Gerhard von Rad (21 October 1901 – 31 October 1971) was a German

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

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 ...

scholar A scholar is a person who is a researcher or has expertise in an academic discipline. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher at a university. An academic usually holds an advanced degree or a termina ...

, Lutheran theologian,

exegete Exegesis ( ; from the Greek , from , "to lead out") is a critical explanation or interpretation of a text. The term is traditionally applied to the interpretation of Biblical works. In modern usage, exegesis can involve critical interpretation ...

, and

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

at the

University of Heidelberg Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is List ...

Early life, education, career

Gerhard von Rad was born in

Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

, to Lutheran parents. His family were part of the patrician class. He was educated at the

University of Erlangen A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

and further at the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (; ), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The University of Tübingen is one of eleven German Excellenc ...

. In 1925, he became a

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' () of souls of a parish. In this sense, ''curate'' means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy who are as ...

in the Lutheran ''Landeskirche'' (i.e. the church in the federal state) of

.'' Ibid.'' Later, he taught at the

in 1929 as

tutor Tutoring is private academic help, usually provided by an expert teacher; someone with deep knowledge or defined expertise in a particular subject or set of subjects. A tutor, formally also called an academic tutor, is a person who provides assis ...

. In 1930 he was a

privatdozent ''Privatdozent'' (for men) or ''Privatdozentin'' (for women), abbreviated PD, P.D. or Priv.-Doz., is an academic title conferred at some European universities, especially in German-speaking countries, to someone who holds certain formal qualifi ...

at the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

. From 1934 to 1945 he served as a professor at the

University of Jena The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany. The university was established in 1558 and is cou ...

and later at the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...

from 1945 to 1949. After that, he became Professor of Old Testament at the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg in the state of

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

and taught there until his death in 1971. He was conferred honorary doctorates from the University of Lund,

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

and 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 ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Oral tradition and the Pentateuch

Along with German biblical scholar

Martin Noth Martin Noth (3 August 1902 – 30 May 1968) was a German scholar of the Hebrew Bible who specialized in the pre-Exilic history of the Hebrews and promoted the hypothesis that the Israelite tribes in the immediate period after the settlement in Can ...

, Gerhard von Rad applied form criticism, originated by Hermann Gunkel, to the

documentary hypothesis The documentary hypothesis (DH) is one of the models used by biblical scholars to explain the origins and composition of the Torah (or Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible: Book of Genesis, Genesis, Book of Exodus, Exodus, Leviticus, Bo ...

. Nazi Germany's anti-Semitism led to an "anti-Old Testament" bias among German scholars. Disturbed by this, von Rad turned to the study of the Old Testament and gradually started to bring back its message. His lively papers achieved a renewal of interest and research in Old Testament studies. Along with

, he applied research into the

Pentateuch The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () o ...

's oral tradition to the explanation of its origin. In 1960, von Rad traveled to the United States where he was a visiting scholar at

Princeton Theological Seminary Princeton Theological Seminary (PTSem), officially The Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, is a Private university, private seminary, school of theology in Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Establish ...

. He was greatly influential during this period. While at Princeton, he took on Richard A. Jensen as an understudy, who would also further his research and application.

Death

Gerhard von Rad and his wife are buried in Heidelberg's On their gravestone is minimalist artwork depicting

Jonah Jonah the son of Amittai or Jonas ( , ) is a Jewish prophet from Gath-hepher in the Northern Kingdom of Israel around the 8th century BCE according to the Hebrew Bible. He is the central figure of the Book of Jonah, one of the minor proph ...

emerging from the great fish, an Old Testament symbol of

resurrection Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions involving the same person or deity returning to another body. The disappearance of a body is anothe ...

Selected works

Publications

*''The Problem of the Hexateuch and other essays'' *''Genesis: A Commentary'' (Old Testament Library) *''Deuteronomy: A Commentary'' (Old Testament Library) *''Studies in Deuteronomy'' (Studies in Biblical theology) ASIN B0007JWYNA *''Old Testament Theology'' *''Old Testament Theology'', One-Volume Edition *''The Message of the Prophets: Old Testament Theology'' *''Holy War in Ancient Israel'' *''Das Alte Testament Deutsch'' (ATD), Tlbd.2/4, ''Das erste Buch Mose, Genesis'' (This textbook series of detailed theological commentaries on individual books of the bible translates as "The Old Testament nGerman"; the volume is on the book of ''Genesis'') *''God at work in Israel'' *''Biblical interpretations in preaching'' *''Gottes Wirken in Israel: Vorträge zum Alten Testament'' ("God's acting in Israel: ubliclectures on the Old Testament") *''Wisdom in Israel'' (translation of the German book below ?) *''The message of the prophets'' ASIN B0006C6BA0 *''Weisheit in Israel'' ASIN B000E1Q3CY ("Wisdom in Israel") *''Theologie des Alten Testaments'' (Einführung in die evangelische Theologie) ASIN B0007JBBTI ("Theology of the Old Testament"/ series title: "Introduction into 'evangelisch' theology" evangelisch" in German is used in a similar sense as "Protestant" in English, but has other connotations; hence it is not directly translatable; it usually refers to lutheran or closely related faith and theology, or Christians adhering to it) *''Basileia'' (Bible Key Words from Gerhard Kittel's ''Theologisches Wörterbuch zum Neuen Testament'') ASIN B000BGT0RW *''Theologie des Alten Testaments'', Bd. 2. (vol.2 of the title above) *''Kaiser Taschenbücher, Bd.1, Theologie des Alten Testaments. Die Theologie der geschichtlichen Überlieferungen Israels''. ("Kaiser ublisher's namepocketbooks, vol.1, "Theology of the Old Testament. Theology of the historical tradition of Israel") *''Das Alte Testament Deutsch'' (ATD), Tlbd.8 : Das fünfte Buch Mose (Deuteronomium) (the volume on the book ''Deuteronomium'' of the series mentioned above) *''Erinnerungen aus der Kriegsgefangenschaft, Frühjahr 1945'' ("Memories of a prisoner of war, spring 1945") *''Predigt-Meditationen'' ("Sermon meditations") *''Eirene'' (Pocket crammer series) ASIN B0007FP9LI *''Origin of the concept of the day of Yahweh'' ASIN B0007JF2HA * ''From Genesis to Chronicles: Explorations in Old Testament Theology''
review)

Scholarly impact

* Victor Premasagar, a Cambridge

tripos TRIPOS (''TRIvial Portable Operating System'') is a computer operating system. Development started in 1976 at the Computer Laboratory of Cambridge University and it was headed by Dr. Martin Richards. The first version appeared in January 1978 a ...

and past Principal of the

Andhra Christian Theological College Andhra Christian Theological College (ACTC) is a seminary in Telangana which was founded in 1964. It is affiliated with India's first university, the Senate of Serampore College (University) (a university under section 2(f) of the University Gr ...

Secunderabad Secunderabad () is a twin cities, twin city of Hyderabad and one of the six zones of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Telangana. It is the headquarters of the South ...

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in introducing critical methods and tools used in

Biblical interpretation Biblical hermeneutics is the study of the principles of interpretation concerning the books of the Bible. It is part of the broader field of hermeneutics, which involves the study of principles of interpretation, both theory and methodology, fo ...

writes about von Rad as: Prof. Premasagar concludes by saying that * Henning Graf Reventlow of Ruhr University,

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

, Germany in introducing a book by von Rad, makes the following observations: * Gerhard Hasel of the

Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary The Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary (SDATS) is the seminary located at Andrews University in Michigan, the Seventh-day Adventist Church's flagship university. Since 1970 the SDATS has been accredited by the Association of Theologica ...

Andrews University Andrews University (Andrews) is a private Seventh-day Adventist university in Berrien Springs, Michigan. Founded in 1874 as Battle Creek College, it was the first higher education facility started by Seventh-day Adventists and is the flag ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

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in writing about the approaches to OT studies, mentions von Rad with the words...., * John H. Hayes, Professor at Candler School of Theology of the

Emory University Emory University is a private university, private research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was founded in 1836 as Emory College by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory. Its main campu ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

writes about von Rad... * G. Henton Davies, past Principal, Regent's Park College, a Permanent Private Hall of

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

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, writes about von Rad thusLaurin, Robert B. ''

op. cit. ''Op. cit.'' is an abbreviation of the Latin phrase ' or ''opere citato'', meaning "the work cited" or ''in the cited work'', respectively. Overview The abbreviation is used in an endnote or footnote to refer the reader to a cited work, standing ...

References

;Notes Further reading * * * * * The July 2008 issue of '' Interpretation: a Journal of Bible and Theology'' has as its subject "Gerhard von Rad: Theologian of the Church." See especially: * Manfred Oeming, "Gerhard von Rad as a Theologian of the Church" p. 229 * Martin Hauger, "On the Significance of Preaching in the Theology and Work of Gerhard von Rad" p. 278 * Bernard M. Levinson
"Reading the Bible in Nazi Germany: Gerhard von Rad's Attempt to Reclaim the Old Testament for the Church"
p. 238 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rad, Gerhard Von 1901 births 1971 deaths 20th-century German Lutheran clergy 20th-century German male writers 20th-century German Protestant theologians Bible commentators German biblical scholars German Lutheran theologians German male non-fiction writers Academic staff of Heidelberg University Academic staff of Leipzig University Academic staff of the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg Academic staff of the University of Göttingen Academic staff of the University of Jena Lutheran biblical scholars Old Testament scholars People from the Kingdom of Bavaria Protestants in the German Resistance Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class) University of Erlangen–Nuremberg alumni University of Tübingen alumni Writers from Nuremberg