Aubrey Rodway Johnson, FBA (23 April 1901 – 29 September 1985) was a British scholar of

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

and the

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 ...

. He was professor of

Semitic languages The Semitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They are spoken by more than 330 million people across much of West Asia, the Horn of Africa, and latterly North Africa, Malta, West Africa, Chad, and in large immigra ...

at the

University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire , latin_name = , image_name = Shield of the University of Cardiff.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms of Cardiff University , motto = cy, Gwirionedd, Undod a Chytgord , mottoeng = Truth, Unity and Concord , established = 1 ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

(1944–66). The son of a

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

minister, he was born in

Leamington Spa Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or simply Leamington (), is a spa town and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. Originally a small village called Leamington Priors, it grew into a spa town in the 18th century following ...

, but the family moved to Newport in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

when Johnson was a child. After attending the Newport Intermediate School for Boys, he worked for his uncle's corn merchant business and then in the finance department of the Newport Borough Council. In 1919, he began working as a teacher, but in 1922 he gave this up to carry out missionary work. He studied at Trefecca Memorial College, where he became interested in Greek. In 1924, he began studying at Cardiff Baptist College and the

, graduating in 1928 with a first-class degree in

. He continued studying and in 1931 was awarded a PhD by the

University of Wales The University of Wales (Welsh language, Welsh: ''Prifysgol Cymru'') is a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales. Founded by royal charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff � ...

. Johnson was then given a

fellowship A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

of the university. In 1934, he was appointed to an assistant

lectureship Lecturer is an academic rank Academic rank (also scientific rank) is the rank of a scientist or teacher in a college, high school, university or research establishment. The academic ranks indicate relative importance and power of individuals ...

at the University College of South Wales in Cardiff. He was promoted to a full lectureship before he succeeded T. H. Robinson to the

professorship Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

of Semitic languages in 1944. He retired in 1966. Johnson was an

scholar. His published books include ''The One and the Many in the Israelite Conception of God'' (1942), ''The Cultic Prophet in Ancient Israel'' (1944), ''The Vitality of the Individual in the Thought of Ancient Israel'' (1949), ''Sacral Kingship in Ancient Israel'' (1955) and ''The Cultic Prophet and Israel's Psalmody'' (1979). He also wrote articles and book chapters, including several on the role of the king in

ancient Israel The history of ancient Israel and Judah begins in the Southern Levant during the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age. "Israel" as a people or tribal confederation (see Israelites) appears for the first time in the Merneptah Stele, an inscripti ...

. He was elected a

fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in the United Kingdom # C ...

in 1951, received its Burkitt Medal in 1961 and was president of the Society for Old Testament Study in 1956. He died in 1985.Anderson (1986), pp. 435–439.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Aubrey Rodway 1901 births 1985 deaths Alumni of Cardiff University Academics of Cardiff University Fellows of the British Academy