Christentum gewinnen und ihn »während seiner Arbeit in der Detmolder Gesellschaft zur Erkenntnis Christi führen« (JFA de le Roi, aaO,
6. Arie de Kuiper Israel tussen zending en oecumene 1964
7. Christian William Henry Pauli Analecta Hebraica Oxford 1839
8. Robert Israel Brooklyn Star 2003 "Rabbi Tzvi Nassi, a lecturer in Hebrew at Oxford University
9. Perry Butler Pusey rediscovered 1983 "... to suggest that it might be CWH Pauli, who worked closely with Pusey in the early years of his professorship. ... first in Berlin, then at Amsterdam, and died on 4 May 1877. CWH Pauli was never a member of Oxford or any other .."
10. "C. W. H. Pauli, was transferred to. 121. this post in 1844, and labored for thirty years. Rev. A. C. Adler succeeded him, and still holds forth the word of ..."
11. WT Gidney The History of the London Society for promoting Christianity amongst the Jews, from 1809 to 1908
12. C. den Boer Messiasbelijdende joden, vroeger en nu 1989 "AS Thelwall en diens opvolger CWH Pauli. CWH Pauli Met deze evangelist willen we ons in het vervolg wat nader bezighouden. … Christiaan Wilhelm Hirsch Pauli werd in augustus 1800 in Breslau geboren als zoon van een orthodoxe rabbijn. "
13. "We have received from the Rev. C. W. H. Pauli, the following account of an outrage committed on the Jewish inhabitants of Weesp, in Holland, by an ignorant mob, during the Feast of Passover:"
14. "In 1844 Rev. C. W. H. Pauli, as the Society's missionary in Berlin, reported that there were above 1,000 converts resident in Berlin; and in 1850, as many as 2,500."
15. "which some modern grammarians, who possess more of the so- called philosophical than of the real knowledge of the Oriental languages, call a pluralis excellentiae."