Carl Friedrich Keil Books & Biography

CARL FRIEDRICH KEIL was a Lutheran writer born in Lauterbach, Saxony, (Germany). He studied theology at the universities of Dorpat and Berlin. In 1833, he accepted the chair of Oriental Languages and Exegesis of the Old and New Testaments in Dorpat. In 1859, he moved to Leipzig, where he devoted himself to study and the internal affairs of his Church. He belonged to the orthodox and conservative school of Lutheran theology, and contributing with Hengstenberg, giving shape to Lutheran pastoral thought in the Baltic provinces for a quarter of a century. He opposed the biblical criticism of the time, defending the infallibility of biblical literature as the inspired Word of God.

He collaborated with Franz Delitzsch in the well-known Biblischer Commentar über das Alte Testament (1861-1875), a commentary on the Hebrew text of the Old Testament. He wrote commentaries of Genesis to Esther, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and the minor Prophets. He also wrote commentaries on the books of Maccabees, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, the letters of Peter, Jude, and Hebrews. His commentary on Genesis is considered one of the best existing in all languages. He defends the authorship of Moses but he also recognizes a revision done during the post-exile period. His commentary on the minor Prophets is also praised for the light he had shed on them.