Stephen B. Chapman | Scholars@Duke

Stephen B. Chapman
Associate Professor of Old Testament

A proponent of theological interpretation of the Bible, Professor Chapman has studied, lectured, and taught internationally in a variety of academic and church settings. His work focuses on the formation of the biblical canon, the nature of the Old Testament as scripture, the dynamics of biblical narrative, the challenge of biblical violence, and the history and use of the Old Testament within the Christian tradition and Western culture. He is the author of 1 Samuel as Christian Scripture (Eerdmans, 2016) and The Law and the Prophets (Mohr Siebeck, 2000; paperback edition 2009). He coedited The Cambridge Companion to the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament (CUP, 2016) and Biblischer Text und theologische Theoriebildung (2001). He is an affiliate faculty member with Duke's Center for Jewish Studies and Director of Graduate Studies for Duke's PhD program in religion. He serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Theological Interpretation and the monograph series Siphrut: Literature and Theology of the Hebrew Scriptures (Eisenbrauns). He is also an ordained American Baptist minister. His current project is titled The Theology of the Book of Joshua, under contract with Cambridge University Press.

Current Appointments & Affiliations

Associate Professor of Old Testament, Divinity School, Duke University 2008

Contact Information

051 Langford, Durham, NC 27708
Duke Box 90967, Durham, NC 27708-0967
schapman@div.duke.edu (919) 660-3408

Background
Education, Training, & Certifications
- Ph.D., Yale University 1998
- M.Phil., Yale University 1994
- M.Div., Yale University 1990
- B.A., Yale University 1984
Duke Appointment History
- Director of Graduate Studies for the Graduate Program in Religion, Divinity School, Duke University 2017 - 2020
- Assistant Professor of Old Testament, Divinity School, Duke University 2001 - 2008
Recognition
In the News
- NOV 7, 2013 News 14’s “Capital Tonight”
  
  Stephen Chapman comments: Supreme Court on government prayer
Expertise
Subject Headings
Research
Selected Grants
- Fostering a culture of Teaching awarded by Wabash Center 2017 - 2021
- Doctoral Students Teaching program awarded by Wabash Center 2013 - 2014
Publications & Artistic Works
Selected Publications
- Books
  - Chapman, Stephen B., and Marvin A. Sweeney. The Cambridge Companion to the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. Cambridge University Press, 2016.
  - Chapman, Stephen B. 1 Samuel as Christian Scripture A Theological Commentary. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2016.
  - Chapman, S. B., C. Helmer, C. Landmesser, and A. Beutel. Biblischer Text und theologische Theoriebildung. Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlag, 2001.
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  - Chapman, S. B. The law and the prophets: a study in Old Testament canon formation. Vol. 27. Tubingen: J C B Mohr (Paul Siebeck), 2000.
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- Academic Articles
  - Chapman, S. B. “The Old Testament and the Church after Christendom.” Journal of Theological Interpretation 9 (2015): 159–83.
  - Chapman, S. B. “Studying the Word of God.” Christian Reflection 52 (2014): 29–36.
  - Chapman, S. B. “The canon debate: what it is and why it matters.” Journal of Theological Interpretation 4, no. 2 (September 1, 2010): 273–94.
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  - Chapman, S. B. “What are we reading? Canonicity and the Old Testament.” Word & World 29, no. 4 (January 1, 2009): 334–47.
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  - Chapman, S. B., and L. Warner. “Jonah and the imitation of God: rethinking evangelism and the Old Testament.” Journal of Theological Interpretation 2, no. 1 (March 1, 2008): 43–69.
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  - Stephen B Chapman, T. “How scripture speaks.” The Christian Century 124, no. 18 (2007): 8.
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  - Chapman, S. B. “Sons of entitlement.” Christian Century 123, no. 21 (October 17, 2006): 20–20.
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  - Chapman, S. B. “Haunting voices: the Old Testament in contemporary consciousness.” Perspectives in Religious Studies 31, no. 2 (June 1, 2004): 117–21.
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  - Chapman, S. B. “Reading the Bible as witness: divine retribution in the Old Testament.” Perspectives in Religious Studies 31, no. 2 (June 1, 2004): 171–90.
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  - Chapman, S. B. “A canonical approach to old testament theology? Deuteronomy 34:10-12 and Malachi 3:22-24 as programmatic conclusions.” Horizons in Biblical Theology 25, no. 1 (January 1, 2003): 121–45. https://doi.org/10.1163/187122003X00105.
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  - Chapman, S. B. “The Old Testament canon and its authority for the Christian church.” Ex Auditu 19 (January 1, 2003): 125–48.
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  - Chapman, S. B. “A brazen faith.” Ex Auditu 16 (January 1, 2000): 187–91.
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  - Chapman, S. B. “Response to Knierim.” Ex Auditu 16 (January 1, 2000): 77–80.
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- Book Sections
  - chapman, S. B. “Martial Memory, Peaceable Vision: Divine War in the Old Testament.” In Holy War in the Bible: Christian Morality and an Old Testament Problem, edited by H. A. Thomas, J. Evans, and P. Copan, 47–67. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2013.
  - chapman, S. B. “Perpetual War: The Case of Amalek.” In The Bible and Spirituality: Exploratory Essays in Reading Scripture Spiritually, edited by A. T. Lincoln, J. G. McCOnville, and L. K. Pietersen, 1–19. Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2013.
  - chapman, S. B., and M. Sæbø. “Modernity’s Canonical Crisis: Historiography and Theology in Collision.” In Hebrew Bible / Old Testament: The History of Its Interpretation. Volume 3: From Modernism to Post-Modernism (The Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries), Part 1: The Nineteenth Century – A Century of Modernism and Historicism, 651–87. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2013.
  - Chapman, S. B. “Second Temple Jewish Hermeneutics: How Canon is Not an Anachronism.” In Invention, Rewriting, Usurpation: Discursive Fights over Religious Traditions in Antiquity, edited by J. Ulrich, A. Jacobsen, and D. Brakke, 281–96. Frankfurt: Peter Lang, 2012.
  - Chapman, S. B. “Food, Famine, and the Nations: A Canonical Approach to Genesis.” In Genesis and Christian Theology, edited by M. W. Elliot and G. Macaskill, 323–33. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2012.
  - Chapman, S. B. “Joshua son of Nun: presentation of a prophet.” In Thus Says the Lord, 13–26. New York: T & T Clark, 2009.
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  - Chapman, S. B. “Saul/Paul: onomastics, typology, and Christian scripture.” In Word Leaps the Gap, 214–43. Grand Rapids: William B Eerdmans, 2008.
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  - Chapman, S. B. “Interpreting the Old Testament in Baptist Life.” In The Scholarly Vocation and the Baptist Academy: Essays on the Future of Baptist Higher Education, edited by R. A. Ward and D. P. Gushee, 87–107. Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 2008.
  - Chapman, S. B. “Reclaiming inspiration for the Bible.” In Canon and Biblical Interpretation, 167–206. Milton Keynes: Paternoster, 2006.
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  - Chapman, S. B. “Imaginative readings of scripture and theological interpretation.” In Out of Egypt, 409–47. Milton Keynes: Paternoster, 2004.
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  - Chapman, S. B. “Imperial Exegesis: When Caesar Interprets Scripture.” In Anxious About Empire: Theological Essays on the New Global Realitie, edited by W. Avram, 91–102. Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2004.
  - Chapman, S. B. “How the Biblical Canon Began: Working Models and Open Questions.” In Homer, the Bible, and Beyond: Literary and Religious Canons in the Ancient World, edited by M. FInkleberg and G. G. Stroumsa, 29–51. Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2003.
  - Chapman, S. B. “"The law and the words" as a canonical formula within the Old Testament.” In Interpretation of Scripture in Early Judaism and Christianity, 26–74. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2000.
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Teaching & Mentoring
Recent Courses
- OLDTEST 764: Old Testament and Missional Theology 2021
- OLDTEST 953: History of Ancient Israel 2021
- OLDTEST 999: Directed Study 2021
- OLDTEST 753: Old Testament Interpretation II 2020
- OLDTEST 870G: Genesis 2020
- OLDTEST 901: Old Testament and Leadership 2020
- OLDTEST 999: Directed Study 2020
- RELIGION 996S: Teaching in Religion 2020
- OLDTEST 752: Old Testament Interpretation 2019
- OLDTEST 956: Hebrew Narrative Art 2019
- OLDTEST 999: Directed Study 2019
- RELIGION 996S: Teaching in Religion 2019

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Education, Training, & Certifications

Duke Appointment History

In the News

Subject Headings

Selected Grants

Selected Publications

Books

Academic Articles

Book Sections

Recent Courses