Alfred Rahlfs (; ; 29 May 1865 – 8 April 1935) was a German

Biblical scholar Biblical studies is the academic application of a set of diverse disciplines to the study of the Bible (the Old Testament and New Testament).''Introduction to Biblical Studies, Second Edition'' by Steve Moyise (Oct 27, 2004) pages 11–12 Fo ...

. He was a member of the

history of religions school The history of religions school (German: ''Religionsgeschichtliche Schule'') is a term applied to a group of German Protestant theologians associated with the University of Göttingen in the 1890s. Ideas The ''Religionsgeschichtliche Schule'' use ...

. He is known for his edition of the Septuagint published in 1935.

Biography

He was born in Linden near

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

, and studied

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

Theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

, Philosophy, and Oriental Languages in Halle and

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, t ...

, where he received a

Dr. Phil. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

in 1887. His professional career developed in

, where he was Stiftsinspektor (from 1888),

Privatdozent ''Privatdozent'' (for men) or ''Privatdozentin'' (for women), abbreviated PD, P.D. or Priv.-Doz., is an academic title conferred at some European universities, especially in German-speaking countries, to someone who holds certain formal qualific ...

(from 1891),

Extraordinarius ''Extraordinarius'' is a genus of South American huntsman spiders. It was first described by C. A. Rheims in 2019, and it has only been found in Brazil. Species it contains four species: *'' E. andrematosi'' Rheims, 2019 ( type) – Brazil *'' ...

(from 1914), and Professor for

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

(from 1919). He retired in 1933 and died in

. Influenced by his teacher

Paul de Lagarde Paul Anton de Lagarde (2 November 1827 – 22 December 1891) was a German biblical scholar and orientalist, sometimes regarded as one of the greatest orientalists of the 19th century. Lagarde's strong support of anti-Semitism, vocal opposition ...

, Rahlfs's academic interest focused on the

Septuagint The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond th ...

, the Greek translation of the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. Hebrew: ''Tān ...

. Together with Rudolf Smend and others, Rahlfs was responsible for the creation of the Septuaginta-Unternehmen under Göttingen's and Berlin's Academies of Sciences and Humanities in 1907, which he directed from 1908 until 1933. Its goal has been to reconstruct the original wording of the Septuagint, and since Rahlfs' death it had published twenty volumes. Rahlfs edited a preliminary but influential edition of the Septuagint, which appeared in two volumes in the year he died, in addition to one critical volume (''Psalmi cum Odis'') and two slim volumes on the

Book of Ruth The Book of Ruth ( he, מגילת רות, ''Megilath Ruth'', "the Scroll of Ruth", one of the Five Megillot) is included in the third division, or the Writings (Ketuvim), of the Hebrew Bible. In most Christian canons it is treated as one of the ...

and

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...

. In 2006, a revision of his ''Septuaginta'', made by Robert Hanhart, was published by the

Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft The Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft ("German Bible Society") is a religious foundation regulated by public law. It is involved in publishing and in spreading the message of the Bible. The Society publishes the Bible in the original languages and in ...

. This ''editio altera'' includes over a thousand changes to the text and apparatus. Rahlfs'

sigla Scribal abbreviations or sigla (singular: siglum) are abbreviations used by ancient and medieval scribes writing in various languages, including Latin, Greek, Old English and Old Norse. In modern manuscript editing (substantive and mechanica ...

of Septuagint manuscripts are still cited.

Select bibliography

*Alfred Rahlfs
''Septuaginta-Studien''
3 vols., Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1904-11. *Alfred Rahlfs
''Verzeichniz der griechischen Handschriften des Alten Testaments, für das Septuaginta-Unternehmen''
Göttingen 1914. *Alfred Rahlfs (ed.), ''Das Buch Rut griechisch als Probe einer kritischen Handausgabe der LXX'', Stuttgart: Privileg. Württ. Bibelanstalt, 1922. *Alfred Rahlfs (ed.), ''Genesis, Septuaginta: Vetus Testamentum graecum I'', Stuttgart: Privilegierte Württembergische Bibelanstalt, 1926. *Alfred Rahlfs (ed.),
Psalmi cum Odis, Septuaginta: Vetus Testamentum graecum X.1
', Göttingen : Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1931. *Alfred Rahlfs (ed.), ''Septuaginta: id est Vetus Testamentum graece iuxta LXX interpretes'', 2 vols., Stuttgart: Privileg. Württembergische Bibelanstalt, 1935.

Notes

References

* Klaus-Gunther Wesseling, "RAHLFS, Alfred." In: ''

Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon The ''Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon'' (''BBKL'') is a German biographical encyclopedia covering persons related to the history of the church, philosophy and literature, founded 1975 by Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz Friedrich Wilhelm B ...

'' (BBKL), Vol 7, Bautz, Herzberg 1994, , pp. 1267–1269. {{DEFAULTSORT:Rahlfs, Alfred 1865 births 1935 deaths Writers from Hanover 20th-century German Protestant theologians German biblical scholars Old Testament scholars German male non-fiction writers University of Göttingen alumni