William L Kelly (BA MDiv MTh PhD)

PhD in Hebrew and Old Testament Studies

  • School of Divinity
  • Hebrew and Old Testament Studies

Contact details

Address

Street

New College
Mound Place

City
Edinburgh
Post code
EH1 2LX

Background

William L Kelly holds a Ph.D. in Hebrew and Old Testament Studies from the University of Edinburgh, where he was supervised by Hans M. Barstad. His doctoral thesis investigated the nature of prophecy in the book of Jeremiah. His international academic training in philosophy, religious studies, theology, and biblical studies includes study at the University of Richmond, Union Presbyterian Seminary, the University of Edinburgh, Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen, and l'Institut Catholique, Paris.

Qualifications

BA MDiv MTh AFHEA PhD

Responsibilities & affiliations

Associate Fellow, UK Higher Education Academy (2016–)

Member, Society for Old Testament Study (2015–)

Member, Society of Biblical Literature (2011–)

Research summary

My principal research interests relate to the prophetic books of the Hebrew Bible, particularly the book of Jeremiah, ancient Israelite prophecy in its Near Eastern context, and more broadly the religious and cultural world of the ancient Near East.

Current research interests

History, Hebrew Bible, historical geography, Syrian city states, prophecy and prophets in the Hebrew Bible and ancient Near East, Hebrew language

Past research interests

In my doctoral thesis I combined research methods drawn from semantics and literary analysis to explore language related to prophets and the nature of prophecy in the Hebrew book of Jeremiah.

Invited speaker

forthc.    Paper title TBD. Union Presbyterian Seminary Graduate Colloquy. Richmond, VA. Invited in September 2017. To be presented in early 2018.

Papers delivered

2017    (accepted) “Prophets and Priests in the Book of Jeremiah: A Reassessment.” To be presented in: Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting. Israelite Prophetic Literature section. Boston, USA, Nov 2017.

2015    “Jer 1:4–10 and the Legitimisation of Prophecy.” Presented in: Old Testament Studies: Epistemologies and Methods (OTSEM) Graduate Conference. Uppsala University, Sweden, 21 Sep 2015.

2015    “Liars, Drunks, Philanderers and Louts: The Problem of ‘False Prophecy’ in the Book of Jeremiah.” Presented in: New College Biblical Studies Seminar. University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom, 23 Jan 2015.

2014    “Response to Christl Maier, ‘The Nature of Deutero-Jeremianic Texts’.” Presented in: Jeremiah’s Scriptures: Production, Reception, Interaction, Transformation. Sponsored by the Centro Stefano Franscini Ascona, ETH Zürich (Swiss Federal Instute of Technology, Zürich), Thyssen Foundation, and Swiss National Science Foundation. Ascona, Switzerland, 22 June 2014.

2014    “The Semantics of Lying and Deceiving in the Hebrew Prophets.” Presented in: Ancient Readers and Their Scriptures: The Texts, Reading Strategies, and the Versions of the Hebrew Bible in Second Temple and Early Judaism conference. St Andrews Symposium for Biblical and Early Christian Studies. University of St Andrews, UK, 03 May 2014.

2013    “ ‘You Can’t Handle the Truth”: Honour and Shame in the Narrative of 1 Kgs 22.” Presented in: Prophets and Prophecy in Stories: Edinburgh Prophecy Network Meeting. Utrecht University, the Netherlands, 04 Oct 2013.

2012    “Prophet on Trial: Jer 26 and the Historical Significance of Narrative Audiences.” Presented in: New College Postgraduate Conference. University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom, 07 Dec 2012.

Books

How Prophecy Works: A Study of the Semantic Field of נביא and a Close Reading of Jeremiah 1:4–19, 23:9–40, and 27:1–28:1. Forschungen zur Religion und Literatur des Alten und Neuen Testaments 272. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, forthcoming.

Journal articles

'The Nature of Prophecy in Hos 9:7–9.' Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 130 (2018): 1–14. In press.

Book chapters

‘Deutero-Jeremianic Language in the Temple Sermon. A Response to Christl Maier.’ Pages 135–44 in: Jeremiah’s Scriptures: Production, Reception, Interaction, and Transformation. Edited by Konrad Schmid and Hindy Najman. Supplements to the Journal of the Study of Judaism 173. Leiden: Brill, 2017.

‘Prophets, Kings and Honour in the Narrative of 1 Kgs 22.’ Pages 64–75 in: Prophets and Prophecy in Stories: Papers Read at the Fifth Meeting of the Edinburgh Prophecy Network, Utrecht October 2013. Edited by Bob Becking and Hans M. Barstad. Oudtestamentische studiën 65. Leiden: Brill, 2015.

How Prophecy Works: A Study of the Semantic Field of נביא and a Close Reading of Jeremiah 1.4–19, 23.9–40, and 27.1–28.1

Abstract:

There is a longstanding scholarly debate on the nature of prophecy in ancient Israel. Until now, no study has based itself on the semantics of the Hebrew lexeme nābîʾ (‘prophet’). In this investigation, I discuss the nature and function of prophecy in the corpus of the Hebrew book of Jeremiah. I analyse all occurrences of nābîʾ in Jeremiah and perform a close reading of three primary texts, Jeremiah 1.4–19, 23.9–40 and 27.1–28.17. The result is a detailed explanation of how prophecy works, and what it meant to call someone a nābîʾ in ancient Israel. Chapter one introduces the work and surveys the main trends in the research literature on prophecy. First I describe scholarly constructs and definitions of the phenomenon of prophecy. I then survey contemporary debates over the meaning of nābîʾ and the problem of ‘false’ prophecy. I also describe the methods, structure, corpus and aims of the investigation. In part one, I take all the occurrences of the lexeme nābîʾ in Jeremiah and analyse its relations to other words (syntagmatics and paradigmatics). For nābîʾ, the conceptual fields of communication and worship are significant. There is also a close semantic relation between nābîʾ and kōhēn (‘priest’). Part two analyses prophecy in the literary context of three key texts. Chapter three is a close reading of Jeremiah 1.4–19. Chapter four is a close reading of Jeremiah 23.9–40. Chapter five is a close reading of Jeremiah 27.1–28.17. In my analysis I situate these passages in the wider context of an ancient cultural worldview on divine communication. This brings to light the importance of legitimacy and authority as themes in prophecy. Chapter six concludes the work. I combine the results of the semantic analysis and close readings with conclusions for six main areas of study: (1) the function and nature of prophecy; (2) dreams and visions; (3) being sent; (4) prophets, priests and cult; (5) salvation and doom; and (6) legitimacy and authority. These conclusions explain the conceptual categories related to nābîʾ in the corpus. I then situate these findings in two current debates, one on the definition of nābîʾ and one on cultic prophecy. This thesis contributes to critical scholarship on prophecy in the ancient world, on the book of Jeremiah, and on prophets in ancient Israel. It is the first major study to analyse nābîʾ based on its semantic associations. It adds to a growing consensus which understands prophecy as a form of divination. Contrary to some trends in Jeremiah scholarship, this work demonstrates the importance of a close reading of the Masoretic (Hebrew) text. This study uses a method of a general nature which can be applied to other texts. Thus there are significant implications for further research on prophecy and prophetic literature.