Joachim Jeremias (20 September 1900 – 6 September 1979) was a German
Lutheran
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...
theologian, scholar of
Near Eastern Studies
Oriental studies is the academic field that studies Near Eastern and Far Eastern societies and cultures, languages, peoples, history and archaeology. In recent years, the subject has often been turned into the newer terms of Middle Eastern studie ...
and university professor for
New Testament
The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chri ...
Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...
and spent his formative years in
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
, where between 1910 and 1918 his father, Friedrich Jeremias (1868–1945), worked as Provost of the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer. He studied Lutheran theology and
Oriental languages
A wide variety of languages are spoken throughout Asia, comprising different language families and some unrelated isolates. The major language families include Austroasiatic, Austronesian, Caucasian, Dravidian, Indo-European, Afroasiatic, Tur ...
Leipzig
Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...
. In Leipzig he obtained both a "Doctor philosophiae (Dr.phil.)" (1922) and a "Doctor theologiae (Dr.theol.)" (1923) degree (''
Ph.D.
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 ...
'' and '' Th.D.'' in English), followed by his '' Habilitation'' (1925). His mentor was the renowned
Gustaf Dalman
Gustaf Hermann Dalman (9 June 1855 – 19 August 1941) was a German Lutheran theologian and orientalist. He did extensive field work in Palestine before the First World War, collecting inscriptions, poetry, and proverbs. He also collected physic ...
.
After other teaching assignments, Jeremias was appointed in 1935 to the chair of New Testament studies at the Georg-August University of Göttingen, where he taught until his retirement in 1968. In 1976, Jeremias moved from
Göttingen
Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the capital of the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, the population was 118,911.
General information
The ori ...
to
Tübingen
Tübingen (, , Swabian: ''Dibenga'') is a traditional university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer rivers. about one in three ...
, where he died in 1979.
Academic work
His research and publications covered a wide field, ranging from historical and archaeological to literary and philosophical studies. They concentrate on the
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach" '' Rabbinic texts relevant for a critical analysis of the
New Testament
The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chri ...
in order to reconstruct the historical environment of
Jesus
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...
in all its complexity, to provide a deeper understanding of his life and teachings.
His achievements found national and international acknowledgment, recognized by the admission into the
Göttingen Academy of Sciences
Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the capital of the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, the population was 118,911.
General information
The or ...
in 1948 and the award of honorary doctorates from the universities of Leipzig, St Andrews (Britain),
Uppsala
Uppsala (, or all ending in , ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the county seat of Uppsala County and the fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019.
Located north of the c ...
(Sweden), and
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
British Academy
The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences.
It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars spa ...
in 1973. Finally, in 1970 he was made an honorary fellow of the ''Deutsche Verein zur Erforschung Palästinas'' (''German association for research on Palestine'').
Jeremias on the New Testament Apocrypha
He worked with
Wilhelm Schneemelcher
Wilhelm Schneemelcher (21 August 1914, Berlin – 6 August 2003, Bad Honnef) was a German Protestant theologian and expert on the New Testament Apocrypha.
Career
He obtained through Hans Lietzmann a post researching Latin and Greek manuscripts ...
in revisions of the Hennecke-Schneemelcher collection of
New Testament Apocrypha
The New Testament apocrypha (singular apocryphon) are a number of writings by early Christians that give accounts of Jesus and his teachings, the nature of God, or the teachings of his apostles and of their lives. Some of these writings were cite ...
.
Jeremias on Jesus in the Talmud
Jeremias took a stand on the passages generally regarded as relating to
Jesus in the Talmud
There are several passages in the Talmud which are believed by some scholars to be references to Jesus. The name used in the Talmud is " Yeshu", the Aramaic vocalization (although not spelling) of the Hebrew name ''Yeshua''.
The identification ...
which supported medieval rabbinical defences that the ''Yeshu'' the deceiver mentioned in the Talmud was a different Jesus from the Jesus of Christianity. Related to this he also supported
David Flusser
David Flusser (Hebrew: דוד פלוסר; born 1917; died 2000) was an Israeli professor of Early Christianity and Judaism of the Second Temple Period at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Biography
David Flusser was born in Vienna on Septem ...
's suggestion that the name ''Yeshu'' itself was in no way abusive, but 'almost certainly' a Galilean dialect form of Yeshua. Jeremias himself recounted in 1966 that he had discovered the only known confirmed inscription of the spelling ''Yeshu'' in Bethesda, but that this inscription was now covered.New Testament theology Joachim Jeremias - 1977 "... 1965, 284-93: 285; a graffito which I found in the south wall of the southern pool at Bethesda, now covered in, also read [y\fw ', see my: The Rediscovery of Bethesda, New Testament Archaeology Monograph No I, Louisville, Ky., 1966, ..."
Publications in English
* - (orig. German in Kittel, Stuttgart, 1952)
* - (orig. German pub. by Stuttgart: Kohlhammer Verlag, 1956)
*''Infant Baptism in the First Four Centuries,'' trans. D. Cairns (1962; reprinted, 2004; German ed.: 1958)
*''The Sermon on the Mount,'' trans. Norman Perrin (1963; German ed.: 1959)
*''The Lord's Prayer,'' trans. John Reumann (1964; German ed.: 1962)
*''The Key to Pauline Theology'' (October 1, 1964. The Expository Times; Volume: 76 issue: 1, page(s): 27-30)
*''The Problem of the Historical Jesus,'' trans. Norman Perrin (1964; German ed.: 1960)
*''Unknown Sayings of Jesus,'' trans. Reginald H. Fuller (1964; German ed.: 1949)
*''The Central Message of the New Testament'' (1965; reprinted, 1981)
*''The Eucharistic Words of Jesus,'' trans. Norman Perrin (1966; reprinted, 1977; 3d German ed.: 1960)
*''Rediscovering the Parables of Jesus'' (1966; abridgement of ''The Parables of Jesus'')
*''The Rediscovery of Bethesda, John 5:2'' (1966; German ed.: 1949)
*''The Prayers of Jesus,'' trans. John Bowden et al. (1967; German ed.: 1958)
*''Jerusalem in the Time of Jesus: An Investigation into Economic & Social Conditions During the New Testament Period,'' trans. F. H. Cave and C. H. Cave (1969; German ed.: 1967)
*''New Testament Theology,'' trans. John Bowden (1971; German ed.: 1971)
*''The Origins of Infant Baptism: A Further Reply to Kurt Aland,'' trans. Dorothea M. Barton (1971; German ed.: 1962)
*''The Parables of Jesus,'' 2d ed., trans. S. H. Hooke (1972; German ed.: 1958)
*''Jesus and the Message of the New Testament,'' edited by K. C. Hanson, Fortress Classics in Biblical Studies (2002)
*''The Theological Significance of the Dead Sea Scrolls,'' trans. D.J. Zersen (1975; German ed.: 1962)
The ‘Pinnacle’ of the Temple (Matt. 4:5; Luke 4:9)