Old Testament Theology, Vol 1

by Gerhard von Rad, D.M.G. Stalker (Translator), Walter Brueggemann (Introduction)

This republication of a classic work contains a new introduction by Walter Brueggemann that places Gerhard von Rad's work within the context of German theology, Old Testament theology, and the history of interpretation of the Old Testament. In Old Testament Theology, von Rad applies the most advanced results of form criticism to develop a new understanding of the Bible. His original approach is now available once again in English.

The Old Testament Library provides fresh and authoritative treatments of important aspects of Old Testament study through commentaries and general surveys. The contributors are scholars of international standing.

Genres: Theology, Biblical Studies, Old Testament, Religion, Christian, Reference, Scripture

528 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1962

About the author

Gerhard von Rad was Professor of Old Testament at the University of Heidelberg in Germany until his death in 1971. He is the author of several books, including Wisdom in Israel and Holy War in Ancient Israel.

Reviews

[Csilla]

Must-to-read for all who are interested in the Old Testament.

[Leviticus Ferris]

Commentaries are on going reading projcts

[Greg Williams]

This is a classic from Gerhard von Rad that was published in the early 1960's. My understanding is that this was considered to be innovative when it was published but I'm sure it is considered dated now. In spite of that, I found it to be a good introduction into how Old Testament scholars approached the Hebrew scriptures.

Some things I found interesting:

* I've never really had much exposure to Old Testament source criticism (i.e. documentary hypothesis) and form criticism. In this book, I was able to get a sense for how OT scholars have used these methods to come up with conjectures on how different traditions developed over time to produce the Hebrew scriptures.

* I found the discussion of the meaning of Hebrew words to be enlightening as well. The chapter on "The Righteousness of Jahweh and of Israel" was particularly eye-opening for me concerning the meaning of the Hebrew word tzedakah. This word is typically translated as "righteousness" in English translations but our understanding of that word does not really match up with the Hebrew understanding of righteousness. According to von Rad, righteousness in the Torah is about faithfulness to a relationship whereas we tend to think of it in terms of goodness or even moral perfection.

This book is definitely not light reading. It took me a while to read this one. It is academic and dense. But, being a Bible nerd, I was able to follow the author's arguments for the most part. If you are a Bible nerd like me, I think you'll find it interesting. However, if you are not, then you'll probably want to skip this one.

[Ailen Ahaze]

Great work! Great Blessing

[Hany Abdelmalek]

Von Rad argues that the proper way to do Old Testament theology is to describe the faith of ancient Israel as a history of the Saving Acts of God. In other words, to participate (as possible) in Israel retelling of and reflecting on her own Saving History with YHWH

[Maer]

To-Read

[edenstephen]

Own Vol. I & II.