Professor Watts (Ph.D., Yale University, 1990) teaches Hebrew Bible and ancient Near Eastern textual traditions. An assignment to write a large commentary on Leviticus has him studying the history of sacrifice and of law, as well as the place of Leviticus in the Torah/Pentateuch and its use by later interpreters as scripture. He is the author of Ritual and Rhetoric in Leviticus: From Sacrifice to Scripture (forthcoming, 2007), Reading Law: The Rhetorical Shaping of the Pentateuch (1999) and Psalm and Story: Inset Hymns in Hebrew Narrative (1992). His courses range from biblical studies to the religions and literatures of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Ugarit, and Israel, including Second Temple Judaism. He joined the Syracuse faculty in 1999.

Watts' Courses -- Education & Career -- Publications -- Online Publications

REL/JSP 114 The Bible
REL/JSP 215 The Hebrew Bible
REL 301 Ancient Near Eastern Religions and Cultures
REL/JSP 302 Second Temple Judaism
REL/JSP 311 The Bible As Literature
REL/JSP 516 The Torah/Pentateuch
REL 607 Ancient Religious Rhetoric
REL 611 The Idea of Scripture
REL 622 Sacrifice

• Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, Yale University, 1990
• Master of Divinity (M.Div.), Master of Theology (Th.M.) in New Testament, Southern Seminary, 1985, 1986 
• Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Philosophy, Pomona College, 1982 

• Associate Professor, Syracuse University, 1999-present
  • Undergraduate Coordinator, SU Department of Religion, 2000-2004
  • Director, SU Religion & Society Program, 2002-2004
• Chair, Pentateuch Section of the Society of Biblical Literature, 1998-2003 
• Associate Professor, Hastings College, 1998-1999
• Assistant Professor, Hastings College, 1993-1998
• Adjunct, Stetson University, Barry University, Valencia Community College 1991-1993
• Visiting Assistant Professor, Stetson University, 1990-1991
• Instructor, Yale Divinity School, 1989

Publications:
Books

	Ritual and Rhetoric in Leviticus: From Sacrifice to Scripture, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007.
	Reading Law: The Rhetorical Shaping of the Pentateuch, Biblical Seminar 59, Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1999.  (RBL review, CBQ review)
	Psalm and Story: Inset Hymns in Hebrew Narrative, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series 139, Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1992.
	(Editor with Corrine Patton and Steven Cook) The Whirlwind: Essays on Job, Hermeneutics and Theology in Memory of Jane Morse, JSOTSup Series 336, London: Sheffield Academic Press, 2001.
	(Editor) Persia and Torah: The Theory of Imperial Authorization of the Pentateuch SBL Symposium Series, Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2001. (Online RBL review)
	(Editor with Paul R. House) Forming Prophetic Literature: Essays on Isaiah and the Twelve in Honor of John D. W. Watts, JSOTSup Series 235, Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1996. (Online JBL summary/review )

 Articles and Book Chapters:

• “ ‘Olah: The Rhetoric of Burnt Offerings,” Vetus Testamentum, forthcoming.
• “Ritual Legitimacy and Scriptural Authority,” Journal of Biblical Literature, forthcoming.
• “Poetry, Inset,” in the Dictionary of the Old Testament: Historical Books, ed. Bill T. Arnold and H. G. M. Williamson, Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, forthcoming. 
• “Biblical Psalms Outside the Psalter,” in The Book of Psalms: Composition and Reception, ed. Peter W. Flint and Patrick D. Miller, Vetus Testamentum Supplement Series, Leiden: Brill, 2004. 87-101.
• “Ten Commandments Monuments and the Rivalry of Iconic Texts,” Journal of Religion & Society 6 (2004) online.
• “Story, List, Sanction: A Cross-Cultural Strategy of Ancient Persuasion,” in Rhetoric Before and Beyond the Greeks, ed. Carol Lipson and Roberta Binkley, Albany: SUNY Press, 2004. 197-212.
• “The Rhetoric of Ritual Instruction in Leviticus 1-7,” in The Book of Leviticus: Composition and Reception, ed. Rolf Rendtorff and Robert Kugler, Vetus Testamentum Supplement Series, Leiden: Brill, 2003. 79-100.
• “The Unreliable Narrator of Job,” in The Whirlwind (see books above), pp. 168-80.
• (Translator)  “Persian Imperial Authorization: A Summary” by Peter Frei, in Persia and Torah (see books above), pp. 5-40.
• "Reader Identification and Alienation in the Legal Rhetoric of the Pentateuch," Biblical Interpretation 7/1 (1999) 101-12.
• "The Legal Characterization of Moses in the Rhetoric of the Pentateuch," Journal of Biblical Literature 117 (1998) 415-26.
• "The Legal Characterization of God in the Pentateuch," Hebrew Union College Annual 67 (1996) 1-14. 
• "Psalmody in Prophecy: Habakkuk 3 in Context," Forming Prophetic Literature (see above), pp. 209-223.
• "Public Readings and Pentateuchal Law," Vetus Testamentum 45/4 (1995) 540-57.
• "Rhetorical Strategy in the Composition of the Pentateuch," Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 68 (1995) 3-22.
• "Song and the Ancient Reader," Perspectives in Religious Studies 22/2 (1995) 135-47.
• "Leviticus," Mercer Commentary on the Bible , ed. Watson E. Mills et al, Macon: Mercer University Press, 1994, pp. 157-74.  Reprinted in Mercer Commentary on the Bible, Vol. 1: Pentateuch/Torah, ed. Watson E. Mills et al, Macon: Mercer University Press, 1998.
• "`This Song': Conspicuous Poetry in Hebrew Prose," Verse in Ancient Near Eastern Prose, ed. Johannes C. de Moor and Wilfred G. E. Watson, Alter Orient und Altes Testament 42, Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlag, 1993, pp. 345-58.
• "Text and Redaction in Jeremiah's Oracles Against the Nations," Catholic Biblical Quarterly 54 (1992) 432-47.
• "Psalm 2 in the Context of Biblical Theology," Horizons in Biblical Theology 12/1 (1990) 73-91.
• "HNT: An Ugaritic Formula of Intercession," Ugarit-Forschungen 21 (1989) 443-49.
• "The Remnant Theme: A Survey of New Testament Research, 1921-1987," Perspectives in Religious Studies 15/2 (1988) 109-129.
• "Narrative Time in Luke's Gospel," Paradigms 1/2 (1985) 65-80

Other articles:

• Op-ed, Detroit Free Press, February 21, 2005: "Scripture and Law: Where Ten Commandments will stand is in Supreme Court's hands."
  

Book Reviews:

• The Journal of Biblical Literature 120 (2001) 348 [= RBL 2000 online] , 118 (1999) 128-28 [= RBL 1999 online] , 116 (1997) 541-43 [= RBL 1997 online]
• Review of Biblical Literature online (2003) , online (1999)
• Horizons in Biblical Theology 24/1 (2002) 129-31
• Jewish Quarterly Review 91/3-4 (2001) 526-29
• Theology Today 55 (1999) 586-88
• Hebrew Studies 39 (1998) 236-38, 37 (1996) 166-68
• Perspectives in Religious Studies 23 (1996) 75-86, 22 (1995) 87-91
• Religious Studies Review 23 (1997) 388, 24 (1998) 59, 283-284, 405, 25 (1999) 71
• Paradigms 1 (1985) 50-52, 118-20, 2 (1986) 136-37, 5 (1989) 68-69, 156-57