Adam Cleghorn Welch

Adam Cleghorn Welch (born May 14, 1864, Goshen, Jamaica—died Feb. 19, 1943, Helensburgh, Dunbarton, Scot.) was one of the greatest Scottish biblical scholars.

The son of a United Presbyterian missionary, he attended Edinburgh University (1879–83) and the United Presbyterian Hall (1883–85), spending the summer term of 1885 at Erlangen, Ger. As minister of Waterbeck (1887–92), Helensburgh (1892–1902), and Claremont, Glasgow (1902–13), he became known as a preacher. He played a notable part in the negotiations that led to the reunion of the United Free Church and the Church of Scotland in 1929. Appointed professor of Hebrew and Old Testament exegesis in New College, Edinburgh, in 1913, he taught there until he retired in 1934.

An outstanding critic of the school of Julius Wellhausen (q.v.), Welch developed an alternative theory of the growth of Israel’s religion, in five books: The Code of Deuteronomy (1925); Deuteronomy: The Framework to the Code (1932); Post-Exilic Judaism (1935); Prophet and Priest in Old Israel (1936); The Work of the Chronicler (1939). The value of Welch’s contribution has come to be recognized, even though few scholars would accept his whole reconstruction. His other books include studies of Daniel and Revelation (1922), the Psalter (1926), and Jeremiah (1928). A posthumous volume, Kings and Prophets of Israel (1952), contains a memoir and a bibliography.