Joel Kemp, PhD

Assistant Professor of Theology/Religious Studies

Assistant Professor of Theology/Religious Studies

Joel B. Kemp holds a PhD in Hebrew Bible from Boston College (2017), an M.Div. from Andover Newton Theological School (2010), and a J.D. from Harvard Law School (2000).  His research focuses on the Old Testament, especially the Prophets, Biblical Law, and the History of Judah and Identity Development. Dr. Kemp’s other scholarly pursuits include African-American appropriations of Scripture, the relationship between race, religion, and law within American society, and the use of the Bible in popular culture.

Teaching

Undergraduate

TRS 121x Bible: Sacred Story and Meaning (First-Year Seminar)

TRS 121 Introduction to the Bible

ST 284  Race and Religion in America

TRS 440 Introduction to the Old Testament 

Graduate

TRS 500 Old Testament Exegesis

Research

Research Interests – Biblical Studies

  • Latter Prophets
  • Biblical Law and Rhetoric
  • History of Judah and Identity Development
  • Women and Female Imagery in Biblical Traditions 

Research Interests – Bible and Reception History

  • African-American Appropriation of Scripture
  • Black Theology
  • Bible and Popular Culture
  • Race, Religion, and Law in America 

Select Publications

Articles and Monographs

  • Ezekiel, Law, and Redefining Judahite Identity, FAT II (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck): Forthcoming.
  • "Renounced and Abandoned: The Legal Meaning of עזב in Ezek 8:12 and 9:9.” CBQ 79/4 (2017): 593-614.

Web-Based Publications

Recent Presentations

  • “Dangerous Alliances and Judahite Identity: A Proposal for the Amorites’ Function in Ezekiel 16” at SBL Annual Meeting in Denver, CO, November 2018.
  • “To Fight the Good Fight: MLK Jr., Daniel and Nonviolent ‘Racial Identity’” at SBL Annual Meeting in Boston, MA, November 2017.
  • “Renounced and Abandoned: The Legal Meaning of עזב in Ezek 8:12 and 9:9” at SBL Annual Meeting in San Antonio, TX, November 2016
  • “Renounced and Abandoned: The Legal Meaning of עזב in Ezek 8:12 and 9:9” at NE/EC Regional SBL Meeting in Boston, MA, April 2016.
  • “A Case for Identity: Ezekiel 16, Juridical Diction, and Judahite Identity” at SBL Annual Meeting in Atlanta, GA, November 2015.
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