Bachmann, Johannes Franz Julius

BACHMANN, JOHANNES FRANZ JULIUS: Lutheran; b. at Berlin Feb. 24, 1832; d. at Rostock Apr. 12, 1888. He studied at Halle and Berlin, became privat-docent at Berlin, 1856, ordinary professor of theology at Rostock, 1858, also university preacher, 1874. In his student days Tholuck and Hengstenberg attracted him most, and it was in large measure the learning, ingenuity, and firmness of the latter in defending tradition which influenced Bachmann to devote himself especially to the investigation of the Old Testament. His theological position may be thus characterised: The conception of prophecy seemed to him determined by the mode of its fulfilment; for this reason he believed that the spiritual, not the literal, exposition of the Old Testament should be followed. Nevertheless, he tried to avoid the one-sided spiritualism which Hengstenberg espoused in his earlier works. His scholarship in his chosen field is evident in two works, Die Festgesetze des Pentateuchs aufs neue kritisch untersucht (Berlin, 1858), in which he endeavors to prove, against Hupfeld, the harmonious unity of the festival laws of the Pentateuch; and in his unfinished commentary on the Book of Judges (Berlin, 1868), upon which he had spent years of labor. Of this work George F. Moore remarks (Commentary on Judges, New York, 1895, 1): “By far the fullest recent commentary on Judges is that of J. Bachmann, which was unfortunately never carried beyond the fifth chapter. The author’s standpoint is that of Hengstenberg, and he is a stanch opponent of modern criticism of every shade and school; but in range and accuracy of scholarship, and exhaustive thoroughness of treatment, his volume stands without a rival.” Bachmann also wrote with reverence and learning a biography of his teacher Hengstenberg (2 vols., Gütersloh, 1876-80).

E. König.

Bibliography: H. Behm, Johannes Bachmann, Rostock, 1888 (by his son-in-law).