Wellhausen, Julius

Wellhausen, Julius

▪ German scholar
born May 17, 1844, Hameln, Hanover [Germany]
died Jan. 7, 1918, Göttingen, Ger.

      German biblical scholar best known for his analysis of the structure and dating of the Pentateuch (Torah).

      Wellhausen studied at the University of Göttingen and taught there briefly before becoming professor of the Old Testament at Greifswald in 1872, a position he resigned 10 years later because of conflicts with his academic superiors. After teaching at other German universities, he returned to Göttingen in 1892, remaining there until his death.

      His major writings put forth the view that the books of the Pentateuch were not written by Moses but were the result of oral traditions that evolved over time from a nomadic religion through the prophets to the law, rather than from the law through the prophets, as it is presented in the Old Testament. He dissected two distinct narrative structures from Genesis, determining that these narratives were the oldest portion of the Pentateuch, while the laws and rituals were the latest elements.

      His New Testament studies, particularly his assertion of the priority of the Gospel According to Mark over the hypothetical “Q” document believed to be the basis for the gospels of both Matthew and Luke, were not as well accepted as his Old Testament work.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • WELLHAUSEN, JULIUS° — (1844–1918), German Semitist. Born in Hameln, Wellhausen was the son of a Lutheran clergyman, He studied in Goettingen under H. Ewald and was professor of theology in Greifswald from 1872 to 1882. However, he resigned from this position because… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Wellhausen, Julius — (1844–1918)    Biblical Scholar.    Wellhausen was born in Hamelin, Germany, and was educated in Göttingen. Subsequently he taught in Halle, Marburg and Göttingen. He is primarily remembered for his Prolegomena zur Geschichte Israels in which he… …   Who’s Who in Christianity

  • WELLHAUSEN, JULIUS —    Old Testament scholar, born at Hameln; held the post of professor of Theology at Greifswald, but resigned the post from conscientious scruples and became professor of Oriental Languages at Marburg in 1885; is best known among us as a biblical… …   The Nuttall Encyclopaedia

  • Wellhausen, Julius — (1844–1918) German OT scholar at Marburg. He was responsible for refining the theory that the Pentateuch was an edited composition of four sources each deriving from a different historical period. They were given the symbols J, E, D, P …   Dictionary of the Bible

  • WELLHAUSEN, Julius — (1844 1918)    the most important German BIBLICAL critic of the nineteenth century who divided the text into J E and P strata which he believed represented the work of various editors who combined earlier literary TRADITIONS. His work did much to …   Concise dictionary of Religion

  • Julius Wellhausen — (* 17. Mai 1844 in Hameln; † 7. Januar 1918 in Göttingen) war ein protestantischer Theologe und Orientalist, der nachhaltigen Einfluss auf die Forschung zum Alten Testament hatte. Er war einer der Begründer der m …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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  • Julius Wellhausen — (May 17, 1844 January 7, 1918), was a German biblical scholar and Orientalist.He was born at Hameln on the Weser, Westphalia.Having studied theology at the University of Göttingen under Georg Heinrich August Ewald, he established himself there in …   Wikipedia

  • WELLHAUSEN (J.) — WELLHAUSEN JULIUS (1844 1918) Orientaliste et exégète protestant allemand. L’œuvre de Wellhausen porte sur l’histoire d’Israël, ainsi que sur la composition des livres historiques de l’Ancien Testament et des quatre Évangiles. Deux préoccupations …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Wellhausen — Wellhausen, Julius, Theolog und Orientalist, geb. 17. Mai 1844 in Hameln, habilitierte sich 1870 in Göttingen, wurde 1872 Professor der Theologie in Greifswald, 1882 außerordentlicher Professor in der philosophischen Fakultät in Halle, 1885… …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

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