Jakob Behmen

9.9

A German thinker who wrote about God and spiritual life and influenced later religious ideas

proper noun

: Jakob Behmen

Many of Jakob Behmen's writings explore the nature of God and the universe.

Examples

Historians acknowledge Jakob Behmen for shaping the development of theosophical thought in the 17th century.
Jakob Behmen is often cited as a major influence on European mysticism and philosophy.
The writings of Jakob Behmen have inspired many philosophers.
Many consider Jakob Behmen a pivotal figure in theosophy.
Jakob Behmen is often cited as a major influence on European mysticism and philosophy.
Historians acknowledge Jakob Behmen for shaping the development of theosophical thought in the 17th century.
Many of Jakob Behmen's writings explore the nature of God and the universe.

Synonyms

Jakob Boehme

vsJakob Behmen

1 9.9

A German spiritual writer from the 1600s who wrote about God and the universe

has identical meaning but uses the other conventional spelling form

Surface Forms

Jakob Behmen main

Morphology

Jakob + Behmen

This is a proper name referring to a historical individual; the constituent tokens are personal names with no independent lexical meanings, so a B1 learner who only 'knows' the names cannot infer 'a German mystic and theosophist' from them. Proper names are referential and non-compositional, so understanding this entry requires encyclopedic or cultural knowledge rather than knowledge of the constituent words.

Etymology

Jakob Behmen, also spelled Jakob Böhme, was a German shoemaker who had powerful visions about God and nature and then wrote books to explain them. Because his ideas mixed everyday life and deep spiritual thought and people later called this 'theosophy', he is often seen as a founder of that movement and a strong influence on later thinkers.