Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Nordheimer, Isaac

NORDHEIMER, Isaac, educator, b. in Memelsdorf, Germany, in 1809; d. in New York city, 3 Nov., 1842. After receiving a thorough education preparatory to becoming a rabbi, he entered the gymnasium of Würzburg in 1828, was transferred to its university in 1830, and completed his studies at Munich, where he obtained the degree of Ph. D. in 1834. To secure a wider field, Dr. Nordheimer came to New York in 1835, and received the appointment of instructor in sacred literature at Union theological seminary, where he remained from 1838 till 1842. He held the professorship of Hebrew and cognate languages at the University of the city of New York in 1836-'42. His learning and character made him successful as a teacher, and he enjoyed the friendship of the notable biblical scholars of his time, while many of his pupils now occupy posts of eminence. In 1888 he published in New York the first volume of his Hebrew grammar, and in 1841 the second volume (2d ed., with additions and improvements, 2 vols., New York, 1842). His other works, besides contributions to the “Biblical Repository,” were “A Grammatical Analysis of Select Portions of Scripture, or a Chrestomathy” (New York, 1838); and “The Philosophy of Ecclesiastes” in the “Biblical Repository” (July, 1838). His great clearness, his perfection of analysis, his philosophic method, and his thorough command of Oriental languages made his instruction of signal value. Dr. Nordheimer left several works in manuscript; a Chaldee and Syriac grammar and an Arabic grammar in German; a larger Arabic grammar in English; a Hebrew concordance, incomplete; Ecclesiastes translated and explained, in German; and a mass of philological notes.