Professor Ethan Jones

College positions: Visiting Fellow

Subject: History: Hebrew Bible / Old Testament

Professor Ethan Jones is a Visiting Fellow at Magdalene.

Professor Jones was appointed Don and Helen Bryant Chair of Old Testament and Hebrew at New Orleans Seminary in 2022 and serves there as Associate Professor of Old Testament and Hebrew. His early publications focused on the lexicography and grammar of ancient Hebrew, including Valency of the Hithpael (Arbeiten zu Text und Sprache im Alten Testament, EOS, 2017) and numerous articles in leading international journals, such as Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft (2017, 2020), Biblische Notizen (2018), Journal of Semitic Studies (2019), The Bible Translator (2020), Journal for the Study of the Old Testament (2021), Vetus Testamentum (2021), Journal of Northwest Semitic Languages (2021, 2025), and Revue Biblique (2024).

His current research focuses on the poetry of the Old Testament, with particular attention to the book of Psalms. His scholarship addresses both academic and wider audiences. This includes his award-winning Psalms in an Age of Distraction (Baker Academic, 2024) and two ongoing projects, Prayer in an Anxious Age and Joy and Resistance of Despair. Academic contributions appear in key journals such as the Scottish Journal of Theology (2022), Irish Theological Quarterly (2023), and Old Testament Essays (2024), and his forthcoming monograph is Psalm as Poetry: The Language of Wonder, Prayer, and Praise (Baylor University Press).

Professor Jones previously served as a Visiting Scholar in Hebrew Studies (FAMES) at Cambridge in 2018-2019, working with Geoffrey Khan, former Regius Professor of Hebrew.

Research Interests

  • Hebrew poetry
  • Modern poetry
  • Book of Psalms
  • Reception of poetry
  • Theological readings of the Hebrew Bible
  • Hebrew lexicography
  • Hebrew grammar and syntax

Qualifications

  • Visiting Scholar (Hebrew Studies), University of Cambridge
  • PhD (Old Testament), Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
  • MDiv, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
  • BA (Christian Studies and Philosophy), Mississippi College
  • Goethe Institute, Gottingen, Germany

Career/Research Highlights

  • Visiting Scholar - Hebrew Studies, FAMES, University of Cambridge, 2018-2019
  • Chair of Biblical Studies - Scarborough College, 2020-2021
  • Associate Professor of Old Testament and Hebrew - New Orleans Seminary, 2021-present
  • Don and Helen Bryant Chair of Old Testament and Hebrew - New Orleans Seminary, 2022-present
  • Psalms in an Age of Distraction, Baker Academic 2024 - award-winning, now translated in Spanish.
  • Research Professor of the Year - New Orleans Seminary, 2022-2023 (voted by faculty)
  • Research Grants awarded - New Orleans Seminary, 2022; 2023; 2024
  • Professor of the Year - Scarborough College, 2015-2016 (voted by student body)
  • Steering Committee - Linguistics and Biblical Hebrew, Society of Biblical Literature - 2019-present
  • Member of the Society of Biblical Literature; Institute for Biblical Research; Tyndale Fellowship (Cambridge); Evangelical Theological Society.

Professional Affiliations

  • Society of Biblical Literature
  • Tyndale Fellowship (Cambridge, England)
  • Institute for Biblical Research
  • Evangelical Theological Society

KEY PUBLICATIONS

Valency of the Hithpael: The Contribution of Valency to Lexicography, Jones, Ethan (2017), Arbeiten zu Text und Sprache im Alten Testament series, St. Ottilien: EOS.

The Unfolding of Your Words Gives Light: Studies on Biblical Hebrew in Honor of George L. Klein, (Editor) Jones, Ethan (2018), University Park, PA: Eisenbrauns / Penn State University Press.

Psalms in an Age of Distraction: Experiencing the Restorative Power of Biblical Poetry, Jones, Ethan (2024), Baker Academic.

Direct Reflexivity in Biblical Hebrew: A Note on נפשׁ, Jones, Ethan (2017), Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 129, pp. 411–26.

Zeit, Raum und Völker: חסד ואמת in Ps 117, Jones, Ethan (2018), Biblische Notizen 178, pp. 103–10.

Bound Pronominal Objects in Biblical Hebrew: Clarification and Critique, Jones, Ethan (2019), Journal of Semitic Studies 64, pp. 363–75.

The Middle and Passive Voice: Semantic Distinctions of the Niphal in Biblical Hebrew, Jones, Ethan (2020), Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 132, pp. 427–48.

He May Do Harm . . . : A Note on 2 Sam. 12:18, Jones, Ethan (2020), The Bible Translator 71, pp. 303–19.

Hearing the Voice of the Niphal: A Response to Ellen van Wolde, Jones, Ethan (2021), Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 45, pp. 291–308.

Where Pragmatics and Grammar Meet: A Study of Predicate Adjectives in Biblical Hebrew, Jones, Ethan (2021), in New Perspectives in Hebrew Linguistics and Philology Semitic Languages, ed. Geoffrey Khan and Aaron Hornkohl, Cambridge Semitic Languages and Cultures, Cambridge: University of Cambridge / Open Books, pp. 391–430.

1 Sam. 2:6: Time and Wayyiqtol in Hannah’s Song, Jones, Ethan (2022), Vetus Testamentum 72, pp. 26–46.

Sound and Meaning in the Hebrew Bible: Exegetical Implications, Jones, Ethan (2021), Journal of Northwest Semitic Languages 47, pp. 19–36.

Forming the Imagination: Reading Psalms with Poets, Jones, Ethan (2022), Scottish Journal of Theology 75, pp. 329–346.

Where the Centaur Walks: Psalms and the Poetic Imagination, Jones, Ethan (2023), Irish Theological Quarterly 88.3, pp. 270–286.

Viewing the Psalms through the Lens of Poetry: Recent Trends in Psalms Study, Jones, Ethan (2023), Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 66.3, pp. 439–453.

A Tender Rebuke: A Note on Ruth 1:11–13, Jones, Ethan (2024), Revue Biblique 131.2, pp. 290–292.

What is Elijah Doing?: On וַיִּתְמֹדֵד in 1 Kgs 17,21 (Again), Jones, Ethan (2024), Revue Biblique 131.3, pp. 362–369.

Ambiguity and Poetry: Psalm 62 as Witness, Jones, Ethan (2024), Perichoresis 22.4, pp. 85–102.

Prayer and (Im)politeness: Reading Psalm 7, Jones, Ethan (2024), Old Testament Essays 37.3, pp. 1–22.

A More Polite Suggestion: The Lengthened Imperative in Biblical Hebrew, Jones, Ethan (2021), in Interconnected Traditions: Semitic Languages, Literatures, Cultures- A Festschrift for Geoffrey Khan, vol. 1, ed. Aaron D. Hornkohl et al., Cambridge: University of Cambridge / Open Book Publishers, pp. 331–358.

A Kingdom Torn: On the Agency of 2 Kgs 17.21, Jones, Ethan (2025), Journal of Northwest Semitic Languages 51.1, pp. 43–62.