Otto Eißfeldt, spelled alternatively Otto Eissfeldt, (September 1, 1887, in Northeim – April 23, 1973, in Halle) was a German Protestant theologian, known for his work on the Old Testament and comparative near-east religious history.
Eissfeldt was one of the leading representatives of the literary-critical approach in Biblical criticism, following in the school of Julius Wellhausen and Rudolf Smend, with Hermann Gunkel and Wolf Wilhelm Friedrich von Baudissin his teachers in the area of religious history.
A prolific writer, his Hexateuchsynopse (Hexateuch synopsis, 1922) and Einleitung in das Alte Testament (Introduction to the Old Testament, 1934, 1956, 1964, 1976) are outstanding examples of his literary-critical research achievements, while his numerous works on Phoenician religion (based in particular on the texts from Ugarit) were leading works in the field of near-east religious history.
He also edited the bible commentary series Handbuch zum Alten Testament (Guide to the Old Testament, 1937–77), and Joseph Aistleitner's Wörterbuch der ugaritischen Sprache (Dictionary of the Ugaritic Language, 1963),[2] as well as the third edition of Biblia Hebraica (1929–37) with Albrecht Alt after the death of Rudolf Kittel.
In order for Eissfeldt to maintain both positions, it was necessary that they be held perpetually separate and in tension.