Oskar von Hinüber（奧斯卡．封興伯）是德國美因茨科學院、法國金石學與文學、以及奧地利科學院的院士。1974–2006 年先後擔任德國美因茨大學漢弗萊堡大學的印度學教授。1990 年與華裔佛教學者胡海燕結為連理。1982年起擔任巴利聖典學會的理事，現任副主席。1984–1994 年出任德國東方學研究協會的副主席。1995–2014 年先後擔任國際佛學研究協會（IABS）秘書長和理事，2007–2010 年被選為該協會主席。奧斯卡．封興伯為德國和美國的東方學協會的榮譽會員。
This essay explores the formation of the first division of the received Pāli Saṃyuttanikāya, the Sagātha-vagga, in the light of its early Indian setting. It traces the mutual relation between the Vedic and the early Buddhist world from the angle of language and literature, particularly the presence and significance of Vedic motifs in the early layers of the Pāli canon. The position of the Sagātha-vagga is investigated in relation to the structure and content of the Saṃyutta-nikāya as a whole, as well as to the rest of the Pāli Sutta-piṭaka. The essay queries why the disparate textual material that forms the Sagātha-vagga was inserted into the Saṃyutta-nikāya and positioned at the beginning of this collection, and what this may further imply in terms of the formation of the Pāli Sutta-piṭaka.
