Joseph Blenkinsopp (3 April 1927 – 26 March 2022) was an academic theologian and Old Testament scholar. He was the John A. O'Brien Professor Emeritus of Biblical Studies in the Department of Theology at the
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic university, Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend, Indiana, South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin fo ...
Pentateuch
The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the ...
.
Life
Blenkinsopp studied history at the
University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
Pontifical Biblical Institute
The Pontifical Biblical Institute (also known as Biblicum) is a research and postgraduate teaching institution specialised in biblical and ancient Near Eastern studies. It is an institution of the Holy See entrusted to the Society of Jesus.
His ...
University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
in 1967. Blenkinsopp taught at
Heythrop College, London
Heythrop College, University of London, was a constituent college of the University of London between 1971 and 2018, last located in Kensington Square, London. It comprised the university's specialist faculties of philosophy and theology with so ...
(1966);
Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...
(1968);
Chicago Theological Seminary
Founded in 1855, the Chicago Theological Seminary (CTS) is the oldest higher education institution in the City of Chicago and was established with two principal goals: first, to educate pastors who would minister to people living on the new west ...
(1968–69); and
Hartford Seminary Foundation
The Hartford International University for Religion and Peace (formerly Hartford Seminary) is a private theological university in Hartford, Connecticut.
History
Hartford Seminary's origins date back to 1833 when the Pastoral Union of Connectic ...
(1969-70) before coming to the
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic university, Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend, Indiana, South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin fo ...
in 1970. He was rector at
Tantur Ecumenical Institute
Tantur Ecumenical Institute is an international ecumenical institute for advanced theological research in Jerusalem.
Goals and objectives
"No one climbs up to Tantur except to follow a vocation, the same vocation that led on the pioneers of ecum ...
in
Bethlehem
Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital o ...
for the year 1978, and was a guest professor at the
Pontifical Biblical Institute
The Pontifical Biblical Institute (also known as Biblicum) is a research and postgraduate teaching institution specialised in biblical and ancient Near Eastern studies. It is an institution of the Holy See entrusted to the Society of Jesus.
His ...
in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
in 1997-1998.
Blenkinsopp served as president of the Catholic Biblical Association of America (1988-1989) and as president of the Society for the Study of the Old Testament (1999-2000). He has also been the recipient of
National Endowment for the Humanities
The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...
and Mellon grants.
Blenkinsopp died on 26 March 2022, aged 94, in
South Bend, Indiana
South Bend is a city in and the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total of 103,453 residents and is the fourt ...
.
Work
Blenkinsopp published a number of standard commentaries and introductions on parts of the Old Testament, particularly on the
Prophets
In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the s ...
, the
Pentateuch
The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the ...
, and
Ezra–Nehemiah
Ezra–Nehemiah ( he, עזרא נחמיה , ) is a book in the Hebrew Bible found in the Ketuvim section, originally with the Hebrew title of Ezra ( he, עזרא, links=no, ). The book covers the period from the fall of Babylon in 539 BCE t ...
.
Select publications
* ''Isaiah 1-39: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary'' (Anchor Bible; New York)
* ''Isaiah 40-55. A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary'' (Anchor Bible; New York)
* ''Isaiah 56-66. A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary'' (Anchor Bible; New York)
* ''The Pentateuch: An Introduction to the First Five Books of the Bible'' (Anchor Bible Reference Library; New York)
* ''Ezra-Nehemiah: A Commentary'' (Old Testament Library; Louisville, Ky.)
* ''The History of Prophecy in Israel'' (Louisville, Ky.)
* ''Creation, De-Creation, Re-Creation: A Discursive Commentary on Genesis 1-11''. London & New York: T&T Clark, 2011
* ''Abraham: The Story of a Life''. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2015