In 15 rough descriptions, Rudolf Smend provides an introduction to the history of Old Testament scholarship since the Enlightenment. He begins with the French physician Jean Astruc and the English Bishop Robert Lowth. Using the names for God, Astruc was the first to show that Genesis was based on various sources and manuscript traditions, and Lowth discovered the fundamental principle of Hebrew poetry (the "parallelismus membrorum"). At the end of the book the author discusses five scholars whom he knew personally: Albrecht Alt, Gerhard v. Rad, Martin Noth, Isac Leo Seeligmann and Walther Zimmerli.