David Levenson

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Associate Professor of Religion
Distinguished Teaching Professor

M05 Dodd Hall
Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL 32306
Office: 314 Dodd Hall
Phone: (850) 644-0212
Fax: (850) 644-7225
Email: dlevenso@garnet.acns.fsu.edu
Office Hours: TBA

Curriculum Vitae

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Background

David Levenson (Ph.D. '80, Harvard University, New Testament and Christian Origins) teaches introductory courses in New Testament, Judaism and advanced courses in "Greek Religious Texts," "Religion in the Graeco-Roman World," "Judaism in the Graeco-Roman World," and Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic. Professor Levenson's primary research area is Jewish-Christian relations in Antiquity with special attention to images of Jews and Judaism in popular narratives and historiography from the first through the fifth centuries. He is engaged in writing Julian and Jerusalem: The Sources and the Tradition (accepted for publication in Supplements to the
Journal for the Study of Judaism in the Persian, Hellenistic and Roman Periods, Leiden: E.J. Brill).

Research Interests

• New Testament and Early Christianity
• Hellenistic and Rabbinic Judaism
• History of Biblical Interpretation
• Jewish-Christian Relations in Antiquity
• Religious Conflict and Competition in the Graeco-Roman World
• Religious Tolerance in Late Antiquity
• Jews and Judaism in the New Testament and Christian Historiography through Late Antiquity
• Syriac

Selected Publications

Articles

• "The Ancient and Medieval Sources for the Emperor Julian's Attempt to Rebuild the Jerusalem Temple," Journal for the Study of Judaism 35 (2004): 409-460.
• "University Religion Departments and Teaching About the Bible in Public High Schools: A Report from Florida," Religious Studies News, AAR Edition 17/2 (March 2002), pp. 3,7,10 (republished in SBL Forum, Nov/Dec 2003) [view essay]
• "Julian, the Emperor," in Encyclopedia of Early Christianity, ed. Everett Ferguson. Second edition. New York: Garland Press, 1997
• "Different Texts or Different Texts: The Contexts of Biblical Studies," in Hebrew Bible or
  Old Testament?, ed. R. Brooks and J.J. Collins, University of Notre Dame Press, 1990.

Current Research Projects

Books

• Critical Edition, Translation and Commentary on Hebrew Book of Elijah (with Martha Himmelfarb, Princeton University).
• Religious Tolerance in Late Antiquity (with Thomas Martin, Holy Cross).

Articles

• "Syriac Translation of Josephus' Jewish War."
• "Anti-Judaism in the Gospel of Matthew" (Plenary paper at the International Symposium on the Interpretation of the Bible as a Force for Social Change, sponsored by the Evangelische Akademie Arnoldshain and the Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt am Main, October 19-21, Arnoldshain, Germany.) [download essay]
• "The Christian accounts of the Caliph Umar's building of 'the Temple' in Jerusalem"

Teaching Specializations

• New Testament and Early Christianity
• Hellenistic and Rabbinic Judaism
• Religions of the Graeco-Roman World
• Jewish-Christian Relations
• Hebrew
• Greek
• Aramaic/Syriac

Recent Courses

Seminars

• Jerusalem: Conflict and Controversy from Antiquity to the Present, Spring 2006
• Jewish-Christian Relations in Antiquity, Fall 2004
• Jews and Judaism in the Graeco-Roman World, Fall 2005
• Rabbinic Judaism in Antiquity, Spring 2004
• Gospel Passion Narratives, Spring 2005
• Gospel of Matthew, Fall 2002
• Gospel of Mark, Fall 2003
• Gospel of John, Spring 2001
• Acts, Fall 2001

Language and Text Courses

• Beginning Biblical Hebrew, Fall 2005 & Spring 2006
• Intermediate Biblical Hebrew, Fall 2004
• Syriac, Spring 2005
• Biblical and Targumic Aramaic, Spring 2004
• Coptic, Summer 2005
• Greek Text Courses:
  • Josephus, Spring 2002
  • John Chrysostom's Orations Against the Jews, Fall 2004
• Hebrew Text Courses:
  • Medieval Jewish Commentators, Fall 2003
  • Ruth, Summer 2004
  • Genesis Rabbah, Fall 2002
  • Talmud, Summer 2002

 

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