Gerhard von Rad (21 October 1901 – 31 October 1971) was a German academic, Old Testament scholar, Lutheran theologian, exegete, and professor at the University of Heidelberg.

Early life, education, career

Gerhard von Rad was born in Nuremberg, Bavaria, to Lutheran parents. His family were part of the patrician class. He was educated at the University of Erlangen and further at the University of Tübingen. In 1925, he became a curate in the Lutheran Landeskirche (i.e. the church in the federal state) of Bavaria. Later, he taught at the University of Erlangen in 1929 as tutor. In 1930 he was a privatdozent at the University of Leipzig. From 1934 to 1945 he served as a professor at the University of Jena and later at the University of Göttingen 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 and taught there until his death in 1971. He was conferred honorary doctorates from the University of Lund, Sweden and the University of Wales, United Kingdom.

Oral tradition and the Pentateuch

Along with German biblical scholar Martin Noth, Gerhard von Rad applied form criticism, originated by Hermann Gunkel, to the documentary hypothesis. 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 Martin Noth, he applied research into the Pentateuch'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. 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 emerging from the great fish, an Old Testament symbol of resurrection.

Selected works

Publications

Scholarly impact

Prof. Premasagar concludes by saying that the Bible for von Rad, in the final analysis, is neither history nor literature, but rather the confessions of a community.