Claus Westermann - Böcker

Claus Westermann's classic commentary on Deuteroisaiah.

The fifteen essays were written by leading biblical scholars in Europe between 1950 and 1960. The editor is a Professor at Heidelberg, and author of a recent book on 'our time in the Old Testament', A Thousand Tears and a Day (us). As he points out, the contributors agree that the Old Testament must be allowed to tell its own story. They are all concerned, however, with the relation between Israel's religious self-interpretation and its history as the research of our time sees it, and they seek valid ways of connecting the two Testaments which together constitute the Christian Bible. The whole intensive discussion shows that Old Testament commentary and Christian theology are no longer kept separate. The contributors include Gerhard von Rad and Walther Eichrodt on the typological interpretation of the Old Testament, Rudolf Bultmann and Walther Zimmerli on prophecy and fulfilment, Martin Noth on the 'representation' in proclamation, J. J. Stamm on Jesus Christ and his Scripture, and Th. C. Vriezen on the biblical doctrine of salvation. There is a bibliography.

The abridged version of Westermann's classic three-volume work on Genesis. This work presents a magisterial commentary in a condensed and more poluar form. Included are a fresh translation of Genesis, the philological reasoning behind the translation, an examination of the historical background of the original text, a survey of all that has been written about Genesis (together with full references) and a consideration of the problems and questions the text of Genesis raises for today. Claus Westermann is Professor Emeritus of Old Testament at the University of Heidelberg.

Westermann's unique gift of linking biblical study with basic human experience is clearly evident in each of the eleven studies in this book. This simple wisdom will be invaluable to students and general readers alike.

This book, a volume in the Old Testament Library series, explores chapters 40-66 of the book of Isaiah.The Old Testament Library provides fresh and authoritative treatments of important aspects of Old Testament study through commentaries and general surveys. The contributors are scholars of international standing.

Prophetic Oracles of Salvation in the Old Testament is a comprehensive and innovative assessment of these often ignored or misunderstood canonical texts. Claus Westermann shows that these oracles occur in distinct forms and make up a coherent tradition. He goes on to demonstrate that these texts, often percieved only as a message of judgement and doom, in fact proclaim hope and deliverance as well.

The prophetic message awakens the people of God and calls them back from their perverse ways. But the history of the investigation of prophecy shows that the understanding of these messages has changed profoundly over time. Claus Westermann provides indications of the astonishing differences in the conceptions of prophecy in the history of its interpretation.

In this book, Claus Westermann argues that Israel's early wisdom literature grew out of an oral tradition reflecting an agrarian setting. Dealing primarily with Proverbs 10-31, Westermann demonstrates how the wisdom literature evolved into a form of poetry that had greater universal appeal as the people of Israel became more urbanized. A distinctive feature of Roots of Wisdom is Westermann's use of other wisdom sayings, particularly those from ancient Africa, to illustrate the logical progression of wisdom poetry being simply observational in character to becoming more universal in character.

Praise and lament are two major approaches to praying to God. In this book, Claus Westermann investigates these primary categories of the Psalms and shows their meaning for prayer and worship. He contrasts the Old Testament Psalms with those of Babylon and Egypt indicating their distinctive characteristics. Sensitively written and carefully reasoned, Westermann's book will be valued for the clear-cut way it brings light to the character of the ancient Psalms of Israel.