Dr. Richard S. Hess
Earl S. Kalland Professor of Old Testament and Semitic Languages;
Editor of the Denver Journal
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Dr. Richard Hess, professor of Old Testament and Semitic languages, joined the faculty in 1997. He is the editor of the Denver Journal, Denver Seminary’s online theological review journal, and the Bulletin for Biblical Research. He is also the founder and editor of the Bulletin’s Supplement Series and is a member of a dozen scholarly societies.
Dr. Hess earned a PhD from Hebrew Union College, an MDiv and a ThM from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and a BA from Wheaton College. He has done postdoctoral research at universities in Chicago, Jerusalem, Cambridge, Sheffield, and Münster, and has held National Endowment for the Humanities, Fulbright, and Tyndale House (Cambridge) postdoctoral fellowships and grants. He was lecturer in Old Testament and Hebrew at International Christian College, Scotland, and Reader in Old Testament at Roehampton University, London. Having lectured at more than one hundred scholarly societies, universities, and colleges, he has recently given invited lectures at SAIACS, Bangalore; Min Zu University, Beijing; Lancaster Bible College Graduate School; Faraday Institute, Cambridge University; New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary; Hebrew Union College, Cincinnati; and Whitely College, Melbourne.
Dr. Hess is a member of the Committee on Bible Translation for the New International Version. He serves as Old Testament and archaeology editor for the forthcoming NIV Study Bible. Dr. Hess has also worked for the New International Version, the New American Bible, the Holman Standard Christian Bible, the English Standard Version, and The Common English Bible translations of the Old Testament. He is an editor of a series of commentaries on the Septuagint and has translated books of the Septuagint for Logos Bible Software.
Dr. Hess has authored 8 books, including volumes on religion (Israelite Religions: A Biblical and Archaeological Survey), ancient Near Eastern subjects (Amarna Personal Names and Names in the Study of Biblical History), Genesis (Studies in the Personal Names of Genesis 1-11), and commentaries on Leviticus, Joshua, and the Song of Songs. He has edited 14 books,, most recently R. Hawkins' The Iron Age I Structure on Mount Ebal and a collection of studies, Critical Issues in Early Israelite History; and commentaries on Septuagint texts such as 1 Esdras and Genesis. In addition to several hundred book reviews and dictionary articles, Dr. Hess has published more than 100 scholarly articles in collected essays and journals such as Biblica, Biblical Archaeologist, Bulletin for Biblical Research, Catholic Biblical Quarterly, Themelios, Tyndale Bulletin, Vetus Testamentum, and Zeitschrift fuer die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft. Current research projects include commentaries on the books of Genesis and Kings, an Introduction to the Old Testament, Hebrew grammar, and the study of ancient Near Eastern texts related to the Old Testament.
View Dr. Rick Hess' upcoming travel schedule
Areas of Academic Interest and Research
Editing the Denver Journal: An Online Review of Current Biblical and Theological Studies; Editing the Bulletin for Biblical Research and the BBR Supplement Series; Co-Editing the Septuagint Commentary Series. Additional research interests include method of Old Testament exegesis, Hebrew grammar, ancient Near Eastern languages and biblical backgrounds, biblical archaeology, 1 & 2 Kings, Job, and literacy in biblical times.
Books Currently in Print
Authored:
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Studies in Personal Names of Genesis 1-11, Eisenbrauns, 2009. ISBN: 1-57506-160-0. |
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Armana Personal Names, American Schools of Oriental Research Dissertation Series 9. ISBN: 0931464714 |
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Israelite Religions: A Biblical and Archaeological Survey, |
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Korean Translation: |
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Joshua. An Introduction and Commentary, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, |
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Song of Songs, Baker Commentary on the Old Testament Wisdom and Psalms, Baker, 2005. ISBN: 080102712 |
Co-Authored:
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Names in the Study of Biblical History: David, YHWH Names, and the Role of Personal Names, co-authored with Francis I. Anderson; Buried History Monographs 2; Melbourne: Australia Institute of Archaeology, 2007. |
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Expositor's Bible Commentary: Genesis to Leviticus, edited by Tremper Longman III and David E. Garland; Leviticus (pp. 563-826) written br Dr. Richard S. Hess; Zondervan, 2008 |
Edited:
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The Iron Age I Structure on Mt. Ebal: Excavation and Interpretation by Ralph K. Hawkins; Bulletin for Biblical Research Supplements 6, Eisenbrauns, 2012. |
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Divine Sabbath Work, by Michael H. Burer; Bulletin for Biblical Research Supplements 5, Eisenbrauns, 2012. |
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Critical Issues in Early Israelite History, edited by Richard S. Hess with G.A. Klingbeil and P.J. Ray Jr.; Bulletin for Biblical Research Supplement 3, Eisenbrauns, 2008. |
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War in the Bible and Terrorism in the Twenty-First Century, edited by Richard S. Hess and Elmer A. Martens; Bulletin for Biblical Research Supplements 2, Eisenbrauns, 2008. |
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Bridging the Gap: Ritual and Ritual Texts in the Bible, by Gerald Klingbeil; Bulletin for Biblical Research Supplements 1, |
Co-Edited:
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Jeremiah: A Commentary based on Ieremias in Codex Vaticanus, by Georg A. Walser, Brill, 2012. |
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1 Esdras: Introduction and Commentary on the Greek Text in Codex Vaticanus, by Michael F. Bird, Brill, 2012. |
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Ezekiel: A Commentary based on Iezekiel in Codex Vaticanus, by John W. Olley, Brill, 2009. |
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Tobit: The Book of Tobit in Codex Sinaiticus, by Robert J. Littman; co-edited by Richard S. Hess, S. Porter and J. Jarrick; Septuagint Commentary Series; Leiden: Brill, 2008. |
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3 Maccabees, by N. Clayton Croy; Septuagint Commentary Series, Brill, 2005. ISBN: 9004147756 |
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4 Maccabees, by David A. deSilva; Septuagint Commentary Series, Brill, 2006. |
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Family in the Bible: Exploring Customs, Culture, and Context, Baker, 2003. |
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Genesis, by Susan Brayford; Septuagint Commentary Series, |
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"I Studied Inscriptions from before the Flood": Ancient Near Eastern, Linguistic and Literary Approaches to Genesis 1-11, Sources for Biblical and Theological Study 4, Eisenbrauns, 1994. |
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Israel's Messiah in the Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls, Baker, 2003. |
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Joshua: Jesus Son of Naue in Codex Vaticanus, by A. Graeme Auld; Septuagint Commentary Series, Brill, 2005. |
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Make the Old Testament Live: From Curriculum to Classroom, Eerdmans, 1998. |
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Translating the Bible: Problems and Prospects, Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement Series 173, Sheffield Academic Press, 1999. |
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Zion, City of Our God, Eerdmans, 1999. |
