Memorials: Herbert Martin Wolf

Herbert Martin Wolf was born on July 15, 1938 in Springfield, MA, to Gottfried and Melanie Wolf. He was their only son, but had an older sister, Irmgard. Herbert was saved at the age of five in a Child Evangelism class. He met his future wife, Clara Podkowyrow, in the high school youth group of Grace Baptist Church in Springfield. Clara and her parents escaped from Russia in 1943, traveled on foot for two years, landed in Germany, and then made their way to the USA in 1951.

Herb graduated from Wheaton College in 1960, then began his studies for the Th.M. degree at Dallas Theological Seminary. On August 12, 1961, Herbert and Clara were married at Grace Baptist Church in Springfield, with Dr. David Nettleton officiating. Upon graduation from Dallas Theological Seminary, Herbert began his M.A. and Ph.D. work at Brandeis University, finishing in 1967. That same year, he was hired to teach Old Testament at Wheaton College.

Much of Herbert's time was spent in Bible translation. He worked on the NIV and also the NASB, traveling to Spain, Greece, Switzerland, England, and Scotland with the teams. Dr. Wolf also led three trips to the Holy Land. Herbert contributed articles on fifty words in the Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament and articles that appear in the Zondervan Pictorial Bible Dictionary, Bibliotheca Sacra, and the Journal of Biblical Literature. He wrote Interpreting Isaiah, An Introduction to the Pentateuch, and "Judges" in the Expositor's Bible Commentary. He also wrote Haggai and Malachi: Rededication and Renewal.

Besides his long tenure at Wheaton College (1967-2002), Herbert taught a Sunday School class at the Wheaton Bible Church for decades. Dr. Wolf had been a member of the Evangelical Theological Society for more than thirty-five years. Herb died at home on October 18, 2002, after a bout with leukemia. His life spanned 64 years, 3 months, and 3 days.

Left to mourn Herb's absence are his wife Clara of Wheaton; his son David and wife Jill of Santa Barbara, CA, along with their children Tanner, Lauren, Bailey, and Payton; his daughter Larissa and her husband Peter VanVleet of Indianapolis, IN, with their children Abigail, Tyler, and Scott; his son Philip with his wife Melanie and their children Barret and Maggie of High Point, NC; and his sister Irmgard Heath of Florida.

Copyright Evangelical Theological Society Mar 2003
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