Old Testament

Department chair: Prof. Dr. Koert van Bekkum

Studies in Old Testament

The department of Old Testament conducts research on the Hebrew Bible and the surrounding cultures. The biblical texts are studied in their original ancient Near Eastern context with the help of a broad range of historical, literary and linguistic methods. Questions relating to the use of the Old Testament texts in the context of the Bible as a whole and in relation to the present world are an integral part of the department’s activities. The canonical form of the texts is taken as the starting point of all investigations; however, questions about the pre-history of the texts are also addressed.

Perspectives derived from other scientific fields like sociology, comparative religious studies and others are used where applicable. More recent approaches like liberationist, psychological or feminist interpretations are taken into consideration. In addition to the Hebrew Bible, texts and cultures of the ancient Near East are studied as well. The early translations and interpretations of the Hebrew Bible as attested in the Septuagint and the Targumim are an additional part of the department’s focus, as are interpretations found in rabbinic and early Christian sources.

Independent Academic Personnel

Prof. Dr. Koert van Bekkum	Literary, Historical, and Theological Aspects of Genesis – 2 Kings; Archaeology of the Southern Levant; History of Interpretation
Prof. Dr. Geert W. Lorein	Exilic and Post-Exilic Biblical writings; Early Old Testament Interpretation; Psalms in the Targum; Hebrew Prose
Dr. Creighton Marlowe	Bible Translation; Wisdom Literature; Hebrew Poetry
Prof. Dr. Mart-Jan Paul	Pentateuch; Archaeology of the Southern Levant; Hermeneutics
Dr. Hans van den Herik
Prof. Dr. Markus Zehnder	Old Testament ethics; Old Testament Law in Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern context; Immigration in the OT; Interreligious Relations in the Old Testament

Post-Doctoral Researchers

Prof. Dr. Heiko Wenzel

Prophecy, Intertextuality

Special Academic Personnel

Prof. Dr. Hendrik Koorevaar

External Instructors

Dr. Benjamin Kilchör	Pentateuch; Old Testament Law; Pentateuchal Criticism; Ezekiel
Dr. Siegbert Riecker	Old Testament Missiology
David van Acker MA (Ph.D. candidate)

Doctoral Students (with or without AAP/SAP-status)

Randall Ford	“The New Covenant” in Jeremiah 31 in Jewish Literature from the First Century ceuntil the Time of Don Isaac Abravanel
Jürgen Schulz	Shame [בושׁ and cognates] in the Hebrew Bible and Akkadian Texts, With Main Focus on the 10th to 6th Centuries bce: A Linguistic Study and Its Implications
Bram van den Heuvel	Memories of a Flood: The Search for Patterns in the Worldwide Attestation of Flood Stories
Vladimir Yakim	Resurrection in the Book of Daniel