Benjamin G. Wright III

Professor and Chair,
Religion Studies

Bible, Early Judaism, Christianity

Email: bgw1@lehigh.edu
Phone: (610) 758-3344
Office: Maginnes 246B
Office Hours: By Appointment

Education
Selected Publications
Bio
Complete CV (in pdf)

Education

1975, B.A. Ursinus College, cum laude (Philosphy/Religion)

1978, M.Div. Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary, summa cum laude (Biblical Studies)

1988, Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania (Christian Origins)

Selected Publications

Books:

Praise Israel for Wisdom and Instruction: Essays on Ben Sira and Wisdom, The Letter of Aristeas and the Septuagint. JSJSup 131; Leiden: Brill, 2008. [ISBN: 978-90-04-16908-1]. (Go to Brill's website)

A New English Translation of the Septuagint [NETS]. Co-editor with Albert Pietersma. New York: Oxford, 2007 [ISBN: 9780195289756]. (Find NETS on OUP's website)

Conflicted Boundaries in Wisdom and Apocalypticism. Co-editor with Lawrence Wills and principal contributor. Symposium Series. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2005 [ISBN: 1589831845]. (Go to SBL store)

The Apocryphal Ezekiel. With Michael E. Stone and David Satran. SBLEJL 18. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2000 [ISBN: 0884140229]. (Go to SBL store)

A Multiform Heritage: Studies on Early Judaism and Christianity in Honor of Robert A. Kraft. Editor and principal contributor. Scholars Press Homage Series 24. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1999 [ISBN: 9780788505836].

No Small Difference: Sirach's Relationship to Its Hebrew Parent Text. SBLSCS 26. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1989 [ISBN: 1555403751].

 Recent Articles and Other Publications. For a complete list, see complete CV (in pdf):

"Jubilees, Sirach and Sapiential Tradition." In Enoch and the Mosaic Torah: The Evidence of the Book of Jubilees. Gabriele Boccaccini and Giovanni Ibba, eds. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2009, 116–130.

"Aristeas, Letter of." The Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2009, vol. 2.

“The Use and Interpretation of Biblical Tradition in Ben Sira’s Praise of the Ancestors.” Studies in the Book of Ben Sira, Papers of the Third International Conference on the Deuterocanonical Books, Shime‘on Centre, Pápa, Hungary, 18–20 May, 2006. Géza Xeravits and József Zsengellér, eds. JSJSup. Leiden: Brill, 2008, 183–207.

“The Septuagint and Its Modern Translators.” In Die Septuaginta–Texte, Kontexte, Lebenswelten: Internationale Fachtagung veranstaltet von Septuaginta Deutsch (LXX.D), Wuppertal 20.-23. Juli 2006. Wolfgang Kraus and Martin Karrer, eds. WUNT 219. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2008, 103–114.

“Transcribing, Translating, and Interpreting in the Letter of Aristeas: On the Nature of the Septuagint.” Scripture in Transition: Essays on Septuagint, Hebrew Bible and Dead Sea Scrolls in Honour of Raija Sollamo. Anssi Voitila and Jutta Jokiranta, eds. JSJSup 126. Leiden: Brill, 2008, 147–161.

Introduction and Notes to “Ecclesiasticus or The Wisdom of Jesus Son of Sirach.” In The Westminster Discipleship Study Bible. Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox Press, 2008.

“Ben Sira on Kings and Kingship.” In Jewish Perspectives on Hellenistic Rulers. Tessa Rajak, James Aitken, Sarah Pearce and Jennifer Dines, eds. Hellenistic Culture and Society L. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press (2007) 76–91.

“Michael Knibb and George Nickelsburg on the Structure of the Parables of Enoch.” In Enoch and the Messiah Son of Man: Revisiting the Book of the Parables. Gabriele Boccaccini, ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2007, 72–78.

“Three Jewish Ritual Practices in Aristeas §§158–160.” In Heavenly Tablets: Interpretation, Identity and Tradition in Ancient Judaism. Lynn LiDonnici and Andrea Lieber, eds. JSJSup 119. Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2007, 12–29.

“Ezekiel, Apocryphon of.” In The New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible: Vol 2 D–H. Nashville: Abingdon, 2007, 386–387.

“1 Enoch and Ben Sira: Wisdom and Apocalyptic in Relationship.” In The Early Enoch Literature. Gabriele Boccaccini and John J. Collins, eds. JSJSup 121. Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2007, 159–176.

 Articles in Encyclopedia of Religious and Philosophical Writings in Late Antiquity. Jacob Neusner and Alan J. Avery-Peck, eds. Leiden/New York/Boston: E. J. Brill, 2007.
        “Cave of Treasures,” 60.
        “Eldad and Modad,” 102.
        “Ezekiel, Apocryphon of,” 118–119.
        “History of the Rechabites,” 161.
        “Jannes and Jambres,” 183.
        “Joseph and Aseneth,” 192–193.
        “Lives of the Prophets,” 218–219.
        “Sirach, Wisdom of Jesus Son of,” 392–393.

"The Letter of Aristeas and the Reception History of the Septuagint," BIOSCS 39 (2006) 47–67.

“History, Fiction and the Construction of Ancient Jewish Identities: Steven Weitzman, Surviving Sacrilege: Cultural Persistence in Jewish Antiquity (Harvard University Press, 2005); Sara Raup Johnson, Historical Fictions and Hellenistic Jewish Identity: Third Maccabees in its Cultural Context (University of California Press, 2004); Carol A. Newsom, The Self as Symbolic Space: Constructing Identity and Community at Qumran (Brill, 2004).” Prooftexts 26 (2006) 449–467.

Revisions to Introduction and Notes for the Wisdom of Ben Sira and 2 Esdras for The HarperCollins Study Bible. Harold Attridge, ed. San Francisco: HarperCollins, 2006.

"Translation as Scripture: The Septuagint in Aristeas and Philo.” In Septuagint Research: Issues and Challenges in the Study of the Greek Jewish Scriptures. Wolfgang Kraus and R. Glenn Wooden, eds. SBLSCS 53. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2006, 47–61.

“From Generation to Generation: The Sage as Father in Early Jewish Literature.” In Biblical Traditions in Transmission: Essays in Honour of Michael Knibb. Charlotte Hempel and Judith M. Lieu, eds. JSJSup 111; Leiden: Brill, 2006, 309–332.

“Eschatology without a Messiah in the Wisdom of Ben Sira. ” In The Septuagint and Messianism: Colloquium Biblicum Lovaniense, LIII , Leuven 2004. Michael A. Knibb, ed. BETL 195; Leuven: Peeters, 2006.

4Q166 Pesher on Hosea

Bio

Benjamin Wright is Professor of the History of Christianity in the Religion Studies Department at Lehigh University. Many hours of Professor Wright's teenage years were spent reading the Bible. It only occurred to him after starting a major in Biology in college that he could spend a career doing that. He graduated with a B.A. in Philosophy and Religion from Ursinus College, a small liberal arts college outside of Norristown, PA. After college he attended Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Philadelphia where he earned his M.Div. in Biblical Studies. He finished his “formal” education at the University of Pennsylvania where he received a Ph.D. in Christian Origins, although the fun part of his job is learning new things about the ancient world every day.

At Lehigh he teaches courses in Bible, ancient Jewish and Christian literature, and the history of Judaism and Early Christianity. His research focuses mostly on Judaism in the Second Temple period (from about 300 BCE to the end of the first century CE), which includes the beginnings of Christianity. While he has published on a variety of subjects, most of his research has concentrated on three areas: (1) Jewish Wisdom literature of the period, especially a book called the Wisdom of Jesus Ben Sira; (2) the translation of Jewish literature from Hebrew into Greek; and (3) the Dead Sea Scrolls. He most recently completed, as co-editor with Albert Pietersma of the University of Toronto and translator, A New English Translation of the Septuagint (New York: Oxford University Press, 2007), the first translation into English since 1841 of the Septuagint/Old Greek translations. He is also working on a commentary on the Letter of Aristeas for inclusion in the Commentaries on Early Jewish Literature series (published by Walter de Gruyter).

So much for the “formal” part. Anyone can look at the course catalog or Prof. Wright’s curriculum vitae and find out all this information. What he/she cannot find there is that Professor Wright is also an avid ice hockey fan and coach. He was Head Coach and Faculty Advisor of Lehigh’s Division 1 ACHA Club team from 1994–1999 and  Associate Head Coach and Faculty Advisor from 2003–2008. The University awarded him its Faculty Advisor of the Year Award in 1996, and he won the Eastern Collegiate Hockey Association’s first ever Coach of the Year Award in 1999. He remains the team's Faculty Advisor. He has also coached youth travel hockey with the Bethlehem Blast and high school at Liberty High School, where his son played before graduating from Liberty in 2008.

She/he also could not discover in the formal bits that Prof. Wright plays guitar in a band called Religion and Cash with Lloyd Steffen (the University chaplain—along with Prof. Wright the “Religion” part) and William Stanford (Lehigh's former and now retired Director of Financial Aid—the “Cash” part) [Go to Religion and Cash's webpage]. They play locally and have performed on numerous First Friday celebrations at the Banana Factory as well as in the Bethlehem Fine Arts Sculpture Garden concert series. August 2008 marked their fifth straight appearance at Muskifest with several performances at the Main Street venue. R&C (picture below)  appeared at Bethlehem's 2008 New Year's First Night celebration, playing at the Payrow Plaza venue. Prof. Wright also occasionally performs with his wife Mary, an independent theater artist and storyteller (Go to Mary's storytelling website). He played the music in her one-woman show Arabella’s Great Adventure, the story of an intrepid single woman traveling the Oregon Trail. They recently performed as the Community Guests at a performance of the 2008 edition of Touchstone Theater's "Christmas City Follies." In 2004, he built his own guitar under the tutelage of luthier Frank Finocchio (go to Frank's website), and he would do it again in an instant (picture below).

  Ben Wright with his newly finished guitar (April 2004)