Julius Wellhausen – die denke van ’n Ou-Testamentikus

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to examine the life, influence and greatest works of Old Testament scholar Julius Wellhausen. Wellhausen was influenced by the findings of other Old Testament critics that preceded him, as well as the new environment that the Enlightenment has created. These influences can be seen in his three major works: Die Komposition des Hexateuchs – here an idea of the method he used in the recognition, grouping and dating of the sources can be found. Wellhausen made use of these sources to construct a history of Israel which can be viewed in his Geschichte Israels. His greatest work was most certainly his Prolegomena zur Geschichte Israels and he makes significant findings in the part on the Geschichte des Kultus. The question to be answered though is: Does Wellhausen’s source hypothesis still has a part to play in our modern research on the Pentateuch?