Editing Julius Wellhausen

{{Short description|German theologian and orientalist (1844–1918)}}
{{Infobox clergy
| name        = Julius Wellhausen
| image       =Julius Wellhausen 02.jpg
| image_size  = 125px
| caption     =
| birth_date  = {{birth date|1844|05|17|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Hamelin]], [[Kingdom of Hanover|Hanover]], [[German Confederation|Germany]]
| death_date  = {{death date and age|1918|01|07|1844|5|17|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Göttingen]], [[Province of Hanover|Hanover]], [[German Empire|Germany]]
| church      = [[Lutheran]]
| education   =[[University of Göttingen|Göttingen]]
| offices_held =Professor of Old Testament at [[University of Göttingen|Göttingen]], [[University of Greifswald|Greifswald]], [[University of Halle-Wittenberg|Halle]] and [[University of Marburg|Marburg]]
| title       = Doctor
}}

'''Julius Wellhausen''' (17 May 1844 – 7 January 1918) was a German [[biblical scholar]] and [[oriental studies|orientalist]]. In the course of his career, his research interest moved from [[Old Testament]] research through [[Islamic studies]] to [[New Testament]] scholarship. Wellhausen contributed to the composition history of the [[Pentateuch]]/[[Torah]] and studied the formative period of Islam. For the former, he is credited as one of the originators of the [[documentary hypothesis]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aishdas.org/toratemet/en_cardozo.html |title=On Bible Criticism and Its Counterarguments |first=Nathan Lopes |last=Cardozo |publisher=Torat Emet}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/moses.html|title=Did Moses Write the Pentateuch?}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Friedman |first1=Richard Elliott |title=Who Wrote the Bible? |date=1986 |publisher=Harper Collins |page=26}}</ref>

==Biography==
Wellhausen was born at [[Hamelin]] in the [[Kingdom of Hanover]]. The son of a [[Protestant]] [[pastor]],<ref>Clements, R.E. ''A Century of Old Testament Study'' (Cambridge: Lutterworth Press, 1994), 7.</ref> he later studied [[theology]] at the [[University of Göttingen]] under [[Georg Heinrich August Ewald]] and became ''[[Privatdozent]]'' for [[Old Testament]] history there in 1870. In 1872, he was appointed [[Academic ranks in Germany#Faculty|professor ordinarius]] of theology at the [[University of Greifswald]]. However, he resigned from the faculty in 1882 for reasons of conscience,{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} stating in his letter of resignation:
{{blockquote|"I became a theologian because the scientific treatment of the Bible interested me; only gradually did I come to understand that a professor of theology also has the practical task of preparing the students for service in the Protestant Church, and that I am not adequate to this practical task, but that instead despite all caution on my own part I make my hearers unfit for their office. Since then my theological professorship has been weighing heavily on my conscience."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Levenson |first1=Alan |title=Was the Documentary Hypothesis Tainted by Wellhausen's Antisemitism? - TheTorah.com |url=https://www.thetorah.com/article/was-the-documentary-hypothesis-tainted-by-wellhausens-antisemitism |website=www.thetorah.com |publisher=Project TABS |access-date=28 February 2022}}</ref><ref>Cited in Robert J. Oden Jr.,''The Bible Without Theology: the Theological Tradition and Alternatives to It'' (Urbana: University of Illinois, 2000), p. 20.</ref>}}

He became [[Academic ranks in Germany#Faculty|professor extraordinarius]] of oriental languages in the faculty of [[philology]] at [[university of Halle|Halle]], was elected professor ordinarius at Marburg in 1885 and was transferred to Göttingen in 1892, where he stayed until his death.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

Among theologians and biblical scholars, he is best known for his book, ''[[Prolegomena zur Geschichte Israels]]'' (''Prolegomena to the History of Israel''); his work in Arabic studies (specifically, the magisterial work entitled ''The Arab Kingdom and its Fall'') remains celebrated, as well.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wellhausen |first1=Julius |title=The Arab Kingdom and its fall |date=2016 |publisher=Routledge |location=London |isbn=978-1-315-41033-3 |url=https://www.routledge.com/The-Arab-Kingdom-and-its-Fall/Wellhausen/p/book/9781138221505 |access-date=28 February 2022}}</ref> After a detailed synthesis of existing views on the origins of the [[Torah|first five books of the Bible]], Wellhausen aimed at placing the development of these books into a historical and social context.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wellhausen |first1=Julius |title=Die Pharisäer und die Sadducäer: eine Untersuchung zur inneren jüdischen Geschichte |date=1874 |publisher=L. Bamberg |location=Greifswald |page=19 |edition=1}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Wellhausen |first1=Julius |title=Prolegomena to the History of Israel |date=1994 |publisher=Scholars Press |location=Atlanta, Ga. |isbn=978-1-55540-938-8 |page=509}}</ref> The resulting argument, called the [[documentary hypothesis]], became the dominant model for many biblical scholars and remained so for most of the 20th century.

According to [[Alan Levenson]], Wellhausen considered theological [[anti-Judaism]], as well as [[antisemitism]], to be normative.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Levenson |first1=Alan |title=Was the Documentary Hypothesis Tainted by Wellhausen's Antisemitism? - TheTorah.com |url=https://www.thetorah.com/article/was-the-documentary-hypothesis-tainted-by-wellhausens-antisemitism |website=TheTorah.com |publisher=Project TABS |access-date=28 February 2022}}</ref>

==''Prolegomena zur Geschichte Israels'' and documentary hypothesis==
{{More citations needed section|date=November 2024}}

{{main|Prolegomena zur Geschichte Israels|Documentary hypothesis}}
Wellhausen was famous for his [[Biblical criticism|critical investigations]] into Old Testament history and the composition of the ''[[Hexateuch]]''. He is perhaps best known for his ''Prolegomena zur Geschichte Israels'' (1883, first published in 1878 as ''Geschichte Israels''){{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} in which he advanced a definitive formulation of the documentary hypothesis. It argues that the [[Torah]] had its origins in a redaction of four originally-independent texts dating from several centuries after the time of [[Moses]], their [[Mosaic authorship|traditional author]].

Wellhausen's hypothesis remained the dominant model for Pentateuchal studies until the last quarter of the 20th century, when it began to be advanced by other [[biblical scholars]] who saw more and more hands at work in the Torah and ascribed them to periods even later than Wellhausen had proposed.

Regarding his sources, Wellhausen described [[Wilhelm de Wette]] as "the epoch-making opener of the historical criticism of the Pentateuch."  In 1806, De Wette provided an early, coherent mapping of the [[Old Testament]] writings of the J, E, D, and P, authors.  Soon after, he was cast out of his university post. Young Julius Wellhausen thus largely continued the work of de Wette.

==Other works==

A select list of his works are as follows:

*''De gentibus et familiis Judaeis'' (Göttingen, 1870)
*''Der Text der Bücher Samuelis untersucht'' (Göttingen, 1871)
*''Die Phariseer und Sadducäer'', a classic treatise upon this subject (Greifswald, 1874)
*''[[Prolegomena zur Geschichte Israels]]'' (Berlin, 1882; 3rd edition, 1886; Eng. trans., Edinburgh, 1883, 1891; 5th German edition, 1899; first published in 1878 as ''Geschichte Israels''; English translation ''Prolegomena to the History of Ancient Israel'', Forgotten Books, 2008, {{ISBN|978-1-60620-205-0}}. Also available on [[Project Gutenberg]] [https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4732])
*''Muhammed in Medina'', a translation of [[Al-Waqidi]] (Berlin, 1882)
*''Die Composition des Hexateuchs und der historischen Bücher des Alten Testaments'' (1876/77, 3rd edition 1899)
*''Israelitische und jüdische Geschichte'' (1894, 4th edition 1901)
*''[http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gdc/gdclccn.g01000166 Reste arabischen Heidentums]'' (1897)
*''Das arabische Reich und sein Sturz'', in its time the standard modern account of Umayyad history (1902), English translation ''The Arab Kingdom and its Fall'' (1927)<ref>{{citation | title = The First Dynasty of Islam: The Umayyad Caliphate AD 661–750 (2nd Edition) | last = Hawting | first = G.R. | publisher = Routledge | year = 2000 | isbn = 978-0-415-24072-7 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=KNczPUUdTbsC | page = xxi}}</ref>
**''Urdu Translation'': "Saltanat e Arab Aur Uska Suqoot".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://quranwahadith.com/product/the-arab-kingdom-and-its-fall-urdu/|title=The Arab Kingdom and Its Fall Urdu, Julius Wellhausen, سلطنت عرب کا سقوط}}</ref>
*''Skizzen und Vorarbeiten'' (1884–1899)
*''Medina vor dem Islam'' (1889)
*New and revised editions of [[Friedrich Bleek]]'s ''Einleitung in das Alte Testament'' (4–6, 1878–1893).
*''Die kleinen Propheten'', a critical brochure (1902)
*"The Book of Psalms" in ''Sacred Books of the Old Testament'' (Leipzig, 1895; Eng. trans., 1898)

In 1906 ''Die christliche Religion, mit Einschluss der israelitisch-jüdischen Religion'' appeared, in collaboration with [[Adolf Jülicher]], [[Adolf Harnack]] and others. He also produced less influential work as a [[New Testament]] commentator, publishing ''Das Evangelium Marci, übersetzt und erklärt'' in 1903, ''Das Evangelium Matthäi'' and ''Das Evangelium Lucae'' in 1904, and ''Einleitung in die drei ersten Evangelien'' in 1905.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Additional sources ==
*{{Cite NIE|wstitle=Wellhausen, Julius |year=1905}}
*{{EB1911|wstitle=Wellhausen, Julius|volume=28|page=507}}

== Further reading ==
* Steven Cassedy, "Walter Rauschenbusch, the Social Gospel Movement, and How Julius Wellhausen Unwittingly Helped Create American Progressivism in the Twentieth Century," in Shawna Dolansky (ed.), ''Sacred History, Sacred Literature: Essays on Ancient Israel, the Bible, and Religion in Honor of R. E. Friedman on His Sixtieth Birthday.'' Winnona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 2008; pp.&nbsp;315–324.
* Paul Michael Kurtz, ''Kaiser, Christ, and Canaan: The Religion of Israel in Protestant Germany, 1871–1918.'' Forschungen zum Alten Testament I/122. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2018.

==External links==
{{Commons category|Julius Wellhausen}}
* {{Gutenberg author |id=1562| name=Julius Wellhausen}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Julius Wellhausen}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wellhausen, Julius}}
[[Category:Documentary hypothesis| ]]
[[Category:1844 births]]
[[Category:1918 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century German Protestant theologians]]
[[Category:19th-century German writers]]
[[Category:19th-century German male writers]]
[[Category:20th-century German writers]]
[[Category:German Arabists]]
[[Category:German biblical scholars]]
[[Category:German male non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:German orientalists]]
[[Category:Ibadi studies]]
[[Category:Old Testament scholars]]
[[Category:People from Hamelin]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)]]
[[Category:Members of the Prussian Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Members of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the University of Greifswald]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the University of Göttingen]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the University of Marburg]]
[[Category:German Hebraists]]