Benedikt Hensel takes on new specialised editorial activities

Since 2026, Prof. Dr Benedikt Hensel (Old Testament and Biblical Archaeology) has been the specialist editor of the Wissenschaftliches Bibellexikon im Internet (WiBiLex) for the field of "History of Israel and Judah"; the specialist edition is carried out jointly with Prof. Dr Michael Pietsch (Neuendettelsau).

In addition, Prof Dr Benedikt Hensel has been a co-editor of the renowned academic publication series "Arbeiten zur Bibel und ihrer Geschichte (ABG)" (Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, Leipzig) since 2026 - together with Prof Dr Andreas Schüle (Leipzig), Prof Dr Susanne Luther (Göttingen) and Prof Dr Christof Landmesser (Tübingen).

Digging in Israel - summer school

Prof. Dr Benedikt Hensel is once again offering a three-week excavation excursion to Hazor in summer 2026 and an accompanying study trip to Israel (2-23 August 2026). The teaching excavation will be led by him together with Dr Igor Kreimerman (Hebrew University of Jerusalem). Previous archaeological knowledge is not required. Participation is open to interested students from all disciplines. After consultation, participation is also possible for others interested in Hazor beyond the University of Oldenburg.

Information event:

• Thu, 29.01.2026

• 19:00 hrs

• Villa Geistreich (Damm 41A) - Research Centre for Digital Classical Studies

• With online access.

"What everyone should know about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict"

The Karl Wilhelm Heyse Society cordially invites you to an extraordinary lecture with an outstanding expert on the Holy Land:

Prof Dr Dr Dr h. c. Dieter Vieweger (Jerusalem)

"Dispute over the Holy Land - What everyone should know about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict"

In the tangle of loudly expressed opinions, the speaker, who has lived and worked in the Middle East for three decades, looks with concern at both sides of the conflict.

• Old Grammar School Oldenburg (theatre wall 11)

• Tuesday, 27 January 2026

• 7:00 pm

• Admission free (donation requested)

Chair of the Karl Wilhelm Heyse Society

Prof. Dr Benedikt Hensel - Professorship for Old Testament and Biblical Archaeology

Oldenburg Professor of Old Testament takes up office in Jerusalem on 1 January 2027!

Benedikt Hensel has been appointed as the new Director of the German Protestant Institute for Ancient Studies of the Holy Land (DEI) in Jerusalem. Hensel has been University Professor of Old Testament Studies at the University of Oldenburg since 2022. He will take up his new post at the beginning of 2027, taking over the management and administration of the Institute in Jerusalem. The Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) confirmed a corresponding decision by the DEI Administrative Board at its most recent meeting. Click here for the EKD press release.

New teaching-learning lab format on biblical archaeology, theology and virtual reality

Together with students from the subject of Old Testament, researchers from the Digital Biblical Archaeology department and pupils from the Altes Gymnasium, a teaching-learning lab will take place in the Villa Geistreich, which will bring pupils, students, researchers and lecturers together in a research-oriented way, allowing them to experience theology and the ancient world in a "playful" way. The Protestant Church in Oldenburg is also taking part.

Louvre and cultural contacts in antiquity

From 18 to 21 June, Old Testament Oldenburg was at the Louvre on the trail of ancient cultural contacts between Egypt, the Ancient Orient and the Levant - as part of the seminar "Domination and Politics - Israel and the Great Powers Assur and Egypt" - together with colleagues Sebastian Grätz (Old Testament, Mainz) and Katja Weiß (Egyptology, Mainz) and theology students from Mainz. Many thanks to all the students for their excellent presentations on site.

Joint conference in Amsterdam: "Expert meeting: Ongoing Interpretation. The Servant of YHWH in Text and Context"

It is a much debated question: who is meant in the texts about the servant of YHWH in Isaiah? Different answers have been given in different traditions over the centuries. Is the èvèd YHWH a particular individual, or should we read the texts collectively? Or is it possible to combine those two aspects? Are there any traces of the historical background of the texts, or should we understand them more metaphorically? This expert meeting at the Protestant Theological University (PThU) will examine different paths of interpretation that have been taken, and will ask about the topicality and relevance of the texts. A starting point could be that the servant of YHWH can be understood as a representative. But then, if he stands for a generality, for whom? First of all Israel... and who else? What do the texts in Isaiah (42, 49, 50 and 52-53) say on this matter? After an examination of the Isaiah texts themselves, there are several lines of enquiry: How did identification take place in the New Testament, in Christianity and in Judaism?

For additional information see here.

This conference is organised by Dr. Lieve Teugels, Dr. Marco Visser (both: PThU), Benedikt Hensel (University of Oldenburg) and Ulrich Berges (University of Bonn)

Welcome to our chair!

We are pleased to welcome Dr Felix Hagemeyer as a new research associate at the Chair of Old Testament Studies (Professor Dr Benedikt Hensel) since 12 February 2024. Felix Hagemeyer previously worked at the University of Leipzig in the chair of Professor Dr Angelika Berlejung (Old Testament Studies with a focus on the history and religious history of Israel and its environment), where he also completed a thesis in 2023 entitled "Ashdod and Jerusalem. An archaeological and exegetical study on the relationship between the southern Palestinian coastal plain and the Judean highlands" with the highest distinction. The publications (Mohr Siebeck, 2023) were honoured with two prizes in 2023, the 2023 Young Researcher Award of the Friends of the Saxon Academy of Sciences and Humanities and the Wolfgang Scheuffler Research Prize.

Dr Hagemeyer will spend the next two years at the Oldenburg Old Testament Chair working on the topic "'I will turn your cities into ruins and lay waste your sanctuaries' (Lev 26:31): Ruins as Material Testimonies and Identity Markers in Israel / Palestine', thereby also further profiling Benedikt Hensel's research focus on biblical archaeology and his project work on the ruined city of Hazor.

A warm invitation to this special lecture!

Biblical theology and holistic biblical hermeneutics: new perspectives for Old and New Testament studies

Professor Hensel will give the keynote lecture on the perspective of Old Testament studies at the conference "The Future of New Testament Studies", organised by the Göttingen School of Theology in Hanover. Hensel will present his new perspectives for an urgently needed holistic biblical hermeneutics. This lecture is also linked to his new hermeneutics project, more information on which can be found here.

Lecture at the Krupp Wissenschaftskolleg, Greifswald and opening of the exhibition on the Samaritans in the Bible and today.

Professor Dr Benedikt Hensel will give a lecture at the Krupp Wissenschaftskolleg in Greifswald. This is in connection with the opening of the exhibition on the Samaritans, which Hensel has curated and which will now be on display in Greifswald after being shown at the Bible Museum in Frankfurt and The Smart House Oldenburg. Hensel will open the exhibition together with his local colleague Professor Dr Stefan Beyerle, Chair of Old Testament Studies at the. University of Greifswald.

For more information on the Krupp Wissenschaftskolleg, click here.

Gerda Henkel Foundation funds major project on the culture of remembrance in the ancient Orient and identity formation processes in early Israel

The Gerda Henkel Foundation is funding the major project led by Professor Dr Benedikt Hensel entitled "Resettlement of Ruins and Memories in the Making. A Case Study on Hazor and the Shaping of Early Israelite Identities during the Iron Age". The project is thus also included in the foundation's renowned "Lost Cities" funding programme, which focuses on researching the perception of and life with abandoned cities in cultures around the world.

The research project, which will initially run for three years, will begin in spring 2024. Two doctoral scholarships approved as part of the funding will support the project team led by Hensel and his project partners Dr Igor Kreimerman (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem) and Dr Erik Eynikel (University of Regensburg).

Click here to go to the project page.

Who wrote the Bible? Social groups and scribes behind the Old Testament - lecture by Prof Dr Benedikt Hensel at the University of Haifa, Israel

At the invitation of the Department for Biblical Studies at the University of Haifa, Israel, Prof. Hensel will give a lecture there on 24 August 2023 on the subject of his current research. Under the title "Who Wrote the Bible? Understanding Redactors and Social Groups behind Biblical Traditions in the Context of Plurality within Emerging Judaism", Hensel will argue that the social and religious plurality of early Judaism must become a greater focus of research into the Old Testament. Historically, it has been known for some time that a high degree of internal diversification and plurality within Judaism is to be expected: these very different groups of Judaism, not all of which are at home in Judah, contribute to the emergence and finalisation of the Hebrew Bible. Hensel shows ways in which the traces of these groups can be identified in the texts.

Excavation of the ancient megacity of Hazor under Oldenburg project management

Oldenburg theology professor and Old Testament scholar Benedikt Hensel is co-director of Israel's currently largest archaeological excavation in the ancient megacity of Hazor (Israel), for which he is responsible together with his Israeli project partner, excavation director Dr Igor Kreimerman from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Hazor has been a United Nations World Heritage Site since 2005. Twenty students from School IV are also taking part and will get to know the historic land and multicultural modern Israel on excursions at a summer school organised by Hensel in parallel. The ancient megacity of Hazor is also the subject of Hensel's current research as well as several dissertation and habilitation projects under his supervision. For further information see here.

Politics lays the foundation for the first theology of ancient Israel: lecture by Prof Dr Benedikt Hensel at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel

At the invitation of the renowned Institute of Archaeology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, Prof. Hensel will give a lecture entitled "Assyria and Israel.Politics Create Theology" on 14 August 2023. In it, he develops the main thesis that the massive expansion policy of the first world empire in history, the Neo-Assyrian Empire (10th-7th century BC) in the area we know today as Israel, led to the emergence of a reflected theology. Certain concepts of royal and imperial ideology are taken up here and transferred to Israel's image of God in such a way that the imperialism of Assur is counteracted. In a nutshell: Israel's image of God (up to and including later monotheism) is essentially a critical reinterpretation of the imperial ideology of the great kings. Hensel exemplifies this in terms of literary history with the conditions of divestment in the Book of Eoxdus as well as factually with the later self-predictive formulation of the Decalogue in Ex 20:2 (I am YHWH your God...), which in turn draws on the propaganda of the great kings in the inscriptions.

Summer School in Israel (Professor Dr Benedikt Hensel) for Oldenburg students

Professor Dr Benedikt Hensel (Old Testament, University of Oldenburg) is leading the Summer School 2023 together with Dr Igor Kreimerman, Hebrew University Jerusalem/Israel - Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies: "Biblical Archaeology and Area Studies: Seminar with Teaching Excavation in Hazor/Isael and Excursion to Archaeological Sites" (30 July to 20 August 2023).

In addition to the teaching excavation on site in Hazor/Israel, as well as excursions to monument and excavation sites in Israel and daily seminars and lectures by international specialists, the declared aim is to create intercultural and interreligious meeting spaces - through a multinational and multicultural team in the excavation and study centre on site, as well as through targeted lecture and discussion dates with high-ranking spiritual and cultural representatives in Israel.

20 students from Oldenburg will accompany Prof Hensel on the three-week summer school to Israel.

We would like to thank the University of Oldenburg, the Axel Springer Foundation and the Simone Weil Foundation for supporting this summer school.

Old Testament Oldenburg with lectures at the European Association of Biblical Studies

At this year's Annual Conference of the EABS, the Chair of Old Testament Studies will be represented with its own contributions. Dr Jordan Davis will speak in the Research Unit "Citations and Allusions in the Hebrew Bible" on the topic "Sourced Authority: The Sihon Tradition and the Use of Citations to Provide External Justification". Dr Friederike Neumann on the topic "The Twelve Sons of Jacob: The Jacob Story and the Concept of Biblical Israel" in the group "Historical Approaches to the Bible and the Biblical World".

The EABS is an international scholarly society whose aim is to promote research on the Bible and related subjects, to strengthen the networking of scholars and to provide a forum for the presentation of results. The EABS was founded in 1996 to support the exchange of scholars in the field of biblical theology in Europe. Today, EABS is a cosmopolitan society whose members come from all regions of the world.

Groundbreaking success! Frankfurt exhibition (curated by Prof Dr B. Hensel) is extended

The exhibition developed and curated by Prof Dr Benedikt Hensel entitled "Respect! The Samaritans in the Bible and Today" at the Bibelhaus ErlebnisMuseum Frankfurt, developed and curated by Prof. Dr Benedikt Hensel, has become a Frankfurt blockbuster and will now be extended until 30 July! Click here for the press release.

The own perspective of this religious community of around 860 members is presented as well as the external perspective from Jewish, Christian and Muslim points of view. The well-known "Good Samaritan" is the subject of the exhibition, as is the "Samaritan woman at Jacob's well", the ancient Samaritan characters, which date back to the time when the first alphabet was created, as well as the replica of a Samaritan leaf hut, which can be decorated by visitors. The international exhibition, which was developed in collaboration with the Yeshiva University Center for Israel Studies, New York, and the Museum of the Bible, Washington D.C., as well as the University of Oldenburg, presents evidence of the 2500-year-old history of the Samaritans.

Lecture "Awakening the Cities of the Dead", Michael Eisenberg (University of Haifa)

Professor Michael Eisenberg from the University of Haifa is currently a fellow at the Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg in Delmenhorst. On 5 June, he will give a lecture on the excavations he has led in Hippos (in English). Everyone is cordially invited, admission is free.

The lecture is a co-production of the Department of Old Testament and the Department of Ancient History with the State Library.

Further information can be found in the flyer opposite.

War and peace in the Hebrew Bible. Early Jewish experiences of reality and theological counter-designs

It is well known that the Bible, especially the Old Testament and the Hebrew Bible, is characterised by war and violence in many areas of the text. Based on this, one often hears the argument that these topics are only promoted because of religion(s) and specifically the monotheistic religions and their authoritative texts. However, this is not the case: violence precedes religion and religion as a system of interpretation reacts to basic experiences such as violence. Nevertheless, there is of course religiously motivated violence as well as religiously motivated peace efforts. The lecture will therefore explore the following key questions: Why could the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament lend itself at all as an object of reception for the themes of violence, war or peace? Why does it provide ideas that could be framed by its recipients as calls for violence or peace? Why can it be invoked as a political manifesto, whether with peaceful or violent intent? Here we will focus on the political background of the Hebrew Bible at a time of Neo-Assyrian oppression and the relative "religious freedom" under the later Persian rulers.

Professor Dr Benedikt Hensel will give a lecture on this topic on 15 May 2023, at 19:30, as part of the Leo Trepp Teaching House lecture programme on the annual topic "WAR AND PEACE IN THE MONOTHEISTIC RELIGIONS".

CreationCreation and climate between gift and task

Creation is one of the major theological themes of our time. The point here is that religion and faith are not just partial aspects of human existence, but that the whole, the world in its real and everyday diversity, is taken into consideration. What food for thought arises when we look from the Old Testament texts to the doctrine of creation - after all, creation is not part of the literary, cultural or religious-historical bedrock of the Old Testament.

How have the framework conditions changed so that it later becomes more and more of a focus and what impulses can this provide for modern readers?

Professor Dr Benedikt Hensel will speak about this on 9 May 2023 at a study day of the Pastoralkolleg Niedersachsen on the topic of "Creation and climate between gift and task". The complementary systematic-theological perspectives on the topic of creation will be presented by Prof Dr Reiner Anselm (Munich) at the study day.

Academy event with Professor Dr Benedikt Hensel: Tolerance and diversity. Religious history(ies) as a model

Prof Dr Benedikt Hensel has been invited by the Protestant Academy in Frankfurt am Main to give an evening lecture and discussion. He will be speaking there on 27 April 2023 on the topic of "Tolerance and diversity. Religious history(ies) as a model".

Recent research has made it clear that a large number of regional and social groups that lived in the Levant in ancient times - in Egypt and Babylonia, Samaria and Judah - were involved in the creation of the texts that exist today as the Bible. From their diversity, Judaism and Christianity crystallised in the most diverse forms. One group that plays a rather hidden role in the Bible and still cultivates its very own traditions today is the religious community of the Samaritans, who live as a minority in the West Bank and in Israel. Their coexistence with other religious communities builds a bridge between the pluralistic antiquity and the social diversity of our time. What can we learn from this when we talk about tolerance in today's pluralistic society?

Directly before the event, there is the opportunity to visit the current exhibition "Samaritans in the Bible and today" in the Bibelhaus Erlebnismuseum and take part in a guided tour with the curator Benedikt Hensel. Registration is requested. Click here for registration and further information.

Good Friday in the Syrian Orthodox community

Last Friday, 14 February 2023, teaching staff and students from the Institute of Theology and Religious Education at the University of Oldenburg went on an excursion to the Syrian Orthodox parish of Mor Yuhanon Dakfone (St. John's parish) in Delmenhorst under the direction of Professor Dr Benedikt Hensel.

The excursion group was given the opportunity to take part in the parish's Good Friday service and then in a theological discussion with the parish. Special thanks go to Bishop Mor Julius Dr Hanna Aydin and the congregation chairman Gabriel Eker, who were available to answer questions alongside other members of the congregation.

We would like to thank the community for their hospitality and visit.

Click here for the article about our visit by the community.

Invitation to the opening of the special exhibition
Respect! Samaritans in the Bible and today by curator Prof Dr Benedikt Hensel

Ceremonial opening of the new special exhibition with a welcome by the patron Carmela Shamir, Consul General of the State of Israel, and exciting insights by curator Prof. Dr Benedikt Hensel, University of Oldenburg, with guests of the exhibition organisers from
New York and Jerusalem. We cordially invite you to join us.

on Tuesday, 28 February 2023, at 6 p.m.
at the Bibelhaus ErlebnisMuseum
Metzlerstraße 19, 60594 Frankfurt am Main

Further information about the exhibition here.

Current peace ethics issues and the relevance of Old Testament ethics

Prof Dr Benedikt Hensel will speak at the academy conference "The path to life. The Ethics of the Old Testament" at the Evangelical Academy Hofgeismar on the topic "'You shall not oppress a stranger...' (Ex 23:9) Basic features of an Old Testament refugee ethic." The conference, in which Hensel is taking part with the chair of the Old Testament, aims to show that the Bible, and the Old Testament in particular, can make relevant contributions in current fields of peace ethics and socio-political ethics. This will be fundamentally reflected upon, critically analysed from a gender perspective and developed in terms of material ethics.

Further information and registration can be found here.

Study day "Biblical theology in the context of flight and migration: Isaiah's servant as an image of God"

On 24 January 2023, the Chair of Old Testament offers a study day on the topic of "Biblical Theology: The Servant of God in Isaiah as an Image of God" under the direction of Prof. Dr Benedikt Hensel and Dr Marco Visser of the Protestantse Theologische Universiteit (PThU) Groningen/Netherlands. All students of the University of Oldenburg are cordially invited to the study day.

Bernhard Duhm was the first to emphasise the unique nature of these texts in his famous commentary on Isaiah in 1892. Following Duhm, many exegetes assumed that the Servant Songs formed a coherent, independently transmitted text that was editorially incorporated into the text of Deutero-Isaiah. These theories are largely disputed today. Much more important to research is the theological meaning of these songs: who is this servant of God who is poetically addressed here? The 'servant of the Lord' who suddenly appears on the literary stage from Isaiah 41:8 onwards is one of the most enigmatic figures in biblical literature. He is addressed by the name Israel and is therefore a representative of the people of Israel. A short time later, however, it emerges that he is also a prophet to the people. After all, he is even the one who suffers for the people - or even for the whole world? - and thus takes away guilt.

On this study day, the various Servant Songs will be read together and discussed in detail. Dr Marco Visser will also give an insight into the latest research on Isaiah on the basis of his recently published dissertation on the subject and will place the theme of the Servant Songs in a biblical-theological context within the major outlines of Old Testament theology and in particular the doctrine of God.

If you are interested, please contact Prof Dr Hensel. The study day will take place from 14:00-20:00 at the Institute of Theology and Religious Education.

International Conference "Yahwism under the Achaemenid Empire" (Haifa, Israel)

Prof. Dr Benedikt Hensel is taking part in a major international conference at the University of Haifa (Israel) from 20 - 22 December 202, which deals with the diverse forms of early Judaism in the Persian period (6th - 4th century BC). He will speak on the topic "Was there an 'Idumean Yahwism'? Material & Biblical Evidence on Religion and Yahweh-Worship in Idumea" .

For more information see the conference website here

International congress in Denver, USA

At the annual meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature in Denver (USA, 19-22 November 2022), Prof. Dr Benedikt Hensel will speak to an international audience about his research focus "Jordan" on the topic "Transjordan in the Context of the Southern Levant from the Babylonian to Hellenistic Periods. Cultural Contacts, Religious Transformations, and Their Literary Reflections."

The SBL Annual Meeting is attended by thousands of professors, students, researchers, interested laypeople and academic publishers from the fields of theology and religious studies every year. It is the largest event of its kind in both disciplines.

Freshly published!

The publication of the dissertation by Dr Jordan Davis, Assistant to the Chair of Old Testament Studies, has just been released by the renowned academic publisher Mohr Siebeck. The monographic study is entitled "The End of the Book of Numbers. On Pentateuchal Models and Compositional Issues" and appears in the series "Archaeology and Bible".

For further information see here.

Lecture "Religion and Plurality: New Paths in the Study of Early Judaism"

Prof. Dr Benedikt Hensel will give a lecture on Monday, 14 November (2-4 p.m.) as part of the series of lectures on philosophy "The Idea of the University (Karl Jaspers)" on the topic: "Religion and Plurality: New Paths in the Study of Early Judaism". The thesis that is developed there: "Judaism", which formed in the Persian period, is already far more diverse in its beginnings than it has appeared in research to date due to the dominant impression of Judean Jerusalem early Judaism in the Bible.

The lecture will initially focus on the regional diversity and internal pluriformity of early Judaism - highlights will be thrown on Egypt (Elephantine and Alexandria), Babylonia, Idumea, Transjordan, Samaria and Judah. It will then also be asked to what extent groups of editors and social groups of this plural Judaism of this time reflect the horizon of this plurality in the formation of Old Testament traditions.

The lecture will take place in the BIS-Saal at the University of Oldenburg. The series of lectures in Philosophy is a co-operation between the Institute of Philosophy, the C3L - Centre for Lifelong Learning at the University of Oldenburg and the Karl Jaspers Society.

International conference on the cultural contacts between Israel and the "foreign peoples" in the Books of Samuel (12-14 October 2022)

In the Books of Samuel, the neighbouring peoples of Israel and Judah as well as the great imperial powers of the 1st millennium operating in the southern Levant play a more decisive role than in almost any other biblical literature. An international conference organised by Prof. Dr. Benedikt Hensel (University of Oldenburg) and Dr. Stephen Germany (University of Basel) will examine the reasons for this in an interdisciplinary dialogue with the disciplines of archaeology, classical studies, cultural studies and Old Testament studies. Speakers include renowned international specialists from Israel, Australia, the United States, Switzerland and Germany.

The conference is generously funded by the Swiss Academy of Humanities and Social Sciences (SAGW) and the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF).

Forfurther information click here...

The position of research assistant at the Chair of Old Testament Studies (Prof. Dr B. Hensel) has been filled by Dr Jordan Davis

We welcome Dr Jordan Davis to the Chair of Old Testament Studies, who took up his position as a full-time research assistant on 1 October 2022.

Born in Australia, he received his doctorate in 2021 from the School of Theology at the University of Zurich (Switzerland) under Prof Dr Konrad Schmid with a study on the Old Testament, which was awarded the highest distinction of summa cum laude .

In future, he will support the work at the Oldenburg Chair as well as teaching. Jordan Davis is also working on his habilitation at the Oldenburg OT Chair under Prof Dr Benedikt Hensel. This will focus in particular on the historical framework of the Book of Jeremiah.

His work and interests focus on understanding the cultural and ideological-historical background of biblical texts, with a particular focus on the intersection of the literary history of the Old Testament and biblical archaeology/religious history of Israel.

Quality assurance in teaching: The newly created teaching position in the Old Testament has been filled by Dr Friederike Neumann since 1 October 2022

We welcome Dr Friederike Neumann to the Chair of Old Testament Studies, who took up her position as a lecturer in Old Testament Studies on 1 October 2022. In the future, she will teach Old Testament courses in the Bachelor's and Master's degree programmes and supervise theses. This permanent position will ensure the quality of teaching at the Chair of Old Testament Studies in the long term and also further diversify the range of courses on offer to our students.

Friederike Neumann received her doctorate in 2015 with a thesis on Psalms 145-150 as scriptural hymns at the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen under Prof Dr Reinhard G. Kratz. She is currently working on a habilitation thesis on the origin of the Jacob narrative in Genesis 25-36, supervised by Prof. Dr Jakob Wöhrle, Eberhard Karls University Tübingen. Her research focus is on the theological and literary history of the Old Testament. She is particularly interested in the texts of the Pentateuch and the Psalms.

International Conference on Transjordan at the UOL

"Transjordan in Biblical Traditions: Exploring New Avenues and Perspectives for Future Research," 14-15 July 2022 at the Chair of Hebrew Bible, UOL (organiser: Prof. Dr. Benedikt Hensel).

Further information...

Latest research findings at international conference on the editorial circles of the Old Testament and the social groups behind the writing processes of the Old Testament

This summer, the Research Unit is meeting in Toulouse under the overarching theme of "Social Groups and Redactions behind Biblical Traditions: Perspectives from Babylonia, Idumea, Judah and Israel" with presentations by international specialists. Hensel is also represented there with a lecture on the topic: "Social Encounters, Cultural Diffusion, and Formation of Religious Identities in the Region of Idumea: The Case of Yahweh-Worship in the Region in the Light of the Material Evidence."

This is also linked to a publication of the contributions from this and last year in the volume planned for 2022:

Social Groups behind Biblical Traditions: Identity Perspectives from Egypt, Transjordan, Mesopotamia, and Israel in the Second Temple Period (Forschungen zum Alten Testament II), Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck; ed. by Hensel, B. / Nocquet, D and Adamczewski, B.

Benedikt Hensel has headed a 5-year research unit of the European Assiciation of Biblical Studies since 2019 on the topic "Yahwistic Diversity and the Hebrew Bible: Tracing Perspectives of Group Identity from Judah, Samaria, and Diaspora in Biblical Traditions."

More information here.

International workshop at the Annual Conference of the European Assiciation of Biblical Studies 2022, Toulouse

Benedikt Hensel is leading an international workshop on "Edom East and West of the Arabah Valley and in the Negev" together with his Tel Aviv colleague Erez Ben-Yosef. Hensel will also be giving a lecture on the topic "Think Positive! On the Positive Portrayal of Edom in Late Biblical Traditions and Their Historical Background".

More information here.

Freshly published!

Benedikt Hensel has published a thematically focussed anthology as part of his research work on Transjordan and in particular on Edom and Idumea. Link to the publisher's website: Here!

PD Dr Benedikt Hensel has been appointed to the professorship "Protestant Theology with a focus on the Old Testament" at the Institute for Protestant Theology at the University of Oldenburg.

Read more...