WELLHAUSEN, Julius. - Protestant historian and philologist, b. May 17, 1844, at Hameln (Hannover), d. Jan. 7, 1918, at Göttingen.
In 1872 he became full professor at Greifswald, but soon resigned his chair because of the controversies aroused by his historical-exegetical writings; he then taught Oriental languages at Halle (1882), at Marburg in 1885, and in 1892 at the University of Göttingen, succeeding P. de Lagarde.
W.’s name is closely associated with the critical study of the origins of the Pentateuch (v.). Developing and applying the source theory already proposed by K. von Graf, he became the leading exponent of the new hypothesis of the various documents. W. presented his ideas in Geschichte Israels (Berlin 1878), which, revised, reappeared in 1883 under the titles Prolegomena zur Geschichte Israels (6th ed. 1905) and Die Komposition des Hexateuchs und der historischen Bücher des Alten Testaments (3rd ed. 1899). W.’s ideas met with lively criticism, but in general his theory was accepted in rationalistic circles and often exaggerated. Only much later did a reconsideration of many of his principles begin. Among his other works on the Old Testament are: Der Text der Bücher Samuelis (Göttingen 1871); The book of Psalms in the “policroma” Bible of P. Haupt (Leipzig 1895); Die kleinen Propheten (Berlin 1898); Israelitische und jüdische Geschichte (ibid. 1894; 8th ed. 1921).
W. then devoted himself to the study of the New Testament, displaying the same independence of judgment in presenting hypotheses. His ideas, however, met with very little success in this field. He supposed for the Gospels an underlying text which, with various additions, would have constituted Mark. In the Gospel of John he pointed to an early writing which utilized Mark and Luke, later revised so as to lose its individuality in details. Among his works on the New Testament are: Die Pharisäer und die Sadducäer (Greifswald 1874; 2nd ed. Hannover 1924); Das Evangelium Marci (Berlin 1903; 2nd ed. 1909); Das Evangelium Lucae (ibid. 1904); Das Evangelium Matthaei (ibid. 1904; 2nd ed. 1914); Einleitung in die drei ersten Evangelien (ibid. 1905; 2nd ed. 1911); Das Evangelium Johannis (ibid. 1908). W. also made important contributions to Arabic history and philology. It suffices here to mention Reste des arabischen Heidentums (in Skizzen und Vorarbeiten, III, Berlin 1887; 2nd ed. 1897); Medina vor dem Islam and Muhammeds Gemeindeordnung von Medina (Skizzen und Vorarbeiten, IV, ibid. 1889); Prolegomena zur ältesten Geschichte des Islam (Skizzen und Vorarbeiten, VI, ibid. 1899); Das arabische Reich und sein Sturz (ibid. 1902).