 |
Associate Professor of Religion
Departmental Area: Religions of Western Antiquities Address: Department of Religion |
Background
I joined the faculty of the FSU Religion Department in Fall 2005. I offer courses in Hebrew Bible and Second Temple Judaism. I completed an M.T.S degree in 1997 at Harvard Divinity School and I finished my Ph.D. at the University of Chicago in 2002. I studied under John Collins and wrote a dissertation on 4QInstruction, the longest wisdom text of the Dead Sea Scrolls. This document is the best example available of a sapiential text with an apocalyptic worldview. Working on this composition developed my interest in the intersections between the wisdom and apocalyptic traditions in early Judaism. I am currently writing a book on the Book of Giants found among the Dead Sea Scrolls and the broader issue of portrayals of giants in antiquity. I am also writing a commentary on 4QInstruction, to be published by the Society of Biblical Literature.
I was awarded a grant from the Humboldt Foundation (Forschungsstipendium für erfahrene Wissenschaftlern) and will spend the 2013-14 academic year in Munich, Germany, working on a book on giants in ancient Judaism. For an FSU story on this grant, click here.
Books
- 4QInstruction: A Commentary (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, forthcoming) (publication in early 2013).
- The ‘Other’ in Second Temple Judaism: Essays in Honor of John Collins (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2011) (co-editor, with Karina M. Hogan, Joel Kaminsky and Dan Harlow)
- Discerning Wisdom: The Sapiential Literature of the Dead Sea Scrolls (VTSup 116; Leiden: Brill, 2007). For reviews, see JTS 59 (2008) 742-44; JSJ 40 (2009) 99-100; DSD 16 (2009) 139-41.
- The Worldly and the Heavenly Wisdom of 4QInstruction (Studies on the Texts of the Deserts of Judah 50; Leiden: Brill, 2003). For reviews, see CBQ 67 (2005) 117-18; DSD 13 (2006) 385-88; JBL 124 (2005) 548-53; NTA 48 (2004) 452; RevQ 21 (2004) 649-52; RBL.
Recent Articles
- “Wisdom and Apocalypticism,” in The Oxford Handbook of Apocalyptic Literature (ed. J. Collins; Oxford; forthcoming).
- “The Hellenistic Age,” in A Companion to Ancient Israel (ed. S. Niditch; Wiley-Blackwell, forthcoming).
- “Wisdom,” in T&T Clark Companion to the Dead Sea Scrolls (eds. G. Brooke and C. Hempel; T&T Clark, forthcoming).
- “Being Fleshly or Spiritual: Anthropological Reflection and Exegesis of Genesis 1-3 in 4QInstruction and 1 Corinthians,” in Christian Body, Christian Self: Essays on Early Christian Concepts of Personhood (eds. C. Rothschild and T. Thompson; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2011 [expected publication]), 41-59.
- “The Foolish Nation that Dwells in Shechem: BenSira on Shechem and Other Peoples in Palestine,” in The ‘Other’ in SecondTemple Judaism: Essays in Honor of John J. Collins (eds. D. Harlowet al.; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2011), 173-88.
Research and Teaching Specializations
- Wisdom Literature
- Apocalypticism
- The Dead Sea Scrolls
- Second Temple Judaism
News
Recent Courses
Fall 2012
REL2210 Introduction to the Old Testament
The word “Bible” is derived from the Greek word “biblia” which means “books.” While revered as a single book, the Bible is a collection of many texts that were composed by different authors at different times for different reasons. This course is an introduction to the critical study of this assorted literature and the world in which it was produced. We will examine individual texts of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament within their historical contexts while taking into consideration other methodological approaches such as literary criticism and theology.
REL3209 The Dead Sea Scrolls
In this class we will analyze key manuscripts of the Qumran corpus. We will focus on issues such as the history, beliefs and praxis of the Jewish sectarian movement that is associated with the scrolls, the archaeology of the Qumran site and the significance of the scrolls for understanding Second Temple Judaism.
Spring 2012
REL3293/5292 Aramaic
An introduction to Biblical Aramaic, focusing primarily on the book of Daniel, but also including some discussion of other dialects of Jewish Aramaic. All the Aramaic sections of Daniel (2:4b through chapter 7) will be read as well as selected passages from Targum Onqelos (the most widely used Aramaic translation of the Pentateuch). The grammar will be studied inductively as we read the texts.
REL6298 Hebrew Bible Proseminar
This class is a forum in which RWA graduate students will examine fundamental issues in the study of the Hebrew Bible. Topics that will be addressed include the history of scholarship, leading critical approaches towards the study of the text, and major topics of debate in the field.