Jeffrey Stackert is a biblical scholar who situates the Hebrew Bible in the context of the larger ancient Near Eastern world in which it was composed. His research focuses especially on the composition of the Pentateuch, ancient Near Eastern prophecy, cultic texts, and ancient Near Eastern law. His first book, Rewriting the Torah: Literary Revision in Deuteronomy and the Holiness Legislation (Mohr Siebeck, 2007), addresses literary correspondences among the biblical legal corpora and especially the relationships between similar laws in Deuteronomy and pentateuchal Priestly literature. It was honored with the 2010 John Templeton Award for Theological Promise. His second book, A Prophet Like Moses: Prophecy, Law, and Israelite Religion (Oxford University Press, 2014), analyzes the relationship between law and prophecy in the pentateuchal sources and the role of the Documentary Hypothesis for understanding Israelite religion. 

Stackert’s new book, Deuteronomy and the Pentateuch, theorizes Deuteronomic texts as literature and situates them both in relation to other pentateuchal literature and relevant Mesopotamian texts. The volume also reconstructs the historical context for Deuteronomic composition and engages its early reception history. Deuteronomy and the Pentateuch will appear from Yale University Press. 

Stackert serves on the editorial boards of Die Welt des Orients and The Catholic Biblical Quarterly and is co-general editor of the open access series Ancient Near East Monographs, published by the Society of Biblical Literature Press. He is also leading a digital humanities project, CEDAR: Critical Editions for Digital Analysis and Research (cedar.uchicago.edu), which is funded by a grant from the University of Chicago’s Neubauer Collegium for Culture and Society and the Carpenter Foundation.

Updated: 5/20/21