Eckart Otto’s contributions to Pentateuchal research

Abstract

In order to highlight and appreciate Eckart Otto’s contributions to a better scientific understanding of the Pentateuch, I will not enumerate and comment on all the books and papers that he has written in this regard because of space constraints in this article. I will proceed in a different way and start by summarising of what has happened in Pentateuchal research in Europe in the last 40 years. At the same time, I will try to show that Otto played a major role in these changes.

Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This article gives an overview of Pentateuchal research in Europe over the last 40 years, with specific emphasis on the role that the German Old Testament scholar Eckart Otto played in these developments.