Julius Wellhausen (1844 1918) first published this work in German in 1878. Reissued here is the 1885 English translation of a revised 1883 version. Intended as a multi-volume work, this first book now stands as a self-contained work. A biblical scholar and orientalist, Wellhausen was professor of theology at Greifswald (until resigning for reasons of conscience) and then professor at Halle, Marburg and Gottingen. An early exponent of scientific philology, he placed the Pentateuch in a historical-social context, setting aside theological traditions. In this work, he sets out his method and argues that the Pentateuch is a synthesis of four independent narratives. He then examines the history of worship, sacrifice, sacred feasts, priests, and the law in ancient Israel. Wellhausen is a central figure in modern biblical studies, his theory dominated scholarship for a century, and his pioneering work remains of great interest in the field."

The Prolegomena zur Geschichte Israels (first published in 1878 under the title Geschichte Israels I, and as of 18832 under the first-named title) by Julius Wellhausen (1844-1918) contains a concise summary and decisive further development of critical scholarship on the Old Testament in the 19th century. Wellhausen's source criticism and "Tendenzkritik" as exercised in the Prolegomena became the basis of further scholarly research on the Old Testament. For decades the Prolegomena stood in the shadow of research dominated by form criticism, but recent epigraphic and iconographic scholarship has lent Wellhausen's reconstruction of the religion of pre-exilic Israel new relevancy. This book, written fluently and absorbingly, provided with an index of references, is here again made available twenty years after the last reprint.

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