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James W. Watts
Professor and 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 ranging
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 cross-cultural and
trans-historical perspectives.
Watts' Courses
-- Education & Career
-- Publications --
CV
-- Iconic
Books Project -- SCRIPT
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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 416/616 The
Torah/Pentateuch
REL
607 Ancient Religious Rhetoric
REL
611 The Idea of Scripture
REL/ANT 619 Ritual
Theory and Religious Practice
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
- William P. Tolley Professor in
the Humanities 2011-2013
- 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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Leviticus 1-10,
Historical Commentary on the Old Testament,
Leuven: Peeters, forthcoming. |
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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) Iconic
Books and Texts,
London: Equinox, 2013. |
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| (Editor) Persia and
Torah: The Theory of Imperial
Authorization of the PentateuchSBL
Symposium Series, Atlanta: Society of
Biblical Literature, 2001. (RBL
review) |
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(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. |
| (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 on the Pentateuch, Leviticus, Iconic Books
both Ancient and Contemporary, Comparative Rhetoric, Inset Poetry, and other topics:
Pentateuch:
- "Using
Ezra's Time as a Methodological Pivot for
Understanding the Rhetoric and Functions of
the Pentateuch," in The Pentateuch:
International Perspectives on Current
Research (ed. T. B. Dozeman, K. Schmid
and B. J. Schwarz; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck,
2011), 489-506.
- “Ritual
Legitimacy and
Scriptural Authority,” Journal of
Biblical Literature 124/3 (2005):
401-417.
- “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.
- "Aaron
and the Golden Calf in the Rhetoric of the
Pentateuch," Journal of Biblical
Literature 130 (2011): 417-30.
- "Rhetorical
Strategy in the Composition of the
Pentateuch," Journal for the Study
of the Old Testament 68 (1995) 3-22.
- "Public
Readings and Pentateuchal Law," Vetus
Testamentum 45/4 (1995) 540-57.
- "The
Legal Characterization of God in the
Pentateuch," Hebrew Union College
Annual 67 (1996) 1-14.
- "The
Legal Characterization of Moses in the
Rhetoric of the Pentateuch," Journal
of Biblical Literature 117 (1998)
415-26.
- "Reader
Identification and Alienation in the Legal
Rhetoric of the Pentateuch,"
Biblical Interpretation 7/1 (1999)
101-12.
- "Legal Literature,” in The New
Interpreter’s One-Volume Commentary on the
Bible, Nashville: Abingdon, 2010,
953-55.
- “Torah,” in The New
Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible,
vol. 5. Nashville: Abingdon, 2009.
Leviticus:
- “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.
- “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.
- “ ‘Olah:
The Rhetoric of Burnt Offerings,” Vetus
Testamentum 66/1 (2006): 125-137.
- “The Historical and Literary
Contexts of the Sin and Guilt Offerings,” in Reading
Leviticus: Method, Rhetoric and Ideology,
ed. L. Trevaskis and F. Landy, Sheffield:
Phoenix, forthcoming.
- "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.
Ancient iconic books:
- “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, 2013, 345-64.
- “Ancient
Iconic Texts and Scholarly Expertise,” Postscripts
6 (2010): 331-334 = Iconic Books and
Texts (2013),
374-84.
Contemporary
iconic books:
- “The
Three Dimensions of Scriptures,” Postscripts
2/2 (2006/2008), 135-159 = Iconic Books
and Texts (2013),
8-30.
- "Relic
Texts," The Iconic Books Blog,
June 8, 2012
- "Why
Books Matter," The Iconic Books Blog,
February 20, 2010.
- “Desecrating
Scriptures,” a case study for the Luce
Project in Religion, Media and International
Relations at Syracuse University, 2009.
- “Ten Commandments Monuments
and the Rivalry of Iconic Texts,” Journal
of Religion & Society 6 (2004)
online.
- “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.
147-59.
- “Books
as Relics in Dialogue with D. Max Moerman,”
The Religion
and Culture Web Forum of the Martin
Marty Center for the Study of Religion,
University of Chicago Divinity School,
March, 2011.
Comparative
rhetoric:
- "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.
- “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.
- "Oracular Rhetoric," Perspectives
in Religious Studies 35 (2008):
185-95.
Inset psalmody:
- “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.
- “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.
- "`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.
- "Song and the Ancient
Reader," Perspectives in Religious
Studies 22/2 (1995) 135-47.
- "Psalmody
in Prophecy: Habakkuk 3 in Context," Forming
Prophetic Literature (see above),
pp. 209-223.
Other topics:
- “The
Unreliable Narrator of Job,” in The
Whirlwind (see books above), pp. 168-80.
- "Text
and Redaction in Jeremiah's Oracles Against
the Nations," Catholic Biblical
Quarterly 54 (1992) 432-47.
- "HNT: An Ugaritic Formula of
Intercession," Ugarit-Forschungen 21
(1989) 443-49.
- "Psalm 2 in the Context of Biblical
Theology," Horizons in Biblical Theology
12/1 (1990) 73-91.
- "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.
- (Translator) “Persian Imperial
Authorization: A Summary” by Peter Frei, in Persia
and Torah (see books above), pp. 5-40.
Book
Reviews:
- Review of Biblical
Literature (2012),
(2008),
(2008),
(2007),
(2007),
(2006),
(2003), (1999)
- Journal of Hebrew Scriptures
(2012)
- Religion 41 (2011)
105-107, 39 (2009) 300-302.
- Biblica 91 (2010)
595-98.
- 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 65 (2011)
91-92, 61 (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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