Paul Billerbeck

Ernst Friedrich Paul Billerbeck (born April 4, 1853 in Schönfließ , Neumark , † December 23, 1932 in Frankfurt an der Oder ) was a Protestant pastor, theologian and Judaist. He compiled numerous texts translated into German from the Talmud and Midrash in order to shed light on the Jewish background of the New Testament writings.

Scientific work

Paul Billerbeck was the only son of the master furrier Ernst Friedrich Billerbeck (1820–1897) and his wife Pauline Emilie geb. Plateau. He attended high school in Königsberg in the Neumark . After graduating from high school, he studied Protestant theology from 1873 to 1876 at the Royal University of Greifswald and the University of Leipzig . 1880–1889 he was pastor in the Neumark town of Zielenzig (today Sulęcin) and 1889–1914 in the neighboring Heinersdorf (today Drogomin). In addition, he dealt scientifically with Judaism . At the suggestion of the Berlin theology professor Hermann Leberecht Strack , he compiled the entire rabbinical material for the New Testament and translated the texts into German. In total there are 40,000 texts on 5000 pages.

The complete work Commentary on the New Testament from the Talmud and Midrash was published in the 1920s by his mentor Strack. The manuscript is now in the Ernst Moritz Arndt University of Greifswald . The four-volume work will continue to be published by CH Beck in Munich and is still part of standard scientific literature; It is often referred to in abbreviated form by only quoting Billerbeck's name, because Strack was important as a stimulator and supervisor for this work, but was not involved in its drafting. Through Billerbeck's work, the environment of Jesus and the early church, which had previously only been accessible to a few specialists, was brought closer to the theological world; thus “a new basis was created for the New Testament exegesis, especially that of the Gospels”.

In recognition of his scientific work, Billerbeck was awarded an honorary doctorate in theology by Greifswald University and an honorary doctorate in philosophy from Königsberg University .

plant

• Commentary on the New Testament from Talmud and Midrash
  • Vol. I: The Gospel According to Matthew , 1922
  • Vol. II: The Gospel according to Mark, Luke and John and the Acts of the Apostles , 1924
  • Vol. III: The letters of the NT and the Revelation of St. John , 1926
  • Vol. IV: Excursions on individual passages in the NT , 1928

literature

• Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz :  Paul Billerbeck. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 1, Bautz, Hamm 1975. 2nd, unchanged edition Hamm 1990, ISBN 3-88309-013-1 , Sp. 589.
• Joachim Jeremias : Art. Billerbeck, Paul . In: Theologische Realenzyklopädie 6 (1980), pp. 640–642 (further references)
• Julia male: Ernst Friedrich Paul Billerbeck (1853–1932). Stations of his life. In: Christfried Böttrich , Judith Thomanek, Thomas Willi (eds.): Between censorship and self-reflection. Christian reception of Judaism (= Greifswalder theological research, 17). Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main 2009. pp. 215-287. ISBN 978-3-631-58863-5

Web links

• Literature by and about Paul Billerbeck in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Jeremias: Billerbeck , in: TRE 6, 1980, p. 641.
2. ↑ So "Billerbeck III", when vol. III is meant, and the respective page number is added. For example with Udo Schnelle: Introduction to the New Testament . Göttingen 1996 (examples can be found in the register).
3. ↑ Jeremias: Billerbeck , in: TRE 6, 1980, p. 641f.
4. ↑ Jeremias: Billerbeck , in: TRE 6, 1980, p. 642.