Dr Benjamin G. Wold
Assistant Professor in New Testament
& Christian Origins
Director of Undergraduate Teaching & Learning
Before joining the Department of Religions and Theology at TCD in 2007, Benjamin Wold was Alexander von Humboldt Fellow at the Institute for Ancient Judaism and Hellenistic Religions (Institut für antikes Judentum und hellenistische Religionsgeschichte) at the University of Tübingen, Germany. In addition to studies at Durham University, both Ph.D. and Post-doctoral, he has also spent time at the Hebrew University (Rothberg) in Jerusalem. During his nearly four years of study in Jerusalem he participated in archaeological excavations, [including] as a volunteer at excavations at Qumran (2001). In 2012 Benjamin was awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities research fellowship at the Albright Institute for Archaeological Research in Jerusalem to complete a book on
“4QInstruction and Creation.”
He will spend his sabbatical there from January to June 2013.
Research Interests
The interaction between religious traditions in ancient Jewish thought and practice from the second century BCE to the second century CE and how they contribute to our understanding of the cultural contexts that exerted influence on emerging Christianity are Benjamin’s key interests. The interpretation of biblical traditions in early Christian literature, Second Temple Judaism and especially the Dead Sea Scrolls are a particular focal point of his research. His teaching and writing often focus on ancient apocalypticism, especially questions of its relationship to 4QInstruction from Qumran, the book of Revelation, and Dead Sea Scrolls such as 4Q521 (“The Messianic Apocalypse”) and 4QPseudo-Ezekiel.
Benjamin currently chairs a session at the European Association of Biblical Studies on Dualism, the Devil, and Demons together with Prof. Jan Dochhorn (Aarhus University).
Undergraduate Teaching
He regularly supervises and teaches modules on the gospels and Pauline writings as well as other classes on New Testament literature, such as:
- Literary and Historical Approaches to the Gospels (HE2313)
- The Johannine Writings (HE2314)
- Paul and the Development of Early Christianity (HE2325)
- Pauline Letters in Context (HE2326)
- The New Testament and the Dead Sea Scrolls (HE4008)
In addition to teaching Intermediate and Advanced level Greek courses, Benjamin also regularly reads Post-biblical Hebrew in post-graduate seminars as well as Classical Ethiopic (Ge‘ez).
Current collaborations with colleagues in the Arts Faculty at TCD include the Trinity Millennialism Project where he is co-director with Professor Crawford Gribben (School of English), and he is also a member of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Studies.
Selected Publications
“Agency and Raising the Dead in 4QPseudo-Ezekiel and 4Q521 2 ii” in Zeitschrift für die Neutestamentliche Wissenschaft 1/103 (2012): 1-19.
“The Eschatological Application of Exodus Plagues in John’s Apocalypse,” in H. Lichtenberger, H.-J. Eckstein, C. Landmesser (eds.), Eschatologie – Eschatology: The Sixth Durham-Tübingen Colloquium (WUNT I; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2011) pp. 249-66.
“Reading Revelation’s Plague Septets: New Exodus and Exile,” in F. García Martínez (ed.), Echoes from the Caves: Qumran and the New Testament (STDJ 85; Leiden: Brill, 2009) pp. 279-98.
“Family Ethics in 4QInstruction and the New Testament,” Novum Testamentum 50/3 (2008): 286-300.
Women, Men and Angels: The Qumran Wisdom Document Musar leMevin and its Allusions to Genesis Creation Traditions (WUNT II 201; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2005), pp. 286, pls. I-IX.
Wold, Benjamin together with Loren T. Stuckenbruck and Stephen C. Barton (eds.), Memory in the Bible and Antiquity (WUNT; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2007) pp. 394, pls. I-VI.
Publications in Process/Forthcoming:
Wold, Benjamin together with Jan Dochhorn (eds.), Dualism, the Devil, and Demons (WUNT2; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2013).
4QInstruction and Creation
Prof. Wold on the TCD Research Support System:
Editorial Board
Benjamin serves on the editorial board for Versita Publishers in association with de Gruyter (Theology & Religious Studies)
http://versita.com/Book_Author/Theology_Religious_Studies/
Departmental Functions
At TCD, Benjamin is currently Director of Teaching and Learning Undergraduate for the School of Religions, Theology, and Ecumenics and is Senior Freshman Head of Year for the department.
Supervisions
Current Post-graduate thesis topics supervised include:
Gender in John’s Apocalypse and Jewish Apocalypticism.
Apotropaic Prayer: Demonology in the Dead Sea Scrolls and Synoptic Gospels.
‘Wisdom’ and ‘Apocalypticism’ in 4QInstruction and James.
Sociological Approaches to the Question of ‘Sectarianism” in Ancient Judaism.
Recent Senior Sophister dissertations supervised:
John the Baptist and the Gospels: A Literary Analysis of the Role of John the Baptist in the Four Gospels (2008).
The Lion and the Lamb: Jesus in the Book of Revelation (2008).
The Woman Jezebel: The Presentation and Portrayal of the Female in John's Apocalypse (2009).
Impurity: An Investigation of the Interpretation of the Concept in 1QS (2009).
"They that Obeyed were Saved" (1 Clem. 7:6) -- A Study of Ecclesdsiology in Clement of Rome's First Epistle to the Corinthians (2009).
"And There was No More Sea": The Significance of the Elimination of the Sea in Revelation 21:1 (2010).
The Woman's Testimony: A Feminist Hermeneutical Approach to John 4:1-42, (2010).
An Assessment of the Synoptic Gospels' Teaching on Pacificism and War: Four Test Cases (2010).
Paul and the Damascus Controversy: Called or Converted and Why Does It Matter? (2011).
An Assessment of the Irony of the Fourth Gospel: The Effect of Irony Making the Gospel of John (2011).
Homosexuality in Pauline Writings (2011).
Challenging Ordinatio Sacerdotalis and Inter Insigniores: Women Priests in the Early Christian Movement (2012).
Division and Unification: A Study of Logion 114 in the Gospel of Thomas (2012).
The Parable of the Wicked Tenants and History of Tradition (2012).
A Social Scientific Reading of Luke 14:15-24 -- The Banquet as a Motif for the Kingdom of God (2012).
Prof. Wold on the TCD Research Support System
Contact Details
Department of Religions and Theology
Arts Building, Office 5031
Trinity College, Dublin 2
Telephone: 896 1375
Fax: 677 4844
Email: woldb@tcd.ie
Contact: jwelch@tcd.ie| Last updated: Nov 16 2012 | Back to top