Bernard M. Levinson

Bernard M. Levinson serves as Professor of Classical and Near Eastern Studies and of Law at the University of Minnesota, where he holds the Berman Family Chair in Jewish Studies and Hebrew Bible. His research focuses on biblical and cuneiform law, textual reinterpretation in the Second Temple period, and the relation of the Bible to Western intellectual history. His research interests also include constitutional theory, the history of interpretation, and literary approaches to biblical studies.

Our department has a wonderful interdisciplinary MA and PhD program in Classical & Near Eastern Religions and Cultures. I would be very happy to receive expressions of interest to direct graduate work on the Hebrew Bible and related areas.

Educational Background & Specialties

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Educational Background

Ph.D. : , Brandeis University, 1991 -
Visiting Researcher: Biblical and Semetic Languages, Hebrew University, 1979-80 -
M.A.: , McMaster University, 1978 -
B.A. : , York University, 1974 -

Specialties

Jewish studies
history of interpretation
Hebrew Bible
Deuteronomy
cuneiform law
ancient Near Eastern studies
literary approaches to biblical studies
divine revelation

Publications

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Publications

“The Limitations of ‘Resonance.’ A Response to Joshua Berman on Historical and Comparative Method.” (Co-author: Jeffrey Stackert). Journal of Ancient Judaism 4 (2013): 310–333. Get Paper
“La scoperta goethiana della versione ‘originale’ dei Dieci Comandamenti e la sua influenza sulla critica biblica: Il mito del particolarismo ebraico e dell’universalismo tedesco.“ Pages 71–90 in Il roveto ardente: Scritti sull’ebraismo Tedesco in memoria di Francesca Y. Albertini. Edited by Irene Kajon. Rome: Lithos Editrice, 2013. Get Paper
Please visit Professor Levinson's website for a current list of publications.
“Revelation Regained: The Hermeneutics of יכ and םא in the Temple Scroll“ (Co-author: Molly M. Zahn). Dead Sea Discoveries: A Journal of Current Research on the Scrolls and Related Literature 9:3 (2002): 295–346.
Gender and Law in the Hebrew Bible and the Ancient Near East. Victor H. Matthews and Tikva Frymer-Kensky, co-editors. Read reviews
The Pentateuch as Torah: New Models for Understanding Its Promulgation and Acceptance. Edited by Gary Knoppers and Bernard M. Levinson. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 2007.Read reviews
“Deuteronomy.“ Pages 356–450 In The Jewish Study BIble. Edited by Adele Berlin and Marc Zvi Brettler. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.
“The Bible’s Break with Ancient Political Thought to Promote Equality"'It Ain’t Necessarily so.’“ A review article of Joshua Berman, Created Equal: How the Bible Broke with Ancient Political Thought. The Journal of Theological Studies 61:2 (2010): 685–94. Online: doi:10.1093/jts/flq048.
Essay review of Jo Ann Hackett, A Basic Introduction to Biblical Hebrew, Review of Biblical Literature http://www.bookreviews.org PDF (Published 1/2/2011).
Review of Susannah Heschel, The Aryan Jesus: Christian Theologian and the Bible in Nazi Germany. (Co-author: Tina Sherman). Review of Biblical Literature [http://www.bookreviews.org] PDF (2010).
“The First Constitution: Rethinking the Origins of Rule of Law and Separation of Powers in Light of Deuteronomy.“ Cardozo Law Review 27:4 (2006): 1853–88.
“˜Du sollst nichts hinzuf&#252gen und nichts wegnehmen’ (Dtn 13,1): Rechtsreform und Hermeneutik in der Hebr&#228ischen Bibel.“ Zeitschrift f&#252r Theologie und Kirche 102 (2006): 157–83.
“Goethe’s Analysis of Exodus 34 and Its Influence on Julius Wellhausen: The Pfropfung of the Documentary Hypothesis.“ Zeitschrift f&#252r die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 114 (2002): 212–23.
“The Seductions of the Garden: The Genesis of Hermeneutics as Critique.“ On Interpretation: Studies in Culture, Law, and the Sacred = Graven Images 5 (2002): 95–99.
“The Reconceptualization of Kingship in Deuteronomy and the Deuteronomistic History’s Transformation of Torah.“ Vetus Testamentum 51 (2001): 511–34.
“The Hermeneutics of Tradition in Deuteronomy.“ Journal of Biblical Literature 119 (2000): 269–86.
“The Covenant at Mount Sinai: The Argument of Revelation.“ Pages 23–27 in The Jewish Political Tradition, vol. 1: Authority. Edited by Michael Walzer, Menachem Lorberbaum, and Noam J. Zohar. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2000.
“Recovering the Lost Original Meaning of וילע הסכת אלו (Deut 13:9).“ Journal of Biblical Literature 115 (1996): 601–20.
““˜But You Shall Surely Kill Him!’: The Text-Critical and Neo-Assyrian Evidence for MT Deuteronomy 13:10.“ Pages 37–63 in Bundesdokument und Gesetz: Studien zum Deuteronomium. Edited by Georg Braulik. Herder’s Biblical Studies 4. Freiburg: Herder, 1995.
“The Case for Revision and Interpolation within the Biblical Legal Corpora.“ Pages 37–59 in Theory and Method in Biblical and Cuneiform Law: Revision, Interpolation and Development. Edited by Bernard M. Levinson. Journal for the Study of the Old Testament: Supplement Series, vol. 181. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1994.
“The Case for Grounding Biblical Hermeneutics upon the Diachronic Method.“ Pages 93–108 in Literary Theory and Biblical Hermeneutics. Edited by Tibor Fabiny. Papers in English and American Studies 4. Szeged, Hungary: Attila Jozsef University, 1992.
“˜The Right Chorale’: From the Poetics of Biblical Narrative to the Hermeneutics of the Hebrew Bible.“ Pages 129–53 (notes on pp. 242–47) in “Not in Heaven“: Coherence and Complexity in Biblical Narrative. Edited by Jason P. Rosenblatt and Joseph C. Sitterson. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1991.
“Textual Criticism, Assyriology, and the History of Interpretation: Deuteronomy 13:7a as a Test Case in Method.“ Journal of Biblical Literature 120 (2001): 211–43.
“The “˜Effected Object’ in Contractual Legal Language: The Semantics of “˜If You Purchase a Hebrew Slave’ (Exod. xxi 2).“ Vetus Testamentum 56 (2006): 485 –504.
“Deuteronomy’s Conception of Law as an “˜Ideal Type’: A Missing Chapter in the History of Constitutional Law.“ In Judge and Society in Antiquity. Edited by Bernard M. Levinson and Aaron Skaist = Maarav: A Journal for the Study of the Northwest Semitic Languages and Literatures 12:1–2 (2005): 83–119.
“How, When, Where, and Why Did the Pentateuch Become the Torah?“ (Co-author: Gary N. Knoppers). Pages 1–19 in The Pentateuch as Torah: New Models for Understanding Its Promulgation and Acceptance. Edited by Bernard M. Levinson and Gary Knoppers. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 2007.
Essay review of Michael Fishbane, Sacred Attunement: A Jewish Theology, Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology 64 (2010): 294–300. PDF
“The King James Bible at 400: Scripture, Statecraft, and the American Founding.“ (Co-author: Joshua A. Berman). The History Channel Magazine, special supplement, November 2010, pp.1–11. PDF
Reviews, Notes, and Similar
“Bible: Law.“ Pages 85–87 in Reader’s Guide to Judaism. Edited by Michael Terry. Chicago and London: Fitzroy Dearborn, 2000.
Review of Martha T. Roth, Law Collections from Mesopotamia and Asia Minor, Journal of Near Eastern Studies 59 (2000): 119–121.
Two dozen entries in Harper’s Bible Dictionary. New York: Society of Biblical Literature, Harper & Row, 1985; second edition, 1997.
“McConville’s Law and Theology in Deuteronomy.“ Jewish Quarterly Review 80 (1990): 396–404 (review article).
“Esarhaddon’s Succession Treaty as the Source for the Canon Formula in Deuteronomy 13:1.“ Journal of the American Oriental Society 130 (2010): 337–347. Get Paper
“Die neuassyrischen Ursp&#252nge der Kanonformel in Deuteronomium 13,1.“ Pages 23–59 in Viele Wege zu dem Einen: Historische Bibelkritik - Die Vitalit&#228t der Glaubens&#252berlieferung in der Moderne. Edited by Stefan Beyerle, Axel Graupner, and Udo R&#252tersw&#246rden. Biblisch-theologische Studien 121. Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlag, 2012. Get Paper
Judge and Society in Antiquity. Edited by Aaron Skaist and Bernard M. Levinson. Special double issue of MAARAV: A Journal for the Study of the Northwest Semitic Languages and Literatures 12.1–2
Recht und Ethik im Alten Testament: Beitr&#228ge des Symposiums “Das Alte Testament und die Kultur der Moderne“ anl&#228sslich des 100. Geburtstags Gerhard von Rad (1901–1971). Eckart Otto, co-editor, with Walter Dietrich. M&#252nster/London: LIT, 2004Read reviews
“Deuteronomy.“ In The Encyclopedia of the Bible. Edited by Michael D. Coogan. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011 (in press).
“Deuteronomy.“ Pages 247–312 In The New Oxford Annotated Bible. Third edition. Edited by Michael D. Coogan. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010.
"The Neo-Assyrian Origins of the Canon Formula in Deuteronomy 13:1." Pages 25–45 in Scriptural Exegesis: The Shapes of Culture and the Religious Imagination (Essays in Honour of Michael Fishbane). Edited by Deborah A. Green and Laura Lieber, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009.
“Reading the Bible in Nazi Germany: Gerhard von Rad’s Attempt to Reclaim the Old Testament for the Church,“ Interpretation 62.3 (July, 2008): 238–53.
“'Du sollst nichts hinzuf&#252gen und nichts wegnehmen’ (Dtn 13,1): Rechtsreform und Hermeneutik in der Hebr&#228ischen Bibel.“ Pages 62–94 in Houses Full of All Good Things: Essays in Memory of Timo Veijola. Edited by Juha Pakkala and Martti Nissinen. Publications of the Finnish Exegetical Society, vol. 95. G&#246ttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2008.
“The Manumission of Hermeneutics: The Slave Laws of the Pentateuch as a Challenge to Contemporary Pentateuchal Theory.“ Pages 281–324 in Congress Volume Leiden 2004. Edited by André Lemaire. Vetus Testamentum Supplements 109. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 2006.
“The Birth of the Lemma: Recovering the Restrictive Interpretation of the Covenant Code's Manumission Law by the Holiness Code (Lev 25:44–46).“ Journal of Biblical Literature 124 (2005): 617–639.
“The Metamorphosis of Law into Gospel: Gerhard von Rad's Attempt to Reclaim the Old Testament for the Church“ (with Douglas Dance). Pages 83–110 in Recht und Ethik im Alten Testament. Edited by Bernard M. Levinson and Eckart Otto. M&#252nster/London: LIT Verlag, 2004.
“Is the Covenant Code an Exilic Composition? A Response to John Van Seters.“ Pages 272–325 inIn Search of Pre-Exilic Israel: Proceedings of the Oxford Old Testament Seminar. Edited by John Day. Journal for the Study of the Old Testament: Supplement Series, vol. 406. London & New York: T. & T. Clark, 2004.
““˜You Must Not Add Anything to What I Command You’: Paradoxes of Canon and Authorship in Ancient Israel.“ Numen: International Review for the History of Religions 50:1 (2003): 1–51.
“The Human Voice in Divine Revelation: The Problem of Authority in Biblical Law." Pages 35–71 in Innovation in Religious Traditions: Essays in the Interpretation of Religious Change. Edited by Michael A. Williams, Martin S. Jaffee, and Collett Cox. Religion and Society 31. Berlin and New York: Mouton de Gruyter, 1992.
"Calum M. Carmichael’s Approach to the Laws of Deuteronomy." Harvard Theological Review 83 (1990): 227–57.
Commentaries
Articles and Book Chapters
Authored Books
The Formation of the Pentateuch: Bridging the Academic Discourses of Europe, Israel, and North America. Co-edited with Jan Christian Gertz, Konrad Schmid, and Dalit Rom-Shiloni. FAT 111. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2016. Pp. xi + 1204.
Der kreative Kanon: Innerbiblische Schriftauslegung und religionsgeschichtlicher Wandel im alten Israel. Introduction by Prof. Dr. Hermann Spieckermann. T&#252bingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2012. This translation of Legal Revision and Religious Renewal in Ancient Israel is a new edition, revised and expanded for the German context.
“The Development of the Jewish Bible: Critical Reflections upon the Concept of a "'Jewish Bible’ and on the Idea of Its "'Development.’" Pages 377–392 in What is Bible? Edited by Karin Finsterbusch and Armin Lange. Leuven: Peeters Publishers, 2012.
Legal Revision and Religious Renewal in Ancient Israel. New York and Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008. Paperback, published August, 2010. Read reviews Foreign translations
“The Right Chorale“: Studies in Biblical Law and Interpretation. Forschungen zum Alten Testament 54; T&#252bingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2008. Paperback, published April, 2011 Read reviews
L’Herméneutique de l’innovation: Canon et exég&#232se dans l’Isra&#235l biblique. Preface by Jean Louis Ska. Le livre et le rouleau 24. Brussels: &#201ditions Lessius, 2005.Read reviews
Deuteronomy and the Hermeneutics of Legal Innovation. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1997; paperback, 2002.Read reviews
Theory and Method in Biblical and Cuneiform Law: Revision, Interpolation, and Development. Edited by Bernard M. Levinson. Classic Reprints series, Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix, 2006.Read reviews
“Between the Covenant Code and Esarhaddon’s Succession Treaty: Deuteronomy 13 and the Composition of Deuteronomy.“ (Co-author: Jeffrey Stackert). Journal of Ancient Judaism 3 (2012): 123–140.
Conference Report on “Betrayal of the Humanities: The University during the Third Reich," University of Minnesota, April 15–16, 2012. (Co-author: Melissa Kelley). Association of Contemporary Church Historians (ACCH) Quarterly 18:2 (2012) 28–30.
“‘This is the Manner of the Remission’: Legal Exegesis and Eschatological Syntax in 11QMelchizedek.“ (Co-author: Michael Bartos). Journal of Biblical Literature 132:2 (2013): 351–371. Get Paper
A More Perfect Torah: At the Intersection of Philology and Hermeneutics in Deuteronomy and the Temple Scroll Critical Studies in the Hebrew Bible, vol. 1. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2013. Read reviews

Activities

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Activities

Professional

“The Pentateuch within Biblical Literature: Formation and Interaction," International Conference, Institute for Advanced Studies, Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Co-organizers: Jan Christian Gertz (Heidelberg University), Bernard M. Levinson (Universit... May 25–29, 2014. -
Co-editor, Journal of Ancient Judaism Supplement Series 2010-- -
Editorial Board, Journal of Ancient Judaism 2010-- -
Editorial Board, Journal of Biblical Literature 1998–2001; 2001–2004 - none
Member, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton 1997 - none
Near Eastern History Search Committee 1999 - none
Associate Fellow, Center for Judaic Studies, University of Pennsylvania 1997 - none
Chair, Berman Family in Jewish Studies and Hebrew Bible none - none
Jewish Studies Lectures Committee 1999 - none
Religion in Antiquity MA Proposal Committee 1999 - none
Chair, Rabbinics Search Committee 1998-1999 -
Editorial Board, International Exegetical Commentary on the Old Testament 2005-- -
"The Betrayal of the Humanities: The University during the Third Reich.“ This interdisciplinary symposium brought together thirteen specialists from Europe and North America to examine the transformation of the major disciplines of the humanities und...: April 15–16, 2012..
Co-organizer (with Susan Gangl and Tim Johnson), “The Word Made Flesh,“ Wilson Library, University of Minnesota: November 28, 2011–February 24, 2012..
Co-initiator, “Manifold Greatness: The Creation and Afterlife of the King James Bible,“ Wilson Library, University of Minnesota: January 25, 2012–February 15, 2012..
---LIBRARY EXHIBITS ORGANIZED---
---INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES ORGANIZED---
---RECENT ACADEMIC CONFERENCES---
“The Narrative Framing of the Decalogue in Deuteronomy,” Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, Atlanta, GA, November 22, 2010.
“The Development of the Jewish Bible: Critical Reflections upon the Concept of a ‘Jewish Bible’ and on the Idea of Its ‘Development,’” Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, Atlanta, GA, November 22, 2010.
“Gerhard von Rad at the University of Jena under National Socialism (1934–1945),” The 62nd Annual Meeting of the Biblical Colloquium, convened at St. Mary’s Seminary, Baltimore, MD, October 28–30, 2011.
“The Application of Ritual Theory to the Study of Ancient Israel’s Festival Calendar: A Response to Nathan MacDonald,” Panel on the David Noel Freedman Award for Excellence and Creativity in Hebrew Bible Scholarship, Annual Meeting of the Society of Bi...
“Reception History as a Window into Composition History,” Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, San Francisco, CA, November 19–22, 2011.
‘“This is the Manner of the Remission”: Legal Exegesis and Eschatological Syntax in 11QMelchizedek,” joint presentation with Michael Bartos, Upper Midwest Regional Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, Luther Seminary, March 30–31, 2012. ...
“The Goals of a Research Group on Pentateuchal Theory at the Israel Institute for Advanced Studies,” The Sixteenth World Congress of Jewish Studies, Hebrew University, July 28–August 1, 2013.
“The Conception and Aims of the Research Group, Convergence and Divergence in Pentateuchal Theory,” Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, Baltimore, MD, November 23–26, 2013.
“Correcting the Restorations of Temple Scroll (11Q19) 2:8–9,” Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, San Diego, CA, November 22–25, 2014.
---EDITORSHIPS & EDITORIAL ACTIVITY----
---OTHER PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES----
“A Post-Priestly Harmonization in the Flood Narrative,” European Association of Biblical Studies Meeting, Cordoba, Spain, July 12–15, 2015.
“Refining the Reconstruction of Col. 2 of the Temple Scroll (11QTa): The Turn to Digital Humanities and Historical Syntax,” European Association of Biblical Studies Meeting, Cordoba, Spain, July 12–15, 2015.
Editorial Board, Zeitschrift für altorientalische und biblische Rechtsgeschichte 1994– -

Outreach

Interviewed for and quoted in “Six Other Calamities Blamed on Divine Retribution,“ by Dan Gilgoff, Belief Blog, CNN.com, March 16, 2011 [online: http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/03/16/6-other-calamities-blamed-on-divine-retribution/].
“Transgenerational Punishment in the Ten Commandments and the Alternative Notion of Individual Retribution,“ Triangle Seminar for Jewish Studies, National Humanities Center, Research Triangle Park, NC, April 11, 2011.
“Authorship and Authority in the Bible,“ Hillel Sunday Faculty Brunch January 10, 1999 -
“The Decalogue,“ Society of Biblical Literature Interview for the “Bible Odyssey“ website, Funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, San Francisco, CA, November 19, 2011.
“The King James Bible: Scripture, Statecraft, and the American Founding,“ Manifold Greatness Colloquium, University of Minnesota, February 3, 2012.
“God’s Doubt and the Akedah,“ text study at Beth Jacob Congregation, Saint Paul April 25, 2010 - none
“Teaching Creation,“ Minneapolis Minne-CAJE conference, Saint Paul January 17, 1999 - none
“The Struggle for the Old Testament in Nazi Germany: The Untold Story of Gerhard von Rad,“ Or Emet: Minnesota Congregation for Humanistic Judaism, St. Louis Park, MN, April 27, 2012.
“Goethe and the Ten Commandments: Germans and the Myth of Jewish Exclusiveness,“ University of Minnesota Center for Jewish Studies Community Lecture Series, Bet Shalom Congregation, Minnetonka, MN, March 1, 2012.

Research

“Zedekiah’s Release of Slaves as the Babylonians Besiege Jerusalem (Jer 34) and the Formation of the Pentateuch,” The Fall of Jerusalem and the Rise of the Torah, Pontifical Biblical Institute, Rome, March 27–28, 2015.
"'You Must Not Add Anything To What I Command You’: Paradoxes of Canon And Authorship in Ancient Israel,“ 56th Annual Guest Lecture, Department of Hebrew and Semitic Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, May 2, 2012.
“Neo-Assyrian Influence upon Deuteronomy and Its Significance,” The Lautenschläger Azekah Expedition, Tel Azekah, Israel, August 15, 2012.
“The Discipline of Theology under National Socialism,” Faculty Symposium Marking the Jahrzeit for Dr. Raphael Weiss, Department of Bible, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, October 24, 2012.
“‘Unto the Fourth Generation’: Transgenerational Punishment within the Israelite Canon,” Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, November 19, 2012.
“Reading the Bible in Nazi Germany: Gerhard von Rad’s Attempt to Reclaim the Old Testament for the Church,” Livets Ord (Living Word) Theological Seminary, Uppsala, Sweden, April 18, 2013.
“‘And He Wrote on the Tablets the Words of the Covenant’: Writing, Rewriting, and the Trope of Revelation in Exodus 34,” European Institutes for Advanced Study Annual Meeting, Swedish Collegium of Advanced Study, Uppsala, Sweden, April 19–20, 2013. ...
“Biblical Law and Interpretation in Second Temple Times,” Graduate Seminar Lecture, University of the Holy Land, Rothberg Institute, Hebrew University, April 22, 2013.
“The ‘De-Jewing’ of the Old Testament under National Socialism: Gerhard von Rad’s Struggle against the Ideological Transformation of the Discipline,” Bucerius Institute for Research of Contemporary German History and Society and Department of Biblical ...
“The Struggle for the Old Testament in Nazi Germany: The Untold Story of Gerhard von Rad at the University of Jena under National Socialism (1934–1945),” 3D—Discourse, Dialogue, and Debate in the Bible in Honor of Frank Polak, Tel Aviv University, Isra...
“From Redaction to Composition in Biblical Literature,” King’s College London, February 9, 2012.
“The Religious Vow in Ancient Israel,” University of Cambridge, February 10, 2012.
“Deuteronomy’s Law of Vows as Reflected in Qoheleth and the Temple Scroll,” Wisdom and Torah: The Status of Torah and its Reception in Wisdom Literature in the Second Temple Period, Humboldt University, Berlin, September 13, 2011.
“‘You May Neither Add to It or Take Away From It’ (Deut 13:1): Legal Revision and Hermeneutics in the Hebrew Bible,” Norm and Noumenon: Religious Law and Religious Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, April 29, 2011.
“Goethe’s Influence on Biblical Scholarship,” German Jewish Studies Workshop, Durham, North Carolina, March 20, 2011.
“Disciplinary Narratives: Analyzing the Study of the Old Testament in Nazi Germany,” Narratives of Jewish Life and Culture, and Jewish Studies, Hall Center for the Humanities, University of Kansas, April 3–4, 2011.
“Gab es eine Bundestheologische Redaktion des Deuteronomiums?” Plenary lecture, Historische Bibelkritik: Die Vitalität der Glaubensüberlieferung in der Moderne, Rheinischen Friedrich-Wilhelms Universität Bonn, December 8, 2010.
“‘And He Wrote on the Tablets the Words of the Covenant’: Writing, Rewriting, and the Trope of Revelation in Exodus 34,” Plenary address for “Ecritures et réécritures”: Colloque international du RRENAB (Réseau de recherche en analyse narrative des text...
“The Development of the Jewish Bible,” Plenary address, What is Bible? International conference co-organized by the University of Vienna and the University of Koblenz-Landau, Landau, Germany, June 1, 2010.
“The Study of the Old Testament in Nazi Germany,” Doctoral Seminar, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa, March 23, 2010.
“On Textual Authority and Legal Hermeneutics in the Hebrew Bible,” Faculty Colloquium, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa, March 24, 2010.
“The Revelation of Redaction: Exodus 34:10–26 as a Challenge to the Standard Documentary Hypothesis,” The Pentateuch: International Perspectives on Current Research, Theolo-gisches Seminar, Universität Zürich, January 11, 2010.
“‘Du sollst nichts hinzufügen und nichts wegnehmen’ (Dtn 13:1): Rechtsreform und Hermeneutik in der Hebräischen Bibel,” Universität Bern, March 17, 2015.
“The Delegitimation of Autocracy and the Origins of Constitutional Thought in Deuteronomy, The Legitimation of Autocracy in the Ancient World, New York University Abu Dhabi Institute, November 2–3, 2014.

Awards

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Awards

Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin/Berlin Institute for Advanced Studies Fellowship, 2007
Institute for Advanced Study (Princeton), School of Social Science, 1997
Co-recipient of the Salo W. Baron Award for Best Book in Literature and Thought, American Academy for Jewish Research, 1999
Elected Fellow, American Academy for Jewish Research, 2010-
National Endowment of the Humanities Summer Research Stipend, 2004
Appointment to membership in Biblical Colloquium, 2003
Henry Luce Senior Fellow in Religion, National Humanities Center, Research Triangle Park, 2010 - none
Scholar of the College, 2010-2013
McNight Arts and Humanities Summer Fellow, 1999 - none
University of Minnesota Faculty Summer Research Fellowship, 1999 - none
University of Minnesota Imagine Fund Award, 2009
Center for Advanced Judaic Studies, University of Pennsylvania, 1997
NEH Summer Grant nomination; Indiana University Fellowship, 1995
Stroum Fellowship for Advanced Research in Jewish Studies, University of Washington, 1987

Courses

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Courses

Biblical/Classical Hebrew (all levels)
Bible: Context and Interpretation
Biblical Law and Jewish Ethics
Silencing the Gods
ANE 1/3002, RelA 3202 - Bible-Prophetic Texts
JwSt 5513, Scripture and Interpretation
RELS 8190, Comparative Seminar in Religions in Antiquity (co-taught with Prof. Sellew)