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Dr. Benjamin Wold

Associate Professor (School of Religion)

 


My research interests are broadly focused on ancient Jewish history and culture. I am particularly fascinated by the Dead Sea Scrolls and the ways that this archaeological discovery changes our understanding of intellectual trends and patterns in the late Second Temple period. My newest book titled"Qumran Wisdom and the New Testament: Exploring Early Jewish and Christian Textual Cultures was published by Cambridge University Press in December 2022. This book offers interrelated studies on sections of James, Matthew and the Pauline Letters to explore resonances with Jewish wisdom motifs broadly conceived. In terms of my biography, my journey to Ireland followed an international path, from Portland, Oregon (BA), to Jerusalem (MA), and then Durham University, UK (Ph.D.) where I worked with Loren Stuckenbruck. Following a post-doctoral period at Durham University I received an Alexander von Humboldt award which was taken up in Tübingen, Germany where I worked at the Institut für antikes Judentum und hellenistische Religionsgeschicte. I began at Trinity College Dublin in 2007. I am interested in archaeology and material culture. I have regularly volunteered at archaeological excavations, including twice at Qumran. I have held fellowships at the American School of Overseas Research (Albright Institute) in Jerusalem; once with an award from the National Endowment for the Humanities (2012/13) and again as a Senior Fellow (2017). I am presently accepting applications from prospective Ph.D. students who are interested to research in ancient Jewish studies, and especially the intersection of Second Temple Judaism and New Testament literature. In the School of Religion, I am co-founder and current Director of the Trinity Centre for Biblical Studies and coordinate the post-graduate research seminar for biblical and cognate studies. I am currently the Director of Research (School of RTPS) My undergraduate teaching consists of the following modules: Semester 1 Jewish Thought and Practice (REU12731), Paul and Palestinian Judaism (REU33113), and co-teaching Introducing the New Testament (REU12112); Semester 2 The Historical Jesus and the Gospels (REU22111), The Dead Sea Scrolls (REU44722), and co-teaching Introducing the Hebrew Bible (REU12101) Supervision Students: Benedict Andersen (2nd year Ph.D.), Maicol Cortes (1st year Ph.D.), Irene Barbotti (2nd year Ph.D.), Simon Brummer (2nd year Ph.D.), Leszek Lech (final year Ph.D.), Jadesmon Saragih (2nd year Ph.D.), Jesse Sykes (3rd year Ph.D.) Selected Publications: Monographs: Benjamin Wold, Qumran Wisdom and the New Testament (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2023). Benjamin Wold, 4QInstruction: Divisions and Hierarchies, Studies in the Texts of the Desert of Judah 123 (Leiden: Brill, 2018). Benjamin Wold, Women, Men, and Angels: The Qumran Wisdom Document Musar le-Mevin and its Allusions the Genesis Creation Traditions (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2005). Edited Books: Benjamin Wold, Daniel Machiela, Jeff Garcia, Chad Pierce (ed.), "Bring Them into the Land": The Holy Land in Ancient Judaism and Nascent Christianity: Essays in Honor of R. Steven Notley (Eugene, OR, Wipf & Stock, 2024). Benjamin Wold, Jan Dochhorn, Susanne Rudnig-Zelt (ed.), Das Böse, Der Teufel, und Dämonen - Evil, the Devil, and Demons, WUNT.II (Tübingen, Mohr Siebeck, 2016). Benjamin Wold, Loren Stuckenbruck, Stephen Barton (ed.), Memory in the Bible and Antiquity, WUNT (Tübingen, Mohr Siebeck, 2007).
  Apocalypticism   Historical Jesus Studies   Jewish studies   New Testament   Qumran Studies   Second temple Judaism
Details Date
Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha, Sage Publishers, editorial board 2015-2018
Associate Editor, De Gruyter Open (Religious Studies) 2012-2016
External Examiner, University of Wales, Trinity Saint David, Department of Theology, Religious Studies, and Islamic Studies. 2008-2012
Language Skill Reading Skill Writing Skill Speaking
English Fluent Fluent Fluent
French Basic Basic Basic
German Fluent Medium Medium
Greek Fluent Medium Basic
Hebrew Fluent Medium Medium
Spanish Basic Basic Basic
Details Date From Date To
Society of Biblical Studies (SBL) 2000 Present
European Association of Biblical Studies 2004 Present
European Association of Jewish Studies 2007 Present
Enoch Seminar 2004 Present
British New Testament Society 2000 Present
International Organization of Qumran Studies (IOQS) 2004 Present
Early Christianity, James C. VanderKam Lawrence H. Schiffman Sidnie White Crawford, Brill's Online Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls: A New Research Tool for the Study of the Dead Sea Scrolls, Leiden, Brill, 2025, pp1-15 , [Benjamin Wold], Item in dictionary or encyclopaedia, etc, ACCEPTED
Creation, James C. VanderKam Lawrence H. Schiffman Sidnie White Crawford, Brill's Online Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls: A New Research Tool for the Study of the Dead Sea Scrolls, Leiden, 2025, pp1-5 , [Benjamin Wold], Item in dictionary or encyclopaedia, etc, ACCEPTED
Florilegium, James C. VanderKam Lawrence H. Schiffman Sidnie White Crawford, Brill's Online Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls: A New Research Tool for the Study of the Dead Sea Scrolls, Leiden, Brill, 2025, pp1-5 , [Benjamin Wold], Item in dictionary or encyclopaedia, etc, ACCEPTED
Benjamin Wold, Daniel Machiela, Jeff Garcia, Chad Pierce (ed.), "Bring Them into the Land": The Holy Land in Ancient Judaism and Nascent Christianity: Essays in Honor of R. Steven Notley, Eugene, OR, Wipf & Stock, 2024, 1-300pp, Book, SUBMITTED
Wisdom in, editor(s)Matthias Henze & David Lincicum , Israel's Scriptures in Early Christian Writings, Grand Rapids, MI, Eerdmans, 2023, pp1-18 , [Benjamin Wold], Book Chapter, PUBLISHED  URL
Psalms, Hymns and Prayers and the New Testament in, editor(s)Loren T. Stuckenbruck, Ron Herms, Archie Wright , The New Testament in its Second Temple Period Context monograph series, introductory volume, Eugene, OR, Cascade Press, 2023, pp1-12 , [Benjamin Wold], Book Chapter, IN_PRESS
Benjamin Wold, Qumran Wisdom and the New Testament: Exploring Early Jewish and Christian Textual Cultures, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2022, 1 - 236pp, Book, PUBLISHED  DOI  URL
Debt Remission and the Matthean Lord's Prayer in, editor(s)Beth Langstaff, Michael Tilley and Loren T. Stuckenbruck , The Lord's Prayer: Origins, Significance, and Reception, Tübingen, Mohr Siebeck, 2022, pp91 - 114, [Benjamin Wold], Notes: [WUNT 490], Book Chapter, PUBLISHED  DOI  URL
"Fleshly Spirit" and "Vessel of Flesh" in 4QInstruction and the Thanksgiving Hymns in, editor(s)James Aitken, Hector Patmore and Ishay Rosen-Zvi , The Evil Inclination in Early Judaism and Christianity, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2021, pp49 - 64, [Benjamin Wold], Book Chapter, PUBLISHED  DOI  URL
Benjamin Wold, "Mystery" in the Wisdom of Solomon and 4QInstruction, Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha, 31, (1), 2021, p28 - 47, Journal Article, PUBLISHED  DOI
  

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Award Date
Fellow of Trinity College Dublin (FTCD) 2018
Senior Associate Fellow - Albright Institute for Archaeological Research (Jerusalem) 1 January 2017 to 31 August 2017
Visiting Professor, Chinese University of Hong Kong June-August 2014
Vice President, Irish Biblical Association 2014-15
Honorary President, Theological Society (TCD) 2013-2014
National Endowment for the Humanities award December 2012
M.A. Jure officii, Trinity College Dublin 2011
Alexander von Humboldt (Forschungsaufenthalt) 2010
Alexander von Humboldt award 2006-2007
Lightfoot Scholarship, Durham University 2001-2002
Erasmus Ph.D. exchange to University of Tübingen, Germany (12-months) 2002-2003