Richard Donald Nelson (born 1945) is an American Old Testament scholar. He is W. J. A. Power Professor of Biblical Hebrew and Old Testament and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at

Perkins School of Theology Perkins School of Theology is one of Southern Methodist University's three original schools and is located in Dallas, Texas. The theology school was renamed in 1945 to honor benefactors Joe J. and Lois Craddock Perkins of Wichita Falls, Texas. ...

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = " The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , p ...

. Nelson studied at

Capital University Capital University (Capital, Cap, or CU) is a private university in Bexley, Ohio. Capital was founded as the Theological Seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Ohio in 1830, and later was associated with that synod's successor, the Ame ...

Trinity Lutheran Seminary Trinity Lutheran Seminary at Capital University is an Evangelical Lutheran seminary in Columbus, Ohio. History In 1830, the German Theological Seminary of the Ohio Synod, later known as the Evangelical Lutheran Theological Seminary (ELTS), was fo ...

, and Union Theological Seminary in Virginia. Before coming to Perkins, he served as a pastor in the

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is a mainline Protestant Lutheran church headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The ELCA was officially formed on January 1, 1988, by the merging of three Lutheran church bodies. , it has approxim ...

, and then as Assistant Professor of Religion at

Ferrum College , mottoeng = Not Self, But Others , established = , type = Private college , president = David L. Johns , city = Ferrum, Virginia , country = U.S. , c ...

and Kraft Professor of Biblical Studies at

Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg (Gettysburg Seminary) was a seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is a mainline Protestant Lutheran church headquartered in C ...

. Nelson has written commentaries on

Deuteronomy Deuteronomy ( grc, Δευτερονόμιον, Deuteronómion, second law) is the fifth and last book of the Torah (in Judaism), where it is called (Hebrew: hbo, , Dəḇārīm, hewords Moses.html"_;"title="f_Moses">f_Moseslabel=none)_and_th ...

Joshua Joshua () or Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' lit. 'Yahweh is salvation') ''Yēšūaʿ''; syr, ܝܫܘܥ ܒܪ ܢܘܢ ''Yəšūʿ bar Nōn''; el, Ἰησοῦς, ar , يُوشَعُ ٱبْنُ نُونٍ '' Yūšaʿ ...

, and the Book of Kings. In 2010, a ''

Festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the ...

'' was published in his honor: ''Raising Up a Faithful Exegete: Essays in Honor of Richard D. Nelson'', which included contributions from Niels Peter Lemche, Kurt Noll, and Ralph W. Klein. In 2014 he published ''Historical Roots of the Old Testament (1200–63 BCE)'' (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature Press) in which he listed some of the most important extra-biblical sources relevant for a scholarly study of the Old Testament. Nelson was a student of historian

John Bright John Bright (16 November 1811 – 27 March 1889) was a British Radical and Liberal statesman, one of the greatest orators of his generation and a promoter of free trade policies. A Quaker, Bright is most famous for battling the Corn La ...

(1908–1995), and was influenced by him in his methodological approach to Old Testament study.

References

1945 births 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century Christian biblical scholars 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century Christian biblical scholars 21st-century American Lutheran clergy American academic administrators American biblical scholars 20th-century American Lutheran clergy American male non-fiction writers Bible commentators Capital University alumni Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Christians Ferrum College Living people Lutheran biblical scholars Old Testament scholars Place of birth missing (living people) Southern Methodist University faculty Union Presbyterian Seminary alumni {{US-academic-administrator-1940s-stub