Sigmund Olaf Plytt Mowinckel (4 August 1884 – 4 June 1965) was a Norwegian professor, theologian and

biblical scholar Biblical studies is the academic application of a set of diverse disciplines to the study of the Bible, with ''Bible'' referring to the books of the canonical Hebrew Bible in mainstream Jewish usage and the Christian Bible including the can ...

. He was noted for his research into the practice of religious worship 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 ...

Life

Mowinckel was born at

Kjerringøy Kjerringøy is a village in Bodø Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The village is located about north of the Bodø (town), town of Bodø, along the Karlsøyfjorden, just south of the entrance to the Folda, Nordland, Folda fjord. The Kj ...

in 1884Sæbø, M. Crossing Borders: On Five Norwegian Bible Scholars, In Lemaire, A. & Sæbø, M.(Editors)(1998) Congress Volume Oslo 1998. Leiden: Brill and was educated at the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation#Europe, oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick Univ ...

(1908; Th.D. 1916). His early research interests were study of the Old Testament and Assyriology. In the years 1911-13 he made study trips to

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

Marburg Marburg (; ) is a college town, university town in the States of Germany, German federal state () of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf Districts of Germany, district (). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has ...

and

Giessen Giessen, spelled in German (), is a town in the Germany, German States of Germany, state () of Hesse, capital of both the Giessen (district), district of Giessen and the Giessen (region), administrative region of Giessen. The population is appro ...

. At Giessen he came into contact with

Hermann Gunkel Hermann Gunkel (; 23 May 1862 – 11 March 1932), a German Old Testament scholar, founded form criticism. He also became a leading representative of the history of religions school. His major works cover Genesis and the Psalms, and his major ...

and was inspired by Gunkel's understanding of the Old Testament as literature, as well as his traditio-historical method. In 1916 he published his doctoral thesis on the prophet

Nehemiah Nehemiah (; ''Nəḥemyā'', "Yahweh, Yah comforts") is the central figure of the Book of Nehemiah, which describes his work in rebuilding Jerusalem during the Second Temple period as the governor of Yehud Medinata, Persian Judea under Artaxer ...

, and a companion work on the prophet

Ezra Ezra ( fl. fifth or fourth century BCE) is the main character of the Book of Ezra. According to the Hebrew Bible, he was an important Jewish scribe (''sofer'') and priest (''kohen'') in the early Second Temple period. In the Greek Septuagint, t ...

. In the years 1921-24 he published ''Psalmenstudien'', maybe his most influential work. As an Old Testament scholar he was particularly interested in the

Psalms The Book of Psalms ( , ; ; ; ; , in Islam also called Zabur, ), also known as the Psalter, is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) called ('Writings'), and a book of the Old Testament. The book is an anthology of B ...

and the ancient cult of Israel. According to Clements, "Mowinckel continually developed and revised his views, notably on Israelite kingship and Psalmody". In 1956 he published "He That Cometh: The Messiah Concept in the Old Testament and Later Judaism". For most of his professional life Mowinckel was connected to the

and continued to lecture there as an emeritus in the 1960's. Among his students we find the norwegian biblical scholar Arvid Kapelrud. His last book in english, "Religion and Cult", was published in 1981.

Academic work and theories

Mowinckels main contribution to biblical scholarship is his work on The Psalms of the Old Testament and his study of Messianic ideas in Judaism.

The Psalms

From the 1920s, Mowinckel headed a school of thought concerning the

Book of Psalms The Book of Psalms ( , ; ; ; ; , in Islam also called Zabur, ), also known as the Psalter, is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) called ('Writings'), and a book of the Old Testament. The book is an anthology of ...

which sometimes clashed with the

Form criticism Form criticism as a method of biblical criticism classifies units of scripture by literary pattern and then attempts to trace each type to its period of oral transmission."form criticism." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2007. Encyclopædia Britannica ...

conclusions of

and those who followed in Gunkel's footsteps. In broad terms, Gunkel strongly advocated a view of the Psalms which focused on the two notable names for God occurring therein: ''Yahweh'' (JHWH sometimes called

tetragrammaton The TetragrammatonPronounced ; ; also known as the Tetragram. is the four-letter Hebrew-language theonym (transliteration, transliterated as YHWH or YHVH), the name of God in the Hebrew Bible. The four Hebrew letters, written and read from ...

) and ''Elohim''. The schools of Psalm writing springing therefrom were termed

Yahwist The Jahwist, or Yahwist, often abbreviated J, is one of the most widely recognized sources of the Pentateuch (Torah), together with the Deuteronomist, the Priestly source and the Elohist. The existence of the Jahwist text is somewhat controv ...

and

Elohist According to the documentary hypothesis, the Elohist (or simply E) is one of four source documents underlying the Torah, together with the Jahwist (or Yahwist), the Deuteronomist and the Priestly source. The Elohist is so named because of its ...

. Mowinckel's approach to the Psalms differed quite a bit from Gunkel's. Mowinckel explained the Psalms as wholly cultic, both in origin and in intention. He attempted to relate more than 40 psalms to a hypothetical New Year autumn festival, the so-called "Enthronement Festival of Yahweh". According to Mowinckel the Psalms had a practical usage in the context of the Temple service. He also suggests that the authors of the Psalms were temple singers. As for the Psalms that have no cultic context, Mowinckel identifies these as the "wisdom psalms".

Messianic ideas

In addition to his work on Psalms, his major monograph on the Old Testament roots of

Messianism Messianism is the belief in the advent of a messiah who acts as the savior of a group of people. Some religions also have messianism-related concepts. Religions with a messiah concept include Hinduism (Kalki), Judaism ( Mashiach), Christianity ( ...

is of significance in scholarship until this day.''He That Cometh: The Messiah Concept in the Old Testament and Later Judaism'', trans. G. W. Anderson (Oxford: B.Blackwell, 1956 ) In his study of Messianism in

, and the

Ancient Near East The ancient Near East was home to many cradles of civilization, spanning Mesopotamia, Egypt, Iran (or Persia), Anatolia and the Armenian highlands, the Levant, and the Arabian Peninsula. As such, the fields of ancient Near East studies and Nea ...

, Mowinckel identified the concept of divine kingship. He did however deny the title of Messiah to the reigning Hebrew kings, although they reflected the Messianic ideal. The kings were associated with divinity, but Mowinckel does not support the view that they were an

incarnation Incarnation literally means ''embodied in flesh'' or ''taking on flesh''. It is the Conception (biology), conception and the embodiment of a deity or spirit in some earthly form or an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic form of a god. It is used t ...

of the deity, or that they represented a suffering, dying and rising god. The Israelites adapted some ideas on kingship from Canaanite sources, combined with traditions of old nomadic chieftainship and

Yahwism Yahwism, also known as the Israelite religion, was the ancient Semitic religion of ancient Israel and Judah and the ethnic religion of the Israelites. The Israelite religion was a derivative of the Canaanite religion and a polytheistic re ...

. According to Mowinckel the concept of Kingship is associated with the present, while the Messiah is a future being, associated with

eschatology Eschatology (; ) concerns expectations of the end of Contemporary era, present age, human history, or the world itself. The end of the world or end times is predicted by several world religions (both Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic and non-Abrah ...

. The Hebrew royal line is therefore, in his view, not Messianic, and there is no

prior to the

Babylonian exile The Babylonian captivity or Babylonian exile was the period in Jewish history during which a large number of Judeans from the ancient Kingdom of Judah were forcibly relocated to Babylonia by the Neo-Babylonian Empire. The deportations occurre ...

. Mowinckel also considers the songs of the

Suffering Servant The servant songs (also called the servant poems or the Songs of the Suffering Servant) are four Music in the Bible, songs in the Book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible, which include Isaiah 42:1–Isaiah 42:4, 4; Isaiah 49; ; and –. The songs are fo ...

in 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 ...

. Mowinckel accepts the common understanding of the servant songs, according to tradition, as signifying atonement and vicarious suffering. He identifies the servant as a historical character from the circle surrounding

Isaiah Isaiah ( or ; , ''Yəšaʿyāhū'', "Yahweh is salvation"; also known as Isaias or Esaias from ) was the 8th-century BC Israelite prophet after whom the Book of Isaiah is named. The text of the Book of Isaiah refers to Isaiah as "the prophet" ...

and Second Isaiah. However, he does not rule out that the servant could be a future character. He finds the servant free of kingly traits and concludes that the songs were not originally meant to be Messianic. The suffering servant is therefore, according to Mowinckel, something else than a Messiah, he is a «mediator of salvation» The Son of Man, on the other hand, is an eschatological figure, influenced by Messianic ideas. According to Ceroke «The Son of Man is in Mowinckel’s treatment the culmination of messianism». However, Mowinckel disagrees with other scholars, such as Joachim Jeremias, that the Son of Man represents an atoning suffering and death. Martin notes that Mowinckels approach to the subject is historical, not theological or doctrinal. As a consequence of this Martin finds that Mowinckels handling of the subject is a bit incomplete in light of the entire message of Jesus and his (Jesus') use of the term Son of Man. Mowinckel suggests that Jesus adapted both the concept of the Son of Man and the figure of the Servant, but in a paradoxical way. The concept of the Messiah is modified in order to suit his ministry and his understanding of himself. He merges the redeeming element of the Son of Man with the idea of the suffering Servant. According to Muilenburg «Mowinckel believes that Jesus himself was the first to understand the real meaning of

Isaiah 53 Isaiah 53 is the fifty-third chapter of the Book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. It contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet Isaiah and is one of the Nevi'im. Chapters 40 to 55 are known as "D ...

and to apply it to himself». Despite expressing criticism toward several aspects of Mowinckels work on this subject, several reviewers found his treatment of Messianic ideas to be a solid contribution to Old Testament Scholarship.

Published works (early editions)

* ''Statholderen Nehemia'' (Kristiania: a. 1916) * ''Esra den skriftlærde'' (Kristiania: a. 1916) * ''Kongesalmerne i det Gamle Testamentet'' (Kristiania: (1916) * ''Der Knächt Jahves'' (1921) * ''Psalmenstudien I: 'Awan und die individuellen Klagepsalmen'' (Kristiania: SNVAO* 1921) * ''Psalmenstudien II: Das Thronbesteigungsfest Jahwäs und der Ursprung der Eschatologie'' (Kristiania: SNVAO* 1922) * ''Psalmenstudien III: Kultprophetie und kultprophetische Psalmen'' (Kristiania: SNVAO*, 1923) * ''Psalmenstudien IV: Die technischen Termini in den Psalmenuberschriften'' (Kristiania: SNVAO*, 1923) * ''Psalmenstudien V: Segen und Fluch in Israels Kult und Psalmdichtung'' (Kristiania: SNVAO*, 1924) * ''Psalmenstudien VI: Die Psalmdichter'' (Kristiania: SNVAO*, 1924) * ''Diktet om Ijob og hans tre venner'' (Kristiania: 1924) * ''Profeten Jesaja'' (Oslo: 1925) * ''Jesaja: Profetien fra Jesaja til Jeremia'' (Oslo: 1926) * ''Motiver og stilformer i profeten Jeremias diktning'' (1926) * ''Le Decalogue'' (Paris: 1927) * ''Det Gamle Testament som Guds Ord'' (Oslo: 1938) * ''Gamla testamental som Guds ord'' (Stockholm: 1938) * ''Die Erkentis Gottes bei den alttestamentlichen Propheten'' ranslation: "The recognizable God in/within the Old Testament prophets" or perhaps "The recognition of God beside/by the Old Testament prophets"Supplementary volume to ''Norsk Teologisk Tidsskrift'' (Oslo: 1941). * ''Prophecy and Tradition'' (1946) * ''Han som kommer : Messiasforventningen i Det gamle testament og på Jesu tid'' (1951) (translated ''He That Cometh: The Messiah Concept in the Old Testament and Later Judaism'', trans. G. W. Anderson xford: B.Blackwell, 1956* ''Offersang og sangoffer : salmediktningen i Bibelen'' ranslated: "Song of sacrifice and Sacrifice of song" or "Offering song and Song offering": "Psalm Poetry in the Bible"(Oslo: H. Aschehoug & Co, 1951). * ''Der achtundsechsigste Psalm'' NVAO**, II, 1953, I(Oslo: 1953) * ''Religion och Kultus'' (1953). * ''Real and Apparent Tricola in Hebrew Psalm Poetry'' NVAO**, II, 1957(Oslo: 1958) * ''The Spirit and the Word: Prophecy and Tradition in Ancient Israel''. Edited by K. C. Hanson. Fortress Classics in Biblical Studies (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2002) NOTE SNVAO signifies the Norwegian publisher/publications Skrifter utgitt av Det Norske Videnskaps-Akademi i Oslo, II. Hist.-Filos. Klasse NOTE *ANVAO signifies the Norwegian publisher/publications Avhandliger utgitt av Det Norske Videnskaps-Akademi i Oslo. II. Hist. Filos. Klasse.

Articles by Mowinckel

* 'Om den jodiske menighets og provinsen Judeas organisasjon ca. 400 f. Kr.', ''Norsk Teologisk Tidsskrift'' (Kristiania: 1915), pp. 123ff., 226ff. * 'Tronstigningssalmerne og Jahves tronstigningsfest', ''Norsk teologi til reformationsjubileet'', specialhefte .e. special issueto ''Norsk Teologisk Tidsskrift'' (Kristiania: 1917), pp. 13ff. * 'Die vorderasiatischen Konigs- und Fursteninschriften' ranslation: "The Near Eastern Royal and Princely Inscriptions" ''Eucharisterion'' tudien zur Religion und Literatur d. Alt und Neu Testaments, H. Gunkel zum 60 Studies in the Religion and Literature of the Old and New Testaments, H. Gunkel at 60" --- Gunkel's 60th birthday was in 1922I, pp. 278ff., a book produced by ''Forschungen zur Religion und Literatur d. Alten und Neuen Testaments'' (FRLANT) Band (Vol.) 36 (Göttingen: 1923) * 'Det kultiske synspunkt som forskningsprinsipp i den gammelstestamentlige videnskap', ''Norsk Teologisk Tidsskrift'' (Kristiania: 1924), pp. 1ff. * 'I porten' ''Studier tilegnede Frans Buhl'' (Copenhagen: 1925) * 'Drama, religionsgeschichtlisches' 2 [appeared in ''Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart'' 2.Aufl.">ranslation: "Drama, history of religion", RGG₂ ppeared in ''Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart'' 2.Aufl.(Tübingen: 1927-32) * 'Levi und Leviten' [translation: "Levi and Levites" RGG₂ [appeared in ''Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart'' 2.Aufl.] (Tübingen: 1927-32) * 'Stilformer og motiver i profeten Jeremias dikning', ''Edda'' Vol. 36 (1926), pp. 276ff. * 'Salmeboken og gudstjenestesalmen', ''Norsk Teologisk Tidsskrift'' (Oslo: 1927), pp. 153ff. * 'Die letzten Worte Davids' ranslation: "The last words of David" in II Samuel 23:1-7, ''Zeitschrift fur die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft Band (Vol.) 45? (Giessen:1927), pp. 30ff. * 'A quelle moment le culte de Jahwe a Jerusalem est il officiellement devenu un culte sans images?' ranslation: "At what moment did the cult of Jahweh of Jerusalem officially become a cult without images?"''Revue de l'Histoire et des Philosophies Religieuses'' Vol. 9 (Strasbourg: 1929), pp. 197ff. * The following sections/chapters in ''Det Gamle Testament, oversatt av S. Michelet, Sigmund Mowinckel og Nils Messel'' (also known simply as GTMMM) Volumes I - III (Oslo: 1929-following years):-: Sections 2. Mos. 18-34; 4. Mos. 20-25; 32-33; 5. Mosebok; Josvaboken; Samuelsboken; Kongeboken; Jesaja; Jeremia; Tolvprofetboken. * Book review of Eduard Konig's ''Das Buch Hiob in Deutsche Litz'', 3. Folge, 1. Jahrg. 12, (1930) columns 529ff. resumably this review relates to E Konig's ''Das Buch Hiob eingeleitet, ubersetzt und erklart'' (Gutersloh: Bertelsmann, 1927 or 1929)* 'Die Komposition des Deuterojesajanischen Buches' ranslation: "The Composition of the book of Deutero-Isaiah" ''Zeitschrift fur die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft Band (Vol.) 44 (Giessen: 1931)pp. 87ff., 242ff. * 'Die Chronologie der israelitischen und judaischen Konige' ranslation: "The Chronology of the Kings of Israel and Judah" ''Acta Orientalia'' Vol. 10 (Leiden: 1932) pp. 161ff. * 'Fiendene i de individuelle klagesalmer', ''Norsk Teologisk Tidsskrift'' (Oslo: 1934), pp. 1ff. * 'The "Spirit" and the "Word" in the Pre-exilic Reforming Prophets', ''Journal of Biblical Literature'' Vol. 53 (1934) pp. 199–227. * '"Anden" og "Ordet" hos de foreksilske reformprofeter', ''Norsk Teologisk Tidsskrift'' (Oslo: 1935), pp. 1ff. * 'Ekstatisk oplevelse og rasjonal bearbeidelse hos de gammeltestamentlige profeter', ranslation: "Ecstatic experience and rational elaboration in Old Testament prophecy"''Theologisk Tidsskrift'' (known as " T") (Kobenhavn openhagen1935), pp. 1ff. * 'Extatic Experience and Rational Elaboration in Old Testament Prophecy', ''Acta Orientalia'' Vol. 13 (Leiden: 1935), pp. 264–291. * 'Hat es ein israelitisches Nationalepos gegeben?' ranslation: "Is there a given Israelite national epic?" ''Zeitschrift fur die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft Band (Vol.) 53 (Giessen: 1935) pp. 130ff. * 'Zur Geschichte der Dekalogue' ranslation: "To a History of the Decalogue (Ten Commandments)" ''Zeitschrift fur die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft Band (Vol.) 55 (Giessen: 1937) pp. 218ff. * Book Review of Widengren's ''Accadian and Hebrew Psalms of Lamentation'' which appeared in ''Norsk Teologisk Tidsskrift'' (Oslo: 1940), pp. 155. . Widengren's book itself was published at Stockholm, 1937 * 'Ras Shamra og det Gamle Testament', ''Norsk Teologisk Tidsskrift'' Vol. xl, (Oslo: 1939), pp. 16ff. * 'Oppkomsten av profetlitteraturen', ''Norsk Teologisk Tidsskrift'' (Oslo: 1942), pp. 65ff. * 'Kadesj, Sinai og Jahve', ''

Norwegian Journal of Geography __NOTOC__ ''Norwegian Journal of Geography'' () is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Routledge on behalf of the Norwegian Geographical Society. It covers geographical topics of interest to Norwegian researchers giving equal weight to ...

'' Vol. 9 (1942), pp. 21ff. * 'Nathanprofetien i 2. Sam. 7' ranslation: "Nathan's prophecy in II Samuel 7" '' Svensk exegetisk årsbok'' (known as SEÅ) (Uppsala: date ?), pp. 220ff. * 'Zum Problem der hebraischen Metrik' ranslation: "Towards the Problem of the Hebrew Metric" ''Bertholetfestschrift'' (Tübingen: 1950), pp. 379ff. 'Bertholetfestschrift'' = Festschrift Alfred Bertholet zum 80. Geburtstag, herausgeg. von W. Baumgartner, O. Eissfeldt, K. Elliger, L. Rost>> translation: "Festschrift for Alfred Bertholet on his 80th Birthday--editors: W. Baumgartner, Otto Eissfeldt, K. Elliger and L. Rost"]. * 'Den senjodiske salmediktning', ''Norsk Teologisk Tidsskrift'' (Oslo: 1950), pp. 1–54. * 'Zur hebraischen Metrik II' [translation: "Towards Hebrew Metric II"], ''Studia theologica cura ordinum theologorum Scandinavorum edita'' Vol. VII (1953), pp. 54ff. * 'Metrischer Aufbau und Textcritik, an Ps. 8 illustriert' ranslation: "Metrical Construction and Textcriticism, illustrated on Psalm 8" ''Studia Orientalia Johanno Pedersen Septuagenario...dicata'' Johannes Pedersen">Johannes Pedersen (theologian)">Johannes PedersenHavniae openhagen 1953), pp. 250ff. * 'Der metrische Aufbau von Jes. 62, 1 - 12 und die neuen sog. kurzverse' ranslation: "The metrical construction of Isaiah 62: 1 - 12 and the new so-called ? shortverse" ''Zeitschrift fur die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft Band (Vol.) 65 (Giessen: 1953), pp. 167ff. * 'Zum Psalm des Habakuk' ranslation: "Towards the Psalm of Habakkuk" ''Theologische Zeitschrift'' Band (Vol.) 9 (Basel: 1953), pp. 1ff. * 'Psalm Criticism between 1900 and 1935 (Ugarit and Psalm Exegesis)', ''

Vetus Testamentum ''Vetus Testamentum'' is a quarterly academic journal covering various aspects of the Old Testament. It is published by Brill Publishers Brill Academic Publishers () is a Dutch international academic publisher of books, academic journals, and ...

'' Vol. 5 (Leiden: Brill, 1955) pp. 13ff. * 'Marginalien zur hebraischen Metrik', ''Zeitschrift fur die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft Band (Vol.) 67 (Giessen: 1956) pp. 97ff. * 'Zu Psalm 16, 3 - 4' ranslation: "To/towards Psalm 16: 3 - 4" ''Theologische Literaturzeitung'' (1957), columns 649ff. * 'Notes on the Psalms', ''Studia theologica cura ordinum theologorum Scandinavorum edita'' Vol. XIII (1959), pp. 134ff. * 'Drive and/or Ride in the O.T.', ''

'' Vol. 12 (Leiden: Brill, 1962) pp. 278–299ff.

References

Other sources

* * Hjelde, Sigurd (2006) ''Sigmund Mowinckel Und Seine Zeit: Leben Und Werk Eines Norwegischen Alttestamentlers'' (Mohr Siebeck Verlag) *