Some Jewish Witnesses For Christ

"Another circumstance in my life tended to my further enlightenment. The perusal of the ancient classics, the political events of 1813 and 1815, even the study of the history of my fathers according to the flesh, awakened in my soul the faculties of poetry. As a youthful poet, I was presented by a learned Hebraist of our nation to the greatest of our Dutch contemporary poets, the celebrated Bilderdyk, who died at the age of 75 years in 1831. He was a remarkable man in all respects, and one whose political and religious convictions, and originality of mind and character, had armed all this present age, at least in his own country, against him. Misunderstood, persecuted, banished in 1795, and harassed by all sorts of misfortunes, he had found from his youth, strength and consolation in the Gospel of Christ. Attached in heart to the truths of the confession of the Reformed Churches, he had besides early perceived the glorious future, announced by the prophets to the ancient people of God, and how their conversion to the Messiah, crucified by them, would be one day to the nations at large like life from the dead. From thence arose a particular attachment to Israel for their fathers' sake, and for the love of Christ, who sprung from Israel according to the flesh. Very naturally, I felt strongly drawn towards this extraordinary man, I became his disciple, and also his intimate friend for eighteen years to the day of his death. It is to him, under the hand of God, and through His adorable grace, that I saw the light which led me to the Christian religion, and to the faith in Jesus, my Saviour, and my God. Not that Bilderdyk ever sought to make a proselyte of his young disciple. With a wisdom which I can attribute to nothing but the direction of the Almighty, he rather endeavoured not to sway my mind by the influence which his superior intelligence gave him over me. He only endeavoured to render me more of an Israelite than is consistent with the wisdom of the present age. He spoke to me of the Old Testament; he directed my attention to the prophecies, to the promises given to the fathers, to the portions of revealed truth, preserved even in the traditions of the Rabbis (Messiah ben David and Messiah ben Joseph, &c.) Especially he tried to make me feel that the true Christian shares in the hopes of Israel in regard to a glorious reign of Messiah upon the throne of David; and that on the other hand (it is thus that he expressed himself in a piece of poetry which he addressed to me in 1819), the sincere Jew is a Christian in hope.

"Soon the hand of God led us further on. It was in 1820. Bilderdyk and I were engaged in a deeply serious conversation on the things of God and of truth. In the ardour of discourse he happened to say to me, that the ancient Jews themselves had acknowledged a plurality of persons in the ineffable unity of God. That God seeing Himself, contemplating Himself, reflecting Himself, begot His Son from all eternity; and that the Son is He whom Christians adore in the person of Jesus Christ crucified.

"Then did my eyes perceive the first rays of new light. I began to read the New Testament; I read that unspeakably sublime and blessed word (St. John i. 6-14), 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and the Word was made flesh.' I began to feel an abhorrence of sin, for which the Saviour Himself manifested in the flesh, had suffered the death of the cross. I perceived the fulfilment of the prophecies of Isaiah, xi., liii., lxi., and in Psalms xxii., cx., &c. I adored – I believed, and by degrees this faith operated upon my conscience and my practice. Religion was no longer merely a sublime speculation, or a great national interest; I found that I must become the property of Jesus Christ, that I must live to Him, and by Him. Twenty years have elapsed since that period. Shame in the sight of God and before men befits me in recording so holy an obligation. But He who called me from the midst of darkness is faithful. He will not suffer me to quit this life without having truly glorified Him with my lips, and in my life, by the faith which alone saves. During the early days of my convictions I had, though with some hesitation, opened my mind on the subject, to my friend Capadose. We soon entered into a full discussion of it – and our conversations were more and more directed to the great questions of the truth and salvation; we read and examined together. A third enquirer into the Scriptures and the truth in Christ, was soon after joined with us. God gave me, in 1821, a wife whose choice from the first communication we had together on this all-important subject, was in accord with my own. By a remarkable providence of God, Hannah Belmonte, my cousin, betrothed to me in 1820, had been, through a train of family circumstances, brought up in a school of Christian young ladies. Having been admitted to share their religious instructions, she became acquainted with the catechism of Heidelberg, and had heard the blessed name of Jesus before I did. From the time I imparted to her what was passing in my own mind, she became to me a beloved sister in Christ, as well as a faithful companion in the trials of life, and in the search after eternal life through faith in our great God and Saviour. Together with our friend Capadose, we were baptized the 20th October, 1822, at Leyden; and the Lord afterwards added to us three other members of our family. We kept up a good understanding, and uninterrupted communion of feeling with my mother-in-law Belmonte, and her eldest daughter, Esther; though we were far from anticipating the happy change and renewal of heart and life, which quickly developed itself. By the Divine blessing, a conversation that my mother-in-law and I had together, one evening, was made the means of arousing her to a serious concern for the salvation of her soul, and this example was soon followed by her daughter. Both displayed great eagerness for Christian instruction, and shortly after they openly confessed the name of the Lord Jesus, and were baptized by the venerable and pious Pierre Chevalier (pastor of the Walloon church in this town) – who is now with them before the throne of the Lamb.

"Our mother, then aged sixty-eight years, survived her baptism two years, a period which she devoted almost entirely to prayer and studying the Scriptures, especially the New Testament, her previous reading having been confined to the most frivolous publications. Perfect peace was the portion of her latter days, and her last words were, 'Come, Lord Jesus!' Her daughter Esther, who afterwards married the worthy son of the Walloon pastor, our intimate friend and brother, Monsieur J. Chevalier, after a most edifying course of devotedness to her Lord and Saviour, died in her confinement in June, 1840. Her soul also reposes in peace in the bosom of Abraham, and in the full fruition of His presence who redeemed her with His blood.

"Another member of our family, who had become a disciple of Christ, and had been baptized some time after us (but quite independently of us), had preceded our dear sister in death; delivered from the depths of sin by the healing grace of the Lord, he had found pardon and eternal life through the new and living way of the blood of Christ. After having studied theology, he was about to assume the pastoral charge of one of our churches, when he was called to his rest.

"To God the most holy, be thanksgiving and praise for his unspeakable mercies in life, in death, and throughout all eternity. Amen."

After Bilderdyk's death Da Costa was generally recognized as his successor among the Dutch poets. He wrote fifty-three longer and shorter poems. Amongst his other works are – "Israel en de Volken" (2nd ed. Haarlem, 1848-49), a survey of the history of the Jews to the nineteenth century, the third volume dealing with the history of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews. The work was translated into English under the title, "Israel and the Gentiles," by Mary Kennedy (London, 1850), and into German by a friend of God's Word (Miss Thumb), published by K. Mann, Frankfurt, a/m. 1855. He also wrote two papers, "The Jews in Spain and Portugal, and the Jews from Spain and Portugal," in 1836; "The Von Schönberg (Belmonte) family," in the "Jahrbuch für Holland," 1851; and "The noble families among the Jews" (Navorscher, 1857).

Dahan, Job, a Jew in Mogador, baptized by the L.J.S. missionary Ginsburg, about 1872-3, had to experience, like St. Paul, stripes and imprisonment, yet remained steadfast in the faith and laboured for the Master.

Daniel, David, laboured as a pioneer missionary at Safed, in 1849, amidst great difficulties and personal dangers. As soon as one enquirer came forth to make a public confession of his faith in Christ, Daniel was exposed to ill-treatment from his unbelieving brethren, and at last compelled to return to Jerusalem. Later he laboured among the Jews in Frankfort, and the rest of his life he spent as a lay-worker at Wadhurst, in Sussex. He was a true servant of Christ.

Darmon, Solomon, born in Algiers in 1850, baptized by Ginsburg in 1872, laboured with tokens of Divine approval in Mogador. A Jewish widow, who had declared that if angels from heaven were to tell her that Jesus is the Messiah she would not believe, was convinced at length through the testimony of Darmon. His own wife later followed his example.

Darmstadt (Rabbi Schittenhoven), was baptized in Switzerland, in 1749, by Pastor Augusti.

Darmstadter, son of a learned Jew, was baptized in Darmstadt, in 1680. Concerning him, there appeared in Breslau, in 1713, a little book by Deakonus Caspar, entitled "Geschtillte Sehnsucht eines wahren Israeliten nach dem himmlischen Jerusalem" ("The longing of a true Israelite after the heavenly Jerusalem satisfied"). To show the Jews that Christianity was a matter of deep concern with him he abstained from food for several days, and by his whole life and conversation he exercised a salutary influence upon them.

David, Andreas Friedrich, born at Altofen, in 1750, was baptized in Vienna about 1785. Superintendent Folk reports of him in that year that he was a sincere man and the first Jewish convert received into the Evangelical Church in Austria ("Kalkar Israel," 203).

David, Fanta, a Falasha convert in Abyssinia. Concerning him, Argawi wrote on March 14, 1889, that he had accompanied him on a long journey on foot to Monkullo, in order to be able to send a letter from there to their friend, Mr. Flad, in Germany.

David, Ferdinand, born in Hamburg, in 1810, was baptized in Berlin by Pastor Schultze, in 1828. As a musician and composer he associated with Mendelssohn. He died at Klosters, in Granbündten. His sister Louise, born in 1811, also embraced Christianity and died in London as Madam Dulken, in 1850.

David, Georg Nathan, son of a Jewish merchant, was born at Copenhagen in 1793, and after receiving a good education, embraced Christianity. He became Professor at the University of Copenhagen, founded the newspaper "Fäderlandet," which advocated the political rights of the people. He was also director of a bank. He died in 1874.

David, Hakim, physician and learned Talmudist, was baptized by the L.J.S. missionaries at Bagdad, in 1850.

David, J., laboured as an evangelist among the Jews in Hamburg and Holstein about 1875.

Davidson, Benjamin, a native of Posen, embraced Christianity in London, probably under the ministry of Ridley Herschell, who had known him at home. In 1843 they both belonged to a Hebrew Christian Prayer Union, which used to meet once a month for prayer. In 1847 Davidson was appointed Principal of the Missionary Training College of the British Society for the Propagation of the Gospel among the Jews. He also used to instruct enquirers. He was the author of an "Analytical Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon," "Syriac Reading Lessons with Analysis," and "Chaldee Reading Lessons," an English edition of Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar. He assisted in the editing of the "Englishman's Hebrew Concordance." His chief literary work, however, was posthumous – a Concordance of the Hebrew and Chaldee Scriptures. Davidson was also actively engaged from time to time in missionary work. In 1866 he laboured in Vienna and had much intercourse with students. In Bordeaux he stirred up an interest in the Jews among evangelical Christians, so that they founded the "Societé d'amis d'Israel." In 1871 he became Superintendent of the Home for Aged Converts and for Orphans, where he died the same year.

Davis, Joseph, a native of Poland, was baptized in 1819, in Edinburgh, and was probably the first convert of the Edinburgh Jewish Missionary Society, which was founded the year before. He afterwards laboured as a missionary among his brethren.

Davis, Rev. Nathan, was one of the first missionaries of the Free Church of Scotland. He was sent to Tunis in 1830, where he raised a spirit of enquiry amongst the Jews, and baptized some of them. In 1848 he was transferred to Gibraltar.

Dennis, Rev. Dr. M. J., worked first as a missionary in Palestine. Later on he left the Holy Land and joined Mr. Freshman's mission in New York, but his station was at Boston.

Desair, Ludwig (Leopold Dessauer), born in Posen in 1809, embraced Christianity. He is known as one of the greatest Shakespearian actors of the nineteenth century.

Detmond, Johann Hermann, son of the Court physician at Hanover, born in 1787. The whole family embraced Christianity, and Detmond, junior, became a member of the German Parliament in 1848. ("Jewish Intelligence," 1856, p. 329).

Deutsch, Christian Solomon, born at Temesvar, in Hungary, 1734. Up to his twentieth year he studied scarcely anything but the Talmud at home and in Prague. The Bible was a sealed book to him. He had married, as the custom was then, very young, and had his board and lodging with his father-in-law, so that he could apply all his energies to Talmudic study, till he should be a light in Israel. In 1760 his wife died, and after four months he married the second daughter, and was kept again. In the same year he received from the Grand Rabbi of Moravia, the title of Moreinu or D.D. However, he was not happy; he had read a passage in the Talmud, tract Megillah 24 b, which troubled him. It is thus: "R. Jose said: I was vexed all my life in not being able to understand the prophecy in Deut. xxviii. 29. 'Thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness,' until one dark night I met a blind man carrying a burning torch, and asked him, 'What good is that torch to you?' He replied, 'Although I cannot myself see, yet others can see and take care of me that I fall not into a pit or among thorns and briars." This awakened serious thoughts in Solomon's mind. He felt that he was not even like the blind man, for he had neglected the Word of God in the Old Testament, and as for the New, he, living in a Roman Catholic country, had never heard of it. So he began to practise penitence by wearing a garment of horsehair over his body, fasting and castigations. At night he often used to weep over his sins, and his wife could not console him. Then she reproached him that he had some secret which he kept from her. To this he replied, "I will confess the truth to you; we must choose another way and get out of the darkness in which we are living, if we wish to escape from hell." He had been already meditating about embracing Christianity, and this he betrayed somewhat by his behaviour, and the result was that he was compelled by the rabbi to divorce his wife. When three Roman priests heard of this affair, they visited him, and one of them assured him that he had prayed to the Virgin for his conversion, therefore he ought at once to join the Church. But Solomon refused, and left his home in 1762, praying on the way for guidance in the name of Jesus. This prayer he records in full in his autobiography. He came to Prague and then to Saxony, studying the Scriptures on the way. Here in "a prominent town" (probably Dresden) he visited the rabbi, and they enjoyed themselves in a discussion over some knotty Talmudic subtleties. On October 24, he read for the first time Isa. liii. and asked the rabbi concerning whom the prophet spoke. Then the rabbi appointed an hour and a private place where he would speak to him about this chapter. When they met together he was astonished to hear the rabbi revealing as a secret his belief that the chapter was fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth. Thence Solomon went to Leipzig, Berlin, Amsterdam, and at last to London, where he was very ill. After his recovery in 1763, he returned to Holland. On his way by ship to Arnheim, he met a Swiss Christian, who took a great fancy to him, and in a conversation expressed a wish that the Lord might enlighten his eyes as he did Rabbi Jechiel Hirschlein who had been baptized at Zurich. In short, after much instruction, Solomon was baptized at Amsterdam, on June 25, 1767, after handing in a written confession of his faith under the title, "Jehovah Glorified through the acknowledgment of the true Messiah Jesus Christ, proved from the writings of the Prophets, Evangelists, and Apostles," consisting of 175 pages, and printed at Amsterdam. He then studied theology and became Pastor at Mydret in 1777, where he laboured faithfully till his death in 1797. His chief literary work was, "Israel's Verlosinge en eeuwige Behoudenis" (Israel's redemption and eternal salvation), 3 vols., Amsterdam, 1769-93.

Deutsch, Ignaz Friedrich Gottlieb, a native of Perskretscham, and evidently a relative of the next, was baptized in Berlin in 1825.

Deutsch, Siegmund Herman, was a remarkable personality. He was born in Perskretscham, Silesia, in 1791. As usual he had an early Talmudical education. Then he went to the Gymnasium, and then to the University of Breslau, where he studied mathematics and astronomy. In 1815 he served as a soldier in the Prussian army, took part in the war, and was promoted to be an officer and teacher in the military school in 1817. Then he had a duel with some one and was imprisoned in a fort. There he was converted to Christianity, and afterwards served as an artillery officer in the Greek liberation war.

Returning to Berlin in 1824, where he attended the ministry of the celebrated Gossner, he associated with the convert Lachs, who was a teacher in a school for deaf and dumb, sat under the theological teachings of Neander, and was thus spiritually prepared for being called to labour for the Master among his own people. This call came from Dr. McCaul, and after a little more preparation in the Hebrew College in Palestine Place, he was sent by the L.J.S. as a missionary to Warsaw in 1828, where he laboured (with a short interval at Breslau) till 1833. He then was stationed in Bavaria. He died in 1864, leaving a MS. (not yet printed) on the future of Israel.

Disraeli, Benjamin, Earl of Beaconsfield, born in London, December 21, 1804, died there April 19, 1881. Of this preeminently distinguished man in the nineteenth century there are many biographies and lasting monuments. We need only record very briefly here that he was one of England's greatest sons and statesmen, and the greatest ornament of the Jewish people in modern times. An ardent lover of his nation, a genuine English patriot, a friend of his great Queen, a thorough Protestant Churchman, yet with liberal tendencies, and a true believer in Christianity, which he regarded as completed Judaism. His works are these: "Vivian Grey," 1817; "The Infernal Marriage;" "Ixion in Heaven," and "Popanilla," 1828; "Contarini Fleming," and "The Wondrous Tale of Alroy," 1832; "The Young Duke," about that time; "What is he?" 1833; "Revolutionary Epic," 1834; "Coningsby," 1844; "Tancred," 1847; "Sybil," 1845; "The rise of Iskander," "Vindication of the British Constitution," "Venetia," "Henrietta Temple," "The Tragedy of Count Alarcos," and "Lothair," were all productions of his great intellect at different seasons. Benjamin's mother, his sister Sarah, born 1802, his brother Ralph, 1809, and his brother James, 1813, were all Hebrew Christians.

Disraeli, Isaac, left the synagogue in 1817. Though we have no definite information about his baptism, we may reasonably assume that he was a member of the Church of England. This appears from his having his children baptized, from his pamphlet, "The Spirit of Judaism," in which he vindicated himself for the step he had taken, from his articles on "The Talmud," "Psalm Singing," the Pearl Bibles and six thousand errata in his "Curiosities of literature," &c., all shewing that he was an earnest student of religious subjects and of the Scriptures, and that he endeavoured to spread the light of truth.

Ducat, H., a native of Warsaw, embraced Christianity, together with his wife, about the middle of the nineteenth century. He was a saintly Christian man, laboured as missionary for some time under the British Society, was one of the founders of the Hebrew Christian Prayer Union and of a Loan Fund for needy converts. His sons-in-law are the Rev. Dr. Flecker and the Rev. John Schor.

Dushaw, Amos I., spent the greater part of his youth in Jerusalem, Palestine, where he attended the school of the London Jews' Society. Here the seeds of Christian truth were sown in his young heart. He afterwards came to London, where he was brought into close connexion with the members of the above-mentioned society, and the germs of truth gradually grew, budded, and blossomed into faith in our Lord as his Messiah.

Dushaw went to America in 1895. The following year he was baptized, upon confession of his faith in Christ, in the Fourth Congregational Church, at Hartford, Conn.

He followed Horace Greeley's advice, "Young man, go West." He was determined to obtain a classical education. After a hard struggle, that perseverance and determination to conquer all obstacles always a component of the Jewish character, enabled him, in 1901, to graduate from Redfield College, South Dakota. He afterwards returned to New York, and entered the Union Theological Seminary, from which he graduated in 1904. June 12, 1905, he received a preacher's license from the New York Presbytery.

While pursuing his regular academic course he made a speciality of sociology, literature and history. Especially was he interested in Hebrew history and the present social, religious and political status of Israel. He supplemented this study by personal observation as a worker on the East Side of New York. This training enabled him to write for "The People, the Land and the Book" some very choice articles. Several secular papers quoted from one of his articles, "Moses and Jesus."

The production of this article was due to the following incident. Dushaw called upon one of the leading reformed rabbis to discuss the general condition of the Jews in the Ghetto. This rabbi was so much impressed with his insight into the situation, and also with his information on many facts pertaining to Israel's development, that he advised him to return to the Hebrew ranks. Israel, he said, would appreciate his ability, whereas the Church would simply cast him out, because he was a member of Israel. He thought Dushaw was foolish to waste his time in the Church. On separating, the rabbi gave him a lecture, "Moses and Jesus," delivered in his temple. Dushaw then decided to write one on the same subject, from his own point of view. We quote from it.

"If Solon belongs to Athens, Lycurgus to Sparta, Moses belongs to humanity. He is the greatest among the great, the deliverer of his people, the world's legislator, and the apostle and prophet of Monotheism…"

"I wonder how much Jesus, the brother and pupil of Moses, did to make Moses as popular as he is to-day? It was Jesus who inspired the men to translate the writings of Moses into so many tongues. Yet this does not in any way belittle Moses. What if the pupil is greater than the master! Surely Moses would not envy Jesus if he accomplished more. Moses, the most unselfish man that ever lived, would be only too glad to see a brother the Saviour of the world. Did he not wish that all Israel were prophets? What right has the Jew to reject Jesus? Has he not made Israel the most known people? What if his followers did persecute Israel? Persecution is contrary to the spirit of Jesus.

"Jesus has proved Himself to be the greater Moses. He has been a light to the nations, guiding them to Moses, to the prophets, and unto God. Wherever Jesus is proclaimed, there the Monotheism of Moses is established, and the ethic, 'Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself,' is given a wider interpretation."

The article "The Ghetto and Its Relation to Jewish Missions." The substance of this work was delivered at the "First International Hebrew Christian Conference," held in Mountain Lake Park, Md., July 28-30, 1903.

The article, "Hebrew Christian Literature," was written at the request of the editor.

As he came in contact with both cultured and uncultured Christians, and discovered how little they appreciated the work of Israel, he was led to write the two articles, "Salvation is of the Jews – Jesus," and "Let There Be Peace." We quote from the first one:

"I am anxiously awaiting the hour when there will be a new nation – 'a nation born in a day' – when the martyr nation, the suffering nation of Isaiah, will awake from its cruel slumber and perceive that for the last nineteen hundred years a fountain of life has been flowing for it from the heart of one of its own sons – the best son of Israel – Jesus Christ. What a spiritual revolution will then take place in the world! Heaven and earth shall resound with joy! For Israel, the Prince of God, shall clothe himself in robes of righteousness and go forth in the might of Jehovah to conquer the earth for the Lord – to set up everywhere the banner of social, political and spiritual freedom. Then, and not till then – when every one shall serve his brother faithfully; when all barriers now separating Jew and Gentile shall be no more; when every man shall dwell unmolested under his fig-tree; when God shall be worshipped in the Spirit of Jesus; when the old order of things shall pass away and the whole earth shall be known as the temple of God, – then shall Israel's mission end. For then there will be no more Jew, but all shall be called children of God and brothers of Jesus."

Dworkowitz, Rev. Paul, a native of Russia, baptized by the L.J.S. missionary Dr. Klee, in Berlin, about 1864 or 1865. He then studied at Basle, and laboured as a missionary of the British Society, and Pastor in Warsaw, the Baltic Provinces, Breslau, Munich and Hamburg, with much blessing upon his labours. He is a gifted man, and above all, an "Israelite indeed."

Ebers, George Moritz, born in Berlin, 1837. He became first Professor on Egyptology in Jena in 1868, and then in Leipzig in 1870. He travelled for eighteen months in Spain, North Africa, Egypt, Nubia, Arabia Petrea. The result of his Archæological and scientific investigations he published in several works – 1. "Eine ägyptische Königstochter" (Stuttgart, 1864), which describes Egyptian life at the time of the Persian conquest. This was translated into English by Gore (London, 1870). 2. "Disquisitiones de Dynastia xxvi. regum Æg." (Berlin, 1855). 3. "Aegypten und die Bucher Mosis, ein Sachlicher Commentar zu Genesis und Exodus" (Leipzig, 1868). 4. "Durch Gosen zum Sinai aus dem Wanderbuche und der Bibliothek" (Leipzig, 1872). 5. "Ueber das alt aegyptische Schrift System" (1875). 6. "Papyrus Ebers," his chief work, which is in the University of Leipzig. 7. "Ein hieratisches Handbuch Altaegyptischer Arznei Kunde," 2 vols. (Leipzig, 1875). 8. "Giarda," "Homo Sum," "Josua," "Aegypten in Wort und Bild" (Stuttgart, 1878).

Eberty, Georg Friedrich Felix, born in Berlin in 1812, studied law, and in 1851 become Professor at the University of Breslau. He wrote "Die Gestirne und die Weltgeschichte, Gedanken und Raum, Zeit und Ewigkeit" (Breslau, 1846-47). This work was translated into English. "Walter Scott," 1860, also translated into English. "A Biography of Byron" (Leipzig 1862). "Geschichte des Preussischen Staates," 7 vols. (Breslau, 1866-73).

Edelstein, Rev. S., after finishing his theological course at Leipzig, went to Canada, and was ordained by Bishop Hellmuth in 1880 and appointed to a church at Eagle, Ontario.

Edersheim, Rev. Dr. Alfred, born at Vienna, March 7, 1825, died at Mentone, March 16, 1889. We give the following extract about him from the Memoir of Dr. Saphir, by Rev. G. Carlyle: "In 1847 young Edersheim became a student at the University of Buda-Pest. He had been brought up luxuriously in Vienna, and was one of the leaders of fashion. He was highly educated, spoke Latin fluently, knew Greek, German, French, Hebrew, Hungarian and Italian. When Cremieux, the head of the French bar, paid a visit to Vienna, the synagogue presented him with an address, and deputed young Edersheim to deliver it. Cremieux was so pleased with his eloquence that he offered his father to take his son to Paris, and provide for him for life, but his parents would not give him up… Before the winter was over, Edersheim was under the teaching of the Holy Spirit, and had glorious views of the Deity of Christ. Trusting in His One Sacrifice, and filled with the peace of God, he gave himself up to be His servant in any way it might please God to direct him. He opened a class to teach the students English on the condition that the Bible should be their only lesson book. Baptized, and now full of life and vigour, it was resolved that he should go to Edinburgh, to the Rev. Professor Duncan, to complete his theological studies. Edersheim, after his ordination, was missionary first in Jassy, Roumania, and then minister for many years at the Free College Church, Old Aberdeen, and then at Torquay… He then joined the Church of England and became Vicar of Loders in Dorset."

He resigned his living in 1883, and settled at Oxford, where he held the position of Grinfield Lecturer of the University. He was also Warburton Lecturer of Lincoln's Inn, and "Select Preacher" of the University of Oxford.

Dr. Edersheim was a voluminous author, and his works are extremely valuable from the fact that he was able to deal with his subject both from the standpoint of a learned Jew and a learned Christian. It may be as well to state here his total output, from which it will be seen how wide and extensive was his range of study and scholarship. He was Translator and Editor of the "History of Speculative Philosophy from Kant to Hegel, from the German of Dr. Chalybäus, with introduction by Sir Wm. Hamilton" (Edinburgh); "Kurtz, History of the Old Covenant (vol. 1) with condensed abstract of Kurtz's Bible and Astronomy"; "Lange, Bible Commentary on St. Matthew" (2 vols.); "Kurtz, History of the Christian Church, with emendations and additions" (Edinburgh, 1860); Author of "History of the Jewish Nation from the Destruction of Jerusalem to the Establishment of Christianity in the Roman Empire" (T. and T. Clark, 1856. Revised by Rev. H. A. White. Longmans, 1896); "The Golden Diary of Heart-Converse with Jesus in the Book of Psalms" (R.T.S.); "Elisha the Prophet, his History and Times" (R.T.S.); "The Jubilee Rhythm of St. Bernard," and other Hymns, chiefly from the Latin (J. Nisbet and Co., 1866); "The Temple, its Ministry and Services as they were at the time of Jesus Christ" (R.T.S., 1874); "Sketches of Jewish Social Life in the days of Christ" (London, 1876); "Bible History," 7 vols. (R.T.S.); "The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah," 2 vols. (Longmans, 1884; eighth edition, 1894); "Jesus the Messiah," an abridged edition of the foregoing; "Prophecy and History in relation to the Messiah, being the Warburton Lectures for 1880-84" (8 vols., Longmans, 1885); "Commentary on Ecclesiasticus," in "The Speaker's Commentary on the Apocrypha" (J. Murray, 1888); "Tohu-va-Vohu (Without form and void)," a collection of Fragmentary Thoughts and Criticisms, edited by his daughter (Longmans, 1890), and various articles from time to time in the "Edinburgh Review." He was also editor of "Israel's Watchman" in 1877.