Raymond Bryan Dillard (January 7, 1944 – October 1, 1993) was a professor of

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

language and literature at Westminster Theological Seminary.

Life

Dillard was born on January 7, 1944, in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

, the son of Raymond and Ruth Dillard. After graduating from high school in

Fayetteville, North Carolina Fayetteville () is a city in and the county seat of Cumberland County, North Carolina, United States. It is best known as the home of Fort Bragg, a major U.S. Army installation northwest of the city. Fayetteville has received the All-America C ...

, in 1962, he went to study at Bob Jones University ( B.A. 1966), Westminster Theological Seminary ( B.D. 1969), and Dropsie University (

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

1975). He did postdoctoral research at

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then called Ba ...

, the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

, and

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) ( he, אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטַת תֵּל אָבִיב, ''Universitat Tel Aviv'') is a public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Locate ...

. He taught at Westminster Theological Seminary as professor of

language and literature from 1971 until his death in 1993. Dillard was a member of the

Society of Biblical Literature The Society of Biblical Literature (SBL), founded in 1880 as the Society of Biblical Literature and Exegesis, is an American-based learned society dedicated to the academic study of the Bible and related ancient literature. Its current stated mis ...

, where he worked in the Chronicles-Ezra-Nehemia section. He also held memberships in the Evangelical Theological Society and in the

Institute for Biblical Research The Institute for Biblical Research established in 1973 is "an organization of evangelical Christian scholars with specialties in Old and New Testament and in ancillary disciplines". It describes its vision as "to foster excellence in the pursuit ...

. Among his major academic publications were an extensive commentary on ''

2 Chronicles The Book of Chronicles ( he, דִּבְרֵי־הַיָּמִים ) is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Chronicles) in the Christian Old Testament. Chronicles is the final book of the Hebrew Bible, concluding the third sect ...

'' published as part of the

Word Biblical Commentary The Word Biblical Commentary (WBC) is a series of commentaries in English on the text of the Bible both Old and New Testament. It is currently published by the Zondervan Publishing Company. Initially published under the "Word Books" imprint, t ...

, a commentary on the

Book of Joel The Book of Joel is collected as one of the twelve minor prophets of the Nevi'im ("Prophets") in the Hebrew Bible, and as a book in its own right in the Christian Old Testament. Content After a superscription ascribing the prophecy to Joel (s ...

, and his magnum opus, ''An Introduction to the Old Testament'', which he wrote together with

Tremper Longman Tremper Longman III (born 8 September 1952) is an Old Testament scholar, theologian, professor and author of several books, including 2009 ECPA Christian Book Award winner ''Dictionary of the Old Testament: Wisdom, Poetry & Writings''. Biography ...

and which was published posthumously, three months after his death . To his students and colleagues, he was known as a "master of classroom drama" who "captivated mind and hearts". Dillard died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

on October 1, 1993, in the woods near

Zionsville, Pennsylvania Zionsville is a village mostly in Upper Milford Township in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania with parts of the village located in Lower Milford Township. The West Branch Hosensack Creek forms its natural southeastern boundary and drains it via the H ...

Publications

Books and book chapters

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Articles

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Audio

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dillard, Raymond Bryan 1944 births 1993 deaths 20th-century biblical scholars American biblical scholars American Calvinist and Reformed theologians American Presbyterian ministers Bob Jones University alumni Dropsie College alumni Dropsie College faculty Old Testament scholars Orthodox Presbyterian Church members Orthodox Presbyterian Church ministers Religious leaders from Louisville, Kentucky Academic staff of Tel Aviv University Temple University faculty University of Pennsylvania faculty Westminster Theological Seminary alumni Westminster Theological Seminary faculty 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American clergy