Gerald Henry Wilson (1945 – 11 November 2005) was an American Old Testament scholar. He served as professor of Old Testament and Biblical Hebrew at

Azusa Pacific University Azusa Pacific University (APU) is a private, evangelical Christian university in Azusa, California. The university was founded in 1899, with classes opening on March 3, 1900, in Whittier, California, and began offering degrees in 1939. The uni ...

. Wilson studied at Baylor University, Fuller Theological Seminary, and Yale University. At Yale, he studied under Brevard S. Childs, and was influenced by him to adopt a

canonical approach Canonical criticism, sometimes called canon criticism or the canonical approach, is a way of interpreting the Bible that focuses on the text of the biblical canon itself as a finished product. Brevard Childs (1923-2007) popularised this approach, ...

to the biblical text. Wilson taught at the University of Georgia, George Fox University, the University of Portland, and

Western Evangelical Seminary Portland Seminary at George Fox University is a multi-denominational, university-based school that offers a variety of master's degree and postgraduate degree programs in theology and ministry, located in Portland, Oregon. The Association of Th ...

before being appointed professor of Old Testament and Biblical Hebrew at

. Wilson was best known for his work on the

Book of Psalms The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived f ...

. He focused on the way the Psalter was divided into five books, and argued that the Psalms around the divisions – what he called the "seams" of the Psalter – concerned the Davidic dynasty and covenant. Yee Von Koh suggests that Wilson was "the first to apply canonical criticism to the study of the Psalter in the clearest and most comprehensive way," while Harry P. Nasuti says that Wilson's "groundbreaking work on the shape of the Psalter has been particularly influential for later scholarship on the subject." Wilson died of a heart attack on 11 November 2005.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Gerald H. 1945 births 2005 deaths American biblical scholars Old Testament scholars Azusa Pacific University faculty Baylor University alumni Fuller Theological Seminary alumni Yale University alumni University of Georgia faculty George Fox University faculty University of Portland faculty