Activism comes in many guises. Today’s activist is Professor David J. A. Clines. David is one of the giants of biblical studies. He is one of the foremost scholars of the study of Biblical Hebrew, Greek and Latin, and is thoroughly adept in very many of the approaches to biblical criticism, as well as stunningly knowledgeable about the long history of biblical interpretation. Again and again, David has found new, innovative and sometimes provocative ways to shed light on biblical texts. His voice is singular and significant – in biblical scholarship and well beyond, for all willing to think critically and responsibly about the texts of the Bible and the contexts in which these texts emerged and exerted influence. David has also been a mentor to many scholars and students, which includes several members of the Shiloh Project.
1. I am David Clines and am still Professor of Biblical Studies at the University of Sheffield, despite retirement 15 years ago. I am an Australian, who left home for further study in Cambridge, after completing my first degree in Sydney. I have taught in Sheffield for all of my career. My research focus throughout has been on the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), its language, interpretation and especially its ideological commitments (which are often obscured or unacknowledged).
My Shiloh-type interests include: many papers aimed at uncovering the (mostly unnoticed) masculinity of the Bible (e.g. ‘The Scandal of a Male Bible’, The Ethel M. Wood Lecture for 2015, available here), and, recently, my publications profiling violence in the Hebrew Bible. My linguistic study reveals that there are, on average, 7 instances of or references to violence on every page of the Hebrew Bible. I maintain that this includes references to ‘marriage’ (because marriage strikes me as always an act of violence in the ancient cultures reflected in biblical texts) and ‘circumcision’ (which I regard as constituting male genital mutilation).
2. My main future contribution to the aims of the Shiloh Project will be in my capacity as director of Sheffield Phoenix Press: SPP will publish both monographs and collections of essays by numerous people involved in this important project.
