My main research interests are in Old Testament wisdom literature (especially the book of Ecclesiastes) and narratives (especially the books of Chronicles in comparison to other ancient traditions). I am a former Secretary of the Society for Old Testament Study, and a former Editor of the Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, and now serve as Book List Editor for the Society and the Journal. I also serve as an editorial board member of several academic series, including the Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies (published by Bloomsbury) and the Septuagint Commentary Series (published by Brill).

I was educated in Australia, where I gained degrees in Philosophy & German (BA, Adelaide, 1979), Theology (BTh, Luther Seminary, Adelaide, 1982), and Classical & Near Eastern Studies (PhD, Melbourne, 1988). After a time as a post-doctoral fellow at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, I taught at a number of British universities (St Andrews, Sheffield, and Roehampton) before coming to Oxford in 2001, initially as Tutor in Old Testament at St Stephen’s House and then (since 2010) at Regent’s.

My role in College

I teach across the range of the Old Testament syllabus, including (for the BA in Theology & Religion) the papers on ‘Introduction to the Study of the Bible’, ‘The Narrative World of the Hebrew Bible’, and ‘The Poetic World of the Hebrew Bible’; and (for the BTh degree) ‘Introduction to the Old Testament’ and ‘Further Studies in the Old Testament’. I also serve as the College’s Director of Studies for the Postgraduate Diploma in Theology & Religion.