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James W. Watts Professor & Department Chair
Office: 501 Hall of
Languages Phone: 315-443-5713 E-mail: jwwatts at syr dot
edu |
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I teach Hebrew Bible and ancient Near
Eastern textual traditions with courses range from biblical studies
to the religions and literatures of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia,
Ugarit, and Israel, including Second Temple Judaism. My research involves the overlaps between rhetoric, ritual and scriptures. An assignment to write a large commentary on Leviticus has me focused on very detailed texts in their ancient Near Eastern and later Jewish and Christian contexts, while the Iconic Books Project provides a vehicle for considering the functions of scriptures from trans-cultural and trans-historical perspectives.
Watts' Courses -- Education &
Career -- Publications
-- Online
Publications -- Iconic Books
Project
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| Courses: |
REL/JSP 114 The
Bible REL/JSP 215
The Hebrew Bible REL 301 Ancient Near
Eastern Religions and Cultures REL/JSP 302 The Temple
& the Dead Sea Scrolls REL/JSP 311 The Bible As
Literature REL/JSP 516 The
Torah/Pentateuch REL 600 Purity, Pollution
and Ritual Theory REL 607 Ancient Religious
Rhetoric REL 611
The Idea of Scripture REL 622
Sacrifice
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| Education: |
- Doctor
of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, Yale
University, 1990
- Master of
Divinity (M.Div.), Master of Theology (Th.M.) in New Testament,
Southern Seminary, 1985, 1986
- Bachelor of
Arts (B.A.) in Philosophy, Pomona College, 1982
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| Career: |
- Professor, Syracuse
University, 2007-present
- Chair, SU
Department of Religion, 2009-present
- Director of
Graduate Studies, SU Department of Religion, 2006-2009
- Associate Professor, Syracuse
University, 1999-2007
- Undergraduate Coordinator,
SU Department of Religion, 2000-2004
- Director,
SU Religion & Society Program, 2002-2004
- Chair,
Pentateuch Section of the Society of Biblical Literature,
1998-2003
- Associate
Professor, Hastings College, 1998-1999
- Assistant
Professor, Hastings College, 1993-1998
- Adjunct,
Stetson University, Barry University, Valencia Community College
1991-1993
- Visiting
Assistant Professor, Stetson University, 1990-1991
- Instructor,
Yale Divinity School, 1989
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Publications: Books
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Ritual
and Rhetoric in Leviticus: From Sacrifice to
Scripture, New York: Cambridge
University Press, 2007. (two RBL
reviews) |
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Reading
Law: The Rhetorical Shaping of the Pentateuch,
Biblical Seminar 59, Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press,
1999. (RBL review) |
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Psalm and Story:
Inset Hymns in Hebrew Narrative, Journal for the Study of
the Old Testament Supplement Series 139, Sheffield: JSOT
Press, 1992. |
| (Editor
with Corrine Patton and Steven Cook) The
Whirlwind: Essays on Job, Hermeneutics and Theology in Memory
of Jane Morse, JSOTSup Series 336, London:
Sheffield Academic Press, 2001. |
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(Editor)
Persia and Torah: The Theory of Imperial
Authorization of the Pentateuch SBL
Symposium Series, Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature,
2001. (RBL
review) |
| (Editor
with Paul R. House) Forming
Prophetic Literature: Essays on Isaiah and the Twelve in Honor
of John D. W. Watts, JSOTSup Series 235,
Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press,
1996. |
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Articles and Book
Chapters:
- "Aaron and the Golden Calf in the Rhetoric of the Pentateuch," Journal of Biblical Literature, forthcoming.
- “The
Political and Legal Uses of Scripture,” in The New Cambridge
History of the Bible, vol. 1, ed. Joachim Schaper and James
Carleton Paget, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
forthcoming.
- “Disposing of
Non-Disposable Texts,” in The Death of Sacred Texts: Ritual
Disposal and Renovation of Texts in the World Religions, ed.
Kristina Myrvold. Fahrnam: Ashgate, 2010.
- “Legal
Literature,” in The New Interpreter’s One-Volume Commentary on
the Bible, Nashville: Abingdon, 2010.
- “Torah,” in
The New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, vol. 5.
Nashville: Abingdon, 2009.
- “Desecrating
Scriptures,” a case study for the Luce Project in Religion,
Media and International Relations at Syracuse University,
2009.
- "Ritual
Rhetoric in Ancient Near Eastern Texts," in Ancient Non-Greek
Rhetorics, ed. Carol Lipson and Roberta Binckley, West
Lafayette, IN: Parlor Press, 2009. 39-66.
- “Ritual
Rhetoric in the Pentateuch: The Case of Leviticus 1-16,” in
Colloquium Biblicaum Lovaniense 2006: Leviticus and
Numbers, ed. Thomas Römer, Beitrage zum Ephemerides
Theologicae Lovanienses, Leuven: Peeters, 2008. 305-18.
- "Oracular
Rhetoric," Perspectives in Religious Studies 35 (2008):
185-95.
- “The
Three Dimensions of Scriptures,” Postscripts 2/2
(2006/2008), 135-159.
- “The Torah as
the Rhetoric of Priesthood,” in The Reception of the Torah in
the Second Temple Period, ed. Bernard Levinson and Gary
Knoppers. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2007. 319-332.
- “
‘Olah: The Rhetoric of Burnt Offerings,” Vetus
Testamentum 66/1 (2006): 125-137.
- “Ritual
Legitimacy and Scriptural Authority,” Journal of Biblical
Literature 124/3 (2005): 401-417.
- “Poetry,
Inset,” in the Dictionary of the Old Testament: Historical
Books, ed. Bill T. Arnold and H. G. M. Williamson, Downers
Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2005. 798-802.
- “Biblical
Psalms Outside the Psalter,” in The Book of
Psalms: Composition and Reception, ed. Peter W. Flint and
Patrick D. Miller, Vetus Testamentum Supplement Series, Leiden:
Brill, 2004. 87-101.
- “Ten Commandments Monuments and the Rivalry of Iconic
Texts,” Journal of Religion & Society 6 (2004)
online.
- “Story, List,
Sanction: A Cross-Cultural Strategy of Ancient Persuasion,” in
Rhetoric Before and Beyond the Greeks, ed.
Carol Lipson and Roberta Binkley, Albany: SUNY Press, 2004.
197-212.
- “The Rhetoric
of Ritual Instruction in Leviticus 1-7,” in The
Book of Leviticus: Composition and Reception, ed. Rolf
Rendtorff and Robert Kugler, Vetus Testamentum Supplement Series,
Leiden: Brill, 2003. 79-100.
- “The
Unreliable Narrator of Job,” in The Whirlwind (see
books above), pp. 168-80.
- (Translator) “Persian
Imperial Authorization: A Summary” by Peter Frei, in Persia
and Torah (see books above), pp. 5-40.
- "Reader Identification
and Alienation in the Legal Rhetoric of the
Pentateuch," Biblical Interpretation
7/1 (1999) 101-12.
- "The
Legal Characterization of Moses in the Rhetoric of the
Pentateuch," Journal of Biblical Literature 117
(1998) 415-26.
- "The Legal
Characterization of God in the Pentateuch," Hebrew Union
College Annual 67 (1996) 1-14.
- "Psalmody in Prophecy:
Habakkuk 3 in Context," Forming Prophetic Literature
(see above), pp. 209-223.
- "Public
Readings and Pentateuchal Law," Vetus Testamentum
45/4 (1995) 540-57.
- "Rhetorical
Strategy in the Composition of the Pentateuch," Journal
for the Study of the Old Testament 68 (1995) 3-22.
- "Song and the
Ancient Reader," Perspectives in Religious Studies 22/2
(1995) 135-47.
- "Leviticus,"
Mercer Commentary on the Bible , ed. Watson E. Mills et
al, Macon: Mercer University Press, 1994, pp. 157-74.
Reprinted in Mercer Commentary on the Bible, Vol. 1:
Pentateuch/Torah, ed. Watson E. Mills et al, Macon: Mercer
University Press, 1998.
- "`This Song':
Conspicuous Poetry in Hebrew Prose," Verse in Ancient Near
Eastern Prose, ed. Johannes C. de Moor and Wilfred G. E.
Watson, Alter Orient und Altes Testament 42, Neukirchen-Vluyn:
Neukirchener Verlag, 1993, pp. 345-58.
- "Text and Redaction in
Jeremiah's Oracles Against the Nations," Catholic Biblical
Quarterly 54 (1992) 432-47.
- "Psalm 2 in
the Context of Biblical Theology," Horizons in Biblical
Theology 12/1 (1990) 73-91.
- "HNT: An
Ugaritic Formula of Intercession," Ugarit-Forschungen 21
(1989) 443-49.
- "The Remnant
Theme: A Survey of New Testament Research, 1921-1987,"
Perspectives in Religious Studies 15/2 (1988) 109-129.
- "Narrative
Time in Luke's Gospel," Paradigms 1/2 (1985) 65-80
Other
articles:
- Op-ed,
Detroit Free Press, February 21, 2005: "Scripture and Law: Where
Ten Commandments will stand is in Supreme Court's hands."
Book
Reviews:
- Review of Biblical
Literature (2008), (2008), (2007),
(2006),
(2003), (1999)
- The
Journal of Biblical Literature 120 (2001) 348 [= RBL 2000 online] , 118
(1999) 128-28 [= RBL 1999 online] , 116 (1997) 541-43 [= RBL 1997 online]
- Interpretation 61/1
(2007) 98.
- Horizons in Biblical
Theology 24/1 (2002) 129-31
- Jewish Quarterly Review
91/3-4 (2001) 526-29
- Theology Today 55 (1999) 586-88
- Hebrew Studies 39
(1998) 236-38, 37 (1996) 166-68
- Perspectives in Religious
Studies 23 (1996) 75-86, 22 (1995) 87-91
- Religious Studies Review
23 (1997) 388, 24 (1998) 59, 283-284, 405, 25 (1999)
71
- Paradigms 1 (1985)
50-52, 118-20, 2 (1986) 136-37, 5 (1989) 68-69,
156-57
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