Martin Noth (1902-1968)
Martin Noth (1902-1968; German)[]
· Martin Noth is probably best known for his theory on the Deuteronomistic History (DH). The beginnings of his theory can be found in his 1938 commentary on Joshua (Das Buch Josua), where he follows his teacher Albrecht Alt in rejecting the idea of the Hexateuch, claiming that the Pentateuchal sources did not extend into Joshua. A full treatment of his theory came in Überlieferungsgeschichtliche Studien (1943), in which he argues that DH was a well-planned historical work by a creative exilic author/historian (Dtr) who used various sources. Another of Noth’s influential works was Das System der zwölf Stämme Israels (1930), which explained his theory of Israelite tribal amphictyony. Following the Delphi amphictyonic model from ancient Greece, he argued that pre-monarchic Israel was structured around a twelve-tribe league. Though most scholars today no longer ascribe to this theory, it was popular for decades. Noth also wrote one of the founding scholarly works on tradition history (Überliefereungsgeschichte) in 1948 (A History of the Pentateuchal Traditions), where he examined the origins and transmissions of the J, E, and P sources. The culmination of Noth’s scholarship was his The History of Israel (1950), which draws on his earlier works.