Research Profile

Current projects: reception history of the Book of Job; commentary on Lamentations; ethics and the moral vision of the OT; seeing and hearing scripture with artists, musicians, and poets.

Teaching Profile

Biblical interpretation (with emphasis on Torah and Wisdom Literature); Biblical theology; Hermeneutics (with particular attention to reception history).

Selected Publications

The Hidden God. Oxford, 1983.

Prayer in the Hebrew Bible. Fortress, 1993.

Language, Theology and the Bible:  Essays in Honour of James Barr. Oxford, 1994.

“The Politics of Religion in the Persian Period,” in After the Exile: Essays on Biblical Interpretation, J. Barton, ed. Mercer University Press, 1996: 129-146.

“What are Human Beings, That You Make So Much of Them?” in God in the Fray: A Tribute to Walter Brueggemann. T. Linafelt and T. Beal, eds. Fortress, 1998: 259-278.

The Torah’s Vision of Worship. Fortress, 1999.

Leviticus. Interpretation Commentary Series. John Knox, 2002.

“The Emergence of Scripture,” in Judaism From Moses to Muhammed, J. Neusner, A. Avery-Peck, Wm. Scott Green, eds. Brill, 2005: 53-78.

“I Was Ready to Be Sought Out By Those Who Did Not Ask,” and “Afterword,” in Seeking the Favor of God. Vol.1: The Origins of Penitential Prayer in Second Temple Judaism, M. Boda, D. Falk, R. Werline, eds. Society of Biblical Literature, 2006.

“Inside the Sanctuary of Silence: The Moral and Ethical Demands of Suffering,” in Character and Ethics in the Torah: Moral Dimensions of Scripture, M.D. Carroll, J. Lapsley, ed. Westminster John Knox, 2007: 63-80.

Job. Smyth and Helwys, 2007.

Contact

Union Theological Seminary and
Presbyterian School of Christian Education
3401 Brook Road
Richmond, VA 23227
USA
E-Mail: sbalentine@union-psce.edu

Homepage: https://www.upsem.edu/about/faculty/samuel-e-balentine/