MEINHOLD, JOHANNES FRIEDRICH°

MEINHOLD, JOHANNES FRIEDRICH ° (1861–1937), German Bible scholar. Meinhold studied with August Dillmann, with Franz Delitzsch the biblicist, and with his son the Assyriologist Friedrich Delitzsch of Babel-Bibel notoriety. Meinhold taught at Greifswald and Bonn. He wrote on the history of the Hagiographa (1889) and on the compilation of Daniel (1884, 1889), maintaining that the basic corpus of Daniel (2:4b–6:29) was composed around 300 b.c.e. and that Daniel 1:2–2:4a and 7–12 were added in the Hasmonean period. His views on the role of Israelite wisdom and prophecy, the documents contained within the Hexateuch, and the composition of Ruth reflect the strong influence of the classical Wellhausen school. It also characterizes his Einfuehrung in das Alte Testament, "Introduction to the Old Testament" (1919, 1932³). In addition to studies on Genesis 14 (1911), the Decalogue (1927), and the role of the biblical Sabbath (1905), he wrote a history of the Jewish people (1916). His Jesus und das Alte Testament (1896) clashed with accepted Christian positions, but his Altes Testament und evangelisches Christentum (1934), an apology for keeping the Hebrew heritage within the Christian tradition, argued that the national ethical religion of Israel was fulfilled in the primitive church's faith in resurrection. He was also co-editor with Hans Lietzmann of the Hebrew-Greek text of Amos for Kleine Texte für theologische Vorlesungen und Übungen, "Short Texts for Theological Lectures and Exercises."

add. bibliography:

R. Smend, in: dbi, 2:143–44.

[Zev Garber]