Aubrey Rodway Johnson, FBA (23 April 1901 – 29 September 1985) was a British scholar of

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

and the

Old Testament The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...

. He was professor of

Semitic languages The Semitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. They include Arabic, Amharic, Tigrinya language, Tigrinya, Aramaic, Hebrew language, Hebrew, Maltese language, Maltese, Modern South Arabian language ...

at the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire in

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

(1944–66). The son of a

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

minister, he was born in

Leamington Spa Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or simply LeamingtonEven more colloquially, also referred to as Lem or Leam (). (), is a spa town and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. Originally a small village called Leamington Pri ...

, but the family moved to Newport in

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

when Johnson was a child. After attending the Newport Intermediate School for Boys, he worked for his uncle's corn merchant business and then in the finance department of the Newport Borough Council. In 1919, he began working as a teacher, but in 1922 he gave this up to carry out missionary work. He studied at Trefecca Memorial College, where he became interested in Greek. In 1924, he began studying at Cardiff Baptist College and the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire, graduating in 1928 with a first-class degree in

. He continued studying and in 1931 was awarded a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

by the

University of Wales The University of Wales () is a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales. Founded by royal charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff – the university was the first universit ...

. Johnson was then given a

fellowship A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned or professional societies, the term refers ...

of the university. In 1934, he was appointed to an assistant lectureship in

at the University College of South Wales in Cardiff. He was promoted to a full lectureship before he succeeded T. H. Robinson to the professorship of Semitic languages in 1944. He retired in 1966. Johnson was an

scholar. His published books include ''The One and the Many in the Israelite Conception of God'' (1942), ''The Cultic Prophet in Ancient Israel'' (1944), ''The Vitality of the Individual in the Thought of Ancient Israel'' (1949), ''Sacral Kingship in Ancient Israel'' (1955) and ''The Cultic Prophet and Israel's Psalmody'' (1979). He also wrote articles and book chapters, including several on the role of the king in

ancient Israel The history of ancient Israel and Judah spans from the Israelite highland settlement, early appearance of the Israelites in Canaan's hill country during the late second millennium BCE, to the establishment and subsequent downfall of the two ...

. He was elected a

fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (post-nominal letters FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in t ...

in 1951, received its

Burkitt Medal The Burkitt Medal is awarded annually by the British Academy "in recognition of special service to Biblical studies, Biblical Studies". Awards alternate between Hebrew Bible studies (odd years) and New Testament studies (even years). It was establi ...

in 1961 and was president of the Society for Old Testament Study in 1956. He died in 1985.Anderson (1986), pp. 435–439.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Aubrey Rodway 1901 births 1985 deaths Alumni of Cardiff University Academics of Cardiff University Fellows of the British Academy