Arnold A. Anderson, 1924-2021

Biblical Studies. Adrian Curtis remembers his former colleague: The Department was sad to learn that Arnold Anderson, formerly Senior Lecturer in Old Testament Studies, died on 13 August 2021 at the remarkable age of 97 – remarkable because he had had health issues for many years. It was my privilege to know him as my teacher, doctoral supervisor, colleague and friend, and I am grateful to have been invited to write a little about him. He was born in Latvia, but came to Britain after what had been difficult years politically for his native country. He studied at Spugeon’s College and then at Oxford University where he specialized in Semitic Languages. After an Assistant Lectureship at Edinburgh, he came to Manchester where he spent the remainder of his academic career. 

 

When I came to Manchester to read Biblical Studies in 1963, he taught us Old Testament along with his colleague at the time, John Allegro. (Arnold always remained loyal to Allegro, with whom he collaborated in producing a volume on manuscripts from Cave 4 at Qumran in the Discoveries in the Judaean Desert Series, published in 1968.) When I subsequently undertook research on the relevance of the Ugaritic texts for the study of the Book of Psalms, he was my supervisor. At that time he had just completed the draft manuscript of his two volume commentary on the Psalms, and he asked me to read it with a view in particular to checking his English. When I joined the teaching staff in 1970 we became colleagues, and collaborated happily in the teaching of Old Testament/Hebrew Bible until his retirement. In addition to his major commentary on the Psalms in the New Century Bible Series published in 1972, he wrote a commentary on 2 Samuel for the Word Biblical Commentary Series, published in 1989. 

 

Partly for health reasons, Arnold did not really continue to write after his retirement, but initially he retained a keen interest in the Old Testament. When I would visit him, primarily to ask him how he was, the conversation would soon switch to quizzing me on what I had been reading. Indeed the timing of my visits would sometimes depend on whether I had read something interesting, or when I could report on, for example, a Society for Old Testament Study conference. Latterly dementia began to have an effect, but he resisted it by keeping his mind active, studying a range of topics. A personal regret is that the Covid 19 lock-down and subsequent restrictions prevented me from visiting him during his final months. George Brooke and I were among those present at his funeral, 3 September 2021.