Lester L. Grabbe Explained
Lester L. Grabbe (born November 5, 1945) is an American-born scholar of Jewish history and the Hebrew Bible. His main areas of focus have been the history of ancient Israel and the Second Temple period. He serves as professor of religion at the University of Hull, England, teaching on the Hebrew Bible and Early Judaism, although he has since taken emeritus status.[1] [2] He is among the most distinguished and prolific historians of ancient Judaism, and is the author of several standard treatments for both students and scholars of the topic.[3] He founded and convenes the European Seminar on Methodology in Israel's History, and published the proceedings in the sub-series "European Seminar in Historical Methodology" from 1997 to 2018.[1]
Life
Grabbe was born in Texas in 1945. He studied at Ambassador College in Pasadena, a Bible college where he earned his bachelor's and MA. He learned Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic there. He then attended the School of Theology at Claremont Graduate University (CGU), where he earned his PhD, specializing in the Old Testament and expanding into other ancient languages including Ugaritic, Akkadian, and Coptic.[4] At CGU, he was a student of William H. Brownlee. He earned a Doctor of Divinity (DD) at the University of Hull in Kingston upon Hull, UK, and became a professor of religion there where he spent the majority of his career. He took emeritus status at some point in the 2010s.
Grabbe delivered the 2008 Brownlee Memorial Lecture at CGU on the topic Exit David and Solomon? The Current Debate on the History of Ancient Israel. He is a frequent guest on both Viking Radio and BBC Radio Humberside.[5] [6]
A festschrift was published in Grabbe's honor in 2010 for his 65th birthday.[7] Philip Davies and Diana Edelman edited the collection, offering "reflections on the practice and theory of history writing, on the current controversies and topics of major interest". The thirty included essays by his colleagues and friends also attest to Grabbe's influence on the field of biblical studies and history.[8]
Selected works
Grabbe has published a huge number of works, including books, journal articles, and chapters of larger commentaries. He has also served as editor on many scholarly article and essay collections.[9]
Works as author
- Book: Grabbe, Lester L. . 1977 . Comparative Philology and the Text of Job: A Study in Methodology . Scholars Press . 9780891301394 . (an adaptation of Grabbe's thesis)
- Book: Grabbe, Lester L. . 1988 . Etymology in Early Jewish Interpretation: The Hebrew Names in Philo . Atlanta . Scholars Press . Brown Judaic Studies 115 . 9781555400804 .
- Book: Grabbe, Lester L. . 1992 . Judaism from Cyrus to Hadrian: Volume I: Persian and Greek Periods . Minneapolis . Fortress Press . 0-8006-2620-6 .
- Book: Grabbe, Lester L. . 1992 . Judaism from Cyrus to Hadrian: Volume 2: The Roman Period . Minneapolis . Fortress Press . 0-8006-2621-4 . (An edition which combined both volumes was published in 1994.)
- Book: Grabbe, Lester L. . 1993 . Leviticus . Sheffield Academic Press . Old Testament Guides . 1850757623 .
- Book: Grabbe, Lester L. . 1995 . Priests, Prophets, Diviners, Sages: A Socio-historical Study of Religious Specialists in Ancient Israel . Valley Forge . Trinity Press International . 9781563381324 .
- Book: Grabbe, Lester L. . 1996 . An Introduction to First Century Judaism: Jewish religion and history in the Second Temple period . T&T Clark . 9780567085061 .
- Book: Grabbe, Lester L. . 1997 . Wisdom of Solomon . Sheffield Academic Press . Guide to the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha 3 . 1850757623 .
- Book: Grabbe, Lester L. . 2004 . Wisdom of Solomon . T&T Clark . T&T Clark Study Guides . 978-0567084446 .
- Book: Grabbe, Lester L. . 1998 . Ezra and Nehemiah . Routledge . 0-415-14153-2 .
- Book: Grabbe, Lester L. . 2000 . Judaic Religion in the Second Temple Period: Belief and Practice from the Exile to Yavneh . Routledge . 978-0-415-21250-2 .
- Book: Grabbe, Lester L. . 2004 . A History of the Jews and Judaism in the Second Temple Period: Yehud: A History of the Persian Province of Judah . T&T Clark . 1 . Library of Second Temple Studies 47 . 0-5670-8998-3.
- Book: Grabbe, Lester L. . 2008 . A History of the Jews and Judaism in the Second Temple Period: The Coming of the Greeks: The Early Hellenistic Period (335 - 175 BCE) . T&T Clark . 2 . Library of Second Temple Studies 68 . 978-0-567-03396-3.
- Book: Grabbe, Lester L. . Ancient Israel: What Do We Know and How Do We Know It? . T&T Clark . 2007 . 9780567032546.
- Book: Grabbe, Lester L. . Ancient Israel: What Do We Know and How Do We Know It? . T&T Clark . 2017 . Revised . 978-0567670434.
- Book: Grabbe, Lester L. . An Introduction to Second Temple Judaism: History and Religion of the Jews in the Time of Nehemiah, the Maccabees, Hillel, and Jesus . T&T Clark . 2010 . 978-0567552488 .
- Book: Grabbe, Lester L. . 2016 . 1 & 2 Kings: An Introduction and Study Guide: History and Story in Ancient Israel . T&T Clark . T&T Clark Study Guides to the Old Testament . 9780567670861 .
- Book: Grabbe, Lester L. . Faith and Fossils: The Bible, Creation, and Evolution . Eerdmans . 2018 . 9780802869104 .
- Book: Grabbe, Lester L. . 2020 . A History of the Jews and Judaism in the Second Temple Period: The Maccabean Revolt, Hasmonaean Rule, and Herod the Great (174 - 4 BCE) . T&T Clark . 3 . Library of Second Temple Studies 95 . 978-0-5676-9294-8.
- Book: Grabbe, Lester L. . 2021 . A History of the Jews and Judaism in the Second Temple Period: The Jews Under the Roman Shadow (4 BCE - 150 CE) . T&T Clark . 4 . Library of Second Temple Studies 99 . 978-0-5677-0070-4.
- Book: Grabbe, Lester L. . The Dawn of Israel: A History of Canaan in the Second Millennium BCE . T&T Clark . 2022 . 9780567663214 .
- Book: Grabbe, Lester L. . 'The Spirit of the Lord Came Upon Me': Prophets in Ancient Israel from a Cross-Cultural Perspective . T&T Clark . 2024 . 9780567710703 .
Works as an editor
- Book: Grabbe . Lester L. . 1997 . Can a 'History of Israel' Be Written? . Sheffield Academic Press . The Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies 245 . 978-0567043207 .
- Book: Grabbe . Lester L. . 1998 . Leading Captivity Captive: 'The Exile' as History and Ideology . Sheffield Academic Press . The Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies 278 . 9781850759072 .
- Book: Grabbe . Lester L. . 2001 . Did Moses Speak Attic?: Jewish Historiography and Scripture in the Hellenistic Period . Sheffield Academic Press . The Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies 317 . 9781841271552 .
- Book: Grabbe . Lester L. . Robert D. . Haak . 2001 . 'Every City Shall Be Forsaken': Urbanism and Prophecy in Ancient Israel and the Near East . Sheffield Academic Press . The Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies 330 . 9781841272023 .
- Book: Grabbe . Lester L. . 2003 . 'Like a Bird in a Cage': The Invasion of Sennacherib in 701 BCE . Sheffield Academic Press . The Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies 363 . 9780826462152 .
- Book: Grabbe . Lester L. . Robert D. . Haak . 2004 . Knowing the End From the Beginning: The Prophetic, Apocalyptic, and their Relationship . T&T Clark . Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha 46 . 9780567084620 .
- Book: Grabbe . Lester L. . Alice Ogden . Bellis . 2004 . The Priests in the Prophets: The Portrayal of Priests, Prophets, and Other Religious Specialists in the Latter Prophets . T&T Clark . The Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies 408 . 978-0567081667.
- Book: Grabbe . Lester L. . 2005 . Good Kings and Bad Kings: The Kingdom of Judah in the Seventh Century BCE . T&T Clark . The Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies 393 . 9780567082725 .
- Book: Grabbe . Lester L. . 2007 . Ahab Agonistes: The Rise and Fall of the Omri Dynasty . T&T Clark . The Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies 421 . 9780567045409 .
- Book: Grabbe . Lester L. . 2008 . Israel in Transition: From Late Bronze II to Iron IIa (c. 1250-850 BCE): 1 The Archaeology . T&T Clark . The Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies 491 . 9780567599131 . (Review)
- Book: Grabbe . Lester L. . 2010 . Israel in Transition: From Late Bronze II to Iron IIA (c. 1250-850 BCE): 2 The Texts . T&T Clark . The Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies 521 . 9780567638403 .
- Book: Grabbe . Lester L. . Becking . Bob . 2011 . Between Evidence and Ideology: Essays on the history of ancient Israel read at the joint meeting of the Society for Old Testament Study and the Oud Testamentisch Werkgezelschap, Lincoln, July 2009 . Brill . Oudtestamentische studiƫn 59 . 978-9004187375 .
- Book: Gary N. . Knoppers . Gary N. Knoppers . Grabbe . Lester L. . 2011 . Exile and Restoration Revisited: Essays on the Babylonian and Persian Periods in Memory of Peter R. Ackroyd . Library of Second Temple Studies 73 . 978-0567280831 . With Deirdre Fulton . (a posthumous festschrift for Peter R. Ackroyd)
- Book: Grabbe . Lester L. . Oded . Lipschits . 2011 . Judah Between East and West: The Transition from Persian to Greek Rule (ca. 400-200 BCE) . T&T Clark . Library of Second Temple Studies 75 . 9780567125613 .
- Book: Grabbe . Lester L. . 2011 . Enquire of the Former Age: Ancient Historiography and Writing the History of Israel . T&T Clark . The Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies 554 . 9780567098238 .
- Book: Grabbe . Lester L. . Martti . Nissinen . Martti Nissinen . 2011 . Constructs of Prophecy in the Former & Latter Prophets & Other Texts . Atlanta . Society of Biblical Literature . Ancient Near East Monographs 4 . 978-1-58983-600-6 .
- Book: Grabbe . Lester L. . Marjo A. . Korpel . 2015 . Open-Mindedness in the Bible and Beyond: A Volume of Studies in Honour of Bob Becking . T&T Clark . The Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies 616 . 9780567663801 .
- Book: Grabbe . Lester L. . 2016 . The Land of Canaan in the Late Bronze Age . T&T Clark . The Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies 636 . 9780567683878 .
- Book: Grabbe . Lester L. . Boccaccini . Gabriele . With Jason M. Zurawski . 2016 . The Seleucid and Hasmonean Periods and the Apocalyptic Worldview . T&T Clark . Library of Second Temple Studies 88 . 9780567666147 .
- Book: Grabbe . Lester L. . 2018 . 'Even God Cannot Change the Past': Reflections on Seventeen Years of the European Seminar in Historical Methodology . T&T Clark . The Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies 663 . 9780567680563 .
Festschrift
- Book: Philip R. . Davies . Philip R. Davies . Diana Vikander . Edelman . The Historian and the Bible: Essays in Honour of Lester L. Grabbe . 2010 . T&T Clark . The Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies 530 . 9780567202680 .
External links
Notes and References
- Web site: Middle East Study Group University of Hull members . https://web.archive.org/web/20150705113735/http://www2.hull.ac.uk/fass/me-study-group/members.aspx . 2015-07-05 . usurped .
- https://web.archive.org/web/20120309174023/http://www2.hull.ac.uk/fass/humanities/religion/staff/grabbelester.aspx
- Book: The Historian and the Bible: Essays in Honour of Lester L. Grabbe. Philip R.. Davies. Diana Vikander. Edelman. 21 October 2010. A&C Black. 9780567202680. Google Books.
- Book: Grabbe, Lester L. . Faith and Fossils: The Bible, Creation, and Evolution . Eerdmans . 2018 . 9780802869104 . 1. From Bible Belt to Bible Scholar .
- Web site: Institute for Antiquity and Christianity. Ruben. Dupertuis. iac.cgu.edu. 2013-10-10. https://web.archive.org/web/20160425183828/http://iac.cgu.edu/deslecspr08.html. 2016-04-25. usurped.
- Past Brownlee Memorial Lecturers (William H. Brownlee was the first professor of the CGS Religion Department.)
- http://www.equinoxpub.com/blog/2010/12/biblical-studies-carnival-nz-november-2010/ December 2010 Festschrift notice
- Book: Philip R. . Davies . Diana Vikander . Edelman . The Historian and the Bible: Essays in Honour of Lester L. Grabbe . 2010 . T&T Clark . The Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies 530 . 9780567202680 . xiii-xiv .
- Web site: Grabbe, Lester L. . www.worldcat.org .