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| Research: I am
professor of Hebrew Bible and ancient Near
Eastern textual traditions. 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 me a way to analyze the
functions of scriptures in cross-cultural
and trans-historical perspectives. |
Teaching: My
undergraduate courses range
from biblical studies to ancient religion
and culture to comparative scriptures
studies. At the graduate level, I teach
mostly in the Texts
& Contexts concentration of the
Religion MA and PhD programs. I am
interested in directing student
research on iconic books, biblical ritual
texts, normative texts, and
scripturalization. |
Watts's Publications -- Education & Career
-- Lectures
-- Iconic
Books Project -- Iconic
Books Blog -- SCRIPT
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| Courses: |
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REL/JSP
114 The Bible in History, Culture, and
Religion
REL 301 Ancient Near
Eastern Religions and Cultures
REL/JSP 307 The Temple
and the Dead Sea Scrolls
HON 340 The Invention
and Power of Writing (pdf)
REL
610 Textual Practices: The Torah/Pentateuch
REL
620 Textual Scripts:
Iconic Books
and Performative Texts
REL
620 Textual
Scripts: Rhetoric and Ritual in Religious
Practice
REL
630 Textual Bodies: Pollution and Purity in
Leviticus
REL
680 Textual Archives: The Functions of
Scriptures
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Publications:
Books
Leviticus
11-20, Historical
Commentary on the Old Testament,
Leuven: Peeters, 2023. (E-book
available on JSTOR)
(Co-author with Yohan Yoo) Cosmologies
of Pure Realms and the Rhetoric of
Pollution, New York:
Routledge, 2021.
Understanding
the Bible as A Scripture in
History, Culture, and Religion,
Oxford: Wiley Blackwell, 2021. (sample
syllabus)
(Co-editor with Yohan Yoo) Books
as Bodies and as Sacred Beings,
Sheffield: Equinox, 2021.
How
and Why Books
Matter: Essays on the Social Function of
Iconic Texts,
Sheffield: Equinox, 2019. (review)
(Editor)
Sensing
Sacred Texts, Sheffield:
Equinox, 2018. (reviews here
and here).
Understanding
the Pentateuch as A
Scripture, Oxford: Wiley
Blackwell, 2017. (sample
syllabus) (reviews here
and here)
Leviticus
1-10, Historical
Commentary on the Old Testament,
Leuven: Peeters, 2013. (E-book
available on JSTOR) (reviews here
and here)
(Editor) Iconic
Books and Texts,
Sheffield: Equinox, 2013. (review)
Ritual and Rhetoric
in Leviticus: From Sacrifice to
Scripture,
New York: Cambridge University Press,
2007. (reviews here,
here,
and here)
(Editor) Persia and
Torah: The Theory of Imperial
Authorization of the Pentateuch,
SBL Symposium Series, Atlanta: Society of
Biblical Literature, 2001. (review)
(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.
Reading
Law: The Rhetorical Shaping of the
Pentateuch, Biblical
Seminar 59, Sheffield: Sheffield
Academic Press, 1999. (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.
Psalm and
Story: Inset Hymns in Hebrew
Narrative,
Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series 139,
Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1992.
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Articles & Chapters
(click
here for my open access articles grouped by
topic)
- "One
Text in Two Bodies: Sharing Authority by
Reading Visible Texts Aloud." Postscripts
15/1 (2024), 36-48.
- "The
Fear of Inspirational Books: A Ritual
Analysis of Banning Books." Postscripts
14/2 (2023), 196–208.
- "Pollution
in the Bible and in Cognitive Science: A
Review of Recent Works by Thomas Kazen and
Yitzhaq Feder." Vetus Testamentum
73 (2023), 793-798.
- "Leviticus
25’s History of Inspiring Freedom as a Moral
Challenge to Literary-Historical
Interpretation," Biblical
Interpretation 31 (2023), 265-291. (archived)
- “From the Torah of Polluted and Inedible
Meats to Diet as a Marker of Jewish Identity,”
in Torah: Functions, Meanings, and Diverse
Manifestations in Early Judaism and
Christianity (ed. Jason M. Zurawski;
Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature,
2021), 131-141.
- "Facebook
and Martin Luther: Media Technology,
Accessibility, and Expertise in Three
Dimensions." Postscripts 12/1 (2021),
99-110.
- “The
Historical Role of Leviticus 25 in
Naturalizing Anti-Black Racism.” Religions
12/8 (2021), 570, online. (archived)
- “Text Are Not Rituals and Rituals Are Not
Texts, With an Example from Leviticus 12,” in
Text
and Ritual in the Pentateuch (ed.
C. Nihan and J. Rhyder; Eisenbrauns, 2021),
172-187. (archived)
- “The Pentateuch as ‘Torah’,” in The
Oxford Handbook of the Pentateuch
(ed. Joel Baden and Jeffrey Stackert; Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 2021), 506-523.
- “Mobilizing
the Social Power of Iconic and Performative
Texts for Justice and Reform,” Postscripts
11/2 (2020), 127-143. (archived)
- “Materiality of Scripture—1 General,” in The
Encyclopedia of the Bible and its Reception,
vol. 18 (Berlin: DeGruyter, 2020), 57-63.
- "Ritualizing Iconic Jewish Texts," in The
Oxford Handbook of Ritual and Worship in
the Hebrew Bible (ed.
Samuel E. Balentine; Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 2020), 241-255.
- "Biblical
Rhetoric of Separatism and Universalism and
Its Intolerant Consequences," Religions
11/4 (2020), 176, online. (archived)
- “Sensation
and Metaphor in Ritual Performance: the
Example of Sacred Texts,” Entangled
Religions 10 (2019), online. (archived)
- "Books
as Sacred Beings," Postscripts
10 (2019), 144-157 = Books as Bodies and
as Sacred Beings (ed. J. Watts and Y.
Yoo; Sheffield: Equinox, 2021), 137-149.
- "Drawing Lines: a Suggestion for
Addressing the Moral Problem of
Reproducing Immoral Biblical Texts in
Commentaries and Bibles,"
in Writing
a Commentary on Leviticus: Hermeneutics –
Methodology – Themes (ed. T. Hieke
and C. A. Eberhart; FRLANT 276; Göttingen:
Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2019), 235-252.
(handout)
- "Unperformed Rituals in an Unread
Book," in Writing
a Commentary on Leviticus (2019),
25-33.
- "Leviticus’
Rhetorical Presentation of the Sin and
Guilt Offerings," TheTorah.com
(2019), online.
- “Ritualizing
the Size of Books,” Postscripts
9/2–3 (2019 [2013]) 104–113 = Miniature
Books (ed. K. Myrvold and D. Miller
Parmenter; Sheffield: Equinox, 2019), 12-21.
(archived)
- “The Unstated Premise of
the Prose Pentateuch: YHWH is King,” Journal
of Hebrew Scriptures 18/2 (2018),
online. (archived)
- “Leviticus,
Book of—Visual Arts,” in The Encyclopedia
of the Bible and its Reception,
Volume 16 (Berlin:
DeGruyter, 2018),
392-93.
- "Scripture's
Indexical Touch," Postscripts
8 (2017 [2012]),
173-184 = Sensing Sacred Texts
(ed. Watts; Sheffield: Equinox, 2018),
173-184. (pre-print
archived version)
- "From Ark of the Covenant to
Torah Scroll: Ritualizing Israel's Iconic
Texts," in Ritual
Innovation in the Hebrew Bible and Early
Judaism (ed. Nathan MacDonald,
BZAW 468, Berlin: De Gruyter, 2016),
21-34 (pre-print
archived version).
- “Narrative,
Lists, Rhetoric, Ritual and the
Pentateuch as a Scripture,” in The
Formation of the Pentateuch: Bridging
the Academic Cultures of Europe, Israel,
and North America
(ed. Jan Geertz et
al, Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2016), 1135-45.
- "Priestly
Lineages
in History and Rhetoric," SBL
conference paper, 2016. Revised in
Watts, Leviticus 11-21
(Leuven: Peeters, 2023), 286-293.
- "Iconic
Scriptures from Decalogue to Bible," Mémoires
du livre / Studies in Book Culture
6/2 (2015), online at DOI:
10.7202/1032712ar. (archived)
- “Writing
Commentary as Ritual and as Discovery,”
in The Genre of Biblical Commentary:
Essays in Honor of John E. Hartley
(ed. William Yarchin and Timothy Finlay;
Wipf & Stock, 2015), 40-53.
- “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.
- "Scripturalization
and the Aaronide Dynasties," Journal
of Hebrew Scriptures 13/6 (2013),
online at DOI:10.5508/jhs.2013.v13. (archived)
- “The
Historical and Literary Contexts of the
Sin and Guilt Offerings,” in Text,
Time, and Temple: Literary, Historical and
Ritual Studies in Leviticus (ed.
Francis Landy, Leigh M. Trevaskis, Bryan
Bibb, Sheffield: Phoenix, 2015), 85-93.
Reprinted from Watts, Leviticus 1-10
(Leuven: Peeters, 2013), 309-316.
- "Illustrating Leviticus: Art,
Ritual and Politics," Biblical Reception
2 (2013), 3-15.
- Introduction and notes on
Leviticus in The Common English Study
Bible (Nashville: United Methodist
Publishing, 2013), 155-199.
- “Ancient
Iconic Texts and Scholarly Expertise,”
Postscripts 6 (2012 [2010]):
331-344 = Iconic Books and Texts (2013), 374-84 (pre-print
archived version).
- "Relic
Texts," The Iconic Books Blog,
June 8, 2012.
- "Aaron
and the Golden Calf in the Rhetoric of the
Pentateuch," Journal of Biblical
Literature 130 (2011): 417-30.
- "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.
- "The
Rhetoric of Sacrifice," in Ritual
and Metaphor: Sacrifice in the Bible
(ed. Christian A. Eberhart; Atlanta: Society
of Biblical Literature, 2011), 3-16.
Reprinted from Watts, Ritual and
Rhetoric in Leviticus
(Cambridge, 2007), 173-192.
- “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.
- “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.
- "Why
Books Matter," The Iconic Books
Blog, February 20, 2010.
- "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. 629-30.
- "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.
- “Desecrating
Scriptures,” a case study for the Luce
Project in Religion, Media and International
Relations at Syracuse University, 2009
- “The
Three Dimensions of Scriptures,” Postscripts
2/2 (2008 [2006]), 135-159 = Iconic
Books and Texts (2013),
8-30 (pre-print
archived version).
- "Oracular Rhetoric,"
Perspectives in Religious Studies 35
(2008): 185-95.
- “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.
- "Performing
the Torah: The Rhetorical Function
of the Pentateuch in the Second Temple
Period," unpublished SBL conference
paper, 2008.
- “The
Torah as the Rhetoric of Priesthood,”
in The Pentateuch as Torah: New Models
for Understanding Its Promulgation and
Acceptance, 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.
- “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.
- “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.
- “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 (ed. Watts, Patton,
and Cook; 2001), 168-80.
- (Translator) “Persian
Imperial Authorization: A Summary” by Peter
Frei, in Persia and Torah (ed.
Watts; 2001), 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 (ed.
Watts and House; 1996),
209-223.
- "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.
- "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.
Book
Reviews:
- Review
of Biblical Literature (2019),
(2019),
(2012),
(2008),
(2008),
(2007),
(2007),
(2006),
(2003), (1999)
- Entangled Religions 3
(2016),
#14.
- Catholic Biblical
Quarterly 78
(2016), 134-36.
- Reflective
Teaching (2015).
- Interpretation 67
(2013), 80-81; 65 (2011) 91-92, 61 (2007)
98.
- 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]
- 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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| Education: |
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- 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:
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- Syracuse University,
1999-present:
- Professor, 2007-present
- Chair, SU Department of
Religion, 2009-2015
- William P. Tolley Professor in
the Humanities 2011-2013
- Chair, SU Humanities Council,
2010-2012
- Director of Graduate Studies,
SU Department of Religion, 2006-2009,
2023-2025
- Associate
Professor, 1999-2007
- Core
Faculty, Renée Crown Honors Program,
2004-07
- Director of Undergraduate
Studies, SU Department of Religion,
2000-2004
- Director, SU Religion &
Society Program, 2002-2004
- The Society for Comparative
Research on Iconic and Performative Texts
(SCRIPT): Secretary-Treasurer,
2010-present
- Equinox book series, Comparative
Research on Iconic and Performative Texts:
Editor, 2017-present
- Käte Hamburger Kolleg, Ruhr
Universität Bochum: Visiting Research Fellow, 2015-16
- Pentateuch Section of the Society
of Biblical Literature: Chair, 1998-2003
- Hastings College, 1993-1999:
- Associate Professor, 1998-1999
- Assistant Professor, 1993-1998
- Stetson University, Barry
University, Valencia Community College:
Adjunct 1991-1993
- Stetson University: Visiting
Assistant Professor 1990-1991
- Yale Divinity School: Instructor,
1989
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