I never thought I would be in the same class of scholars as Wellhausen and Gunkel. According to Charles Halton at Awilum, I am — at least in one sense. Both of them, as well as other well–known scholars like Graf, were under employed. Graf was a school teacher and never had a professorship, while Gunkel took a very long time to get a job in a university. Although I will probably never rise to the level of any of these scholars with regard to my academic work, at least I can say that — like them — I am underemployed in academia.
This is comforting, but only mildly so. Somehow I can’t imagine Wellhausen working as a cashier at The Home Depot.