University / institution contact details
Position: Rylands Professor of Biblical Criticism & Exegesis Emeritus
Centre for Jewish Studies, University of ManchesterCentre for Jewish Studies
Samuel Alexander Building
Oxford Road
Manchester
M13 9PL
United Kingdom
Second university / institution contact details
Position: Retired
University of ManchesterReligions and Theology
Samuel Alexander Building
Oxford Road
Manchester
M13 9PL
United Kingdom
Teaches (T) and/or researches (R) in:
1. Bible and Related Literature: R
1: Hebrew Bible: R
3: Bible versions: R
4: Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha: R
5: Dead Sea Scrolls and Qumran studies: R
6: New Testament: R
2. History of the Jewish People: R
10: Second Temple period: R
Description
Specific research interests:
For a long time the Dead Sea Scrolls have occupied the principal place among my research interests. I completed doctoral study on them under William H. Brownlee at Claremont; Brownlee was one of the first to study some of the scrolls in 1948, very shortly after they were discovered. My revised thesis was published as Exegesis at Qumran (Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1985; reprinted Atlanta: SBL, 2006).
At Manchester I promoted research on the scrolls and organised three symposia on various topics: the Temple Scroll in 1987 (published as Temple Scroll Studies [Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1989]), the Septuagint and the scrolls in 1990 (published as Septuagint, Scrolls and Cognate Writings [Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1992]), and the Copper Scroll in 1996 published as Copper Scroll Studies (London: Sheffield Academic Press, 2002) with P.R. Davies. I have also compiled and edited all the photographs of John Allegro which were published in microfiche edition in 1996 (Leiden: E.J. Brill). A collection of my essays was published as The Dead Sea Scrolls and the New Testament (London: SPCK; Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2005); another as Reading the Dead Sea Scrolls (Atlanta: SBL, 2013).
In addition to work on the scrolls, I have research interests in Semitic Studies (especially as an editor of the Journal of Semitic Studies) and the use of the Old Testament in the New Testament. For 1999 I was President of the British Association for Jewish Studies; for 2012 President of the Society for Old Testament Study.
Current research projects:
Since 1992, I have been a member of the international team editing the Dead Sea Scrolls under the auspices of the Israel Antiquites Authority. My editions of the Commentaries on Genesis were published in 1996 and I am currently working with Prof. Moshe Bernstein (Yeshiva University) on a new edition of several manuscripts.