SMB5064H

Ancient Israelite Religion

Instructor: Dr. John L. McLaughlin
Day: Tuesday
Time: 14:00-16:00
Location: AH306

A seminar examining features of ancient Israelite religion as reflected in the archaeological and literary evidence. Topics include the origins and nature of Yahweh, other deities in ancient Israel, monotheism, the cult of the dead, divergent perspectives of priestly, royal, Deuteronomistic, prophetic groups, etc.

View Syllabus

Dr. John L. McLaughlin

Interim Dean and Professor of Old Testament/Hebrew Bible

Dr. John L. McLaughlin is a professor of Old Testament/Hebrew Bible at the Faculty of Theology.

Professor McLaughlin will be serving as the Interim Dean of the Faculty of Theology for a two-year term as effective July 1, 2020. He previously held the Interim Dean position in the 2014–15 academic year.

He is an Associate Member of the Graduate Faculty with the Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations at U of T, and is a past President of the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies. He currently serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Hebrew Scriptures and as an Associate Editor of the Catholic Biblical Quarterly.

Professor McLaughlin earned a BA from St. Thomas University in Fredericton, NB before enrolling at the University of Toronto, where he earned an MA in Philosophy. He then studied Theology and Scripture at St. Michael’s Faculty of Theology, earning an MDiv and a PhD. Professor McLaughlin joined the St. Michael’s faculty in 2002 after teaching for seven years at Wheeling Jesuit University in Wheeling, West Virginia.

Professor McLaughlin is a native of Saint John, NB. He misses the Atlantic Ocean, fog, and dulse.

SMB5064H

Ancient Israelite Religion

Winter 2022
- Instructor: Dr. John L. McLaughlin
- Day: Tuesday
- Time: 14:00-16:00
- Location: AH306
Learn More
SMB5064HS L0101

Ancient Israelite Religion

Winter
- Instructor: Dr. John L. McLaughlin
- Day: Tuesday
- Time: 14:00-16:00
- Location: TBA
Learn More

“Is Amos (Still) Among the Wise?” Journal of Biblical Literature 133 (2014): 281–303.
“Their Hearts Were Hardened: The Use of Isaiah 6:9–10 in the Book of Isaiah,” Biblica 75 (1994): 1–25.

The Questions of Jesus. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2020.
Reprint of The Questions of Jesus. Ottawa: Novalis Press/Liguori, Missouri: Liguori Publications, 2001.
Parables of Jesus. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2020. Reprint of Parables of Jesus. Ottawa: Novalis Press, 2004.
Justice in the Balance: Learning from the Prophets. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2020. Reprint of Justice in the Balance: Learning from the Prophets. Ottawa: Novalis Press, 2008.
An Introduction to Israel’s Wisdom Traditions. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2018. Pp. xi + 217.
What Are They Saying About Ancient Israelite Religion? Mahweh, NJ: Paulist Press, 2016. Pp. xv + 167.
The Ancient Near East: An Essential Guide. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2012. Pp. xiii + 150.
The marzēaḥ in the Prophetic Literature: References and Allusions in Light of the Extra-Biblical Evidence. Vetus Testamentum Supplements, vol. 86; Leiden/ Boston/Köln: E. J. Brill, 2001.

Forthcoming: “The Exact Same Thing Only Different: ‘Hebrews’ and ‘Israelites’ in 1 Samuel.” In Forget Not God’s Benefits (Psalm 103:2): Festschrift in Honor of Leslie Hoppe, OFM, edited by Barbara E. Reid, OP. Catholic Biblical Quarterly Imprints, vol. 3, 90-110. Washington: Catholic Biblical Association of America. Estimated publication: 2022.
Forthcoming: “Amos.” In The Jerome Biblical Commentary for the Twenty-First Century, edited by John J. Collins, Gina Hens-Piazza, Barbara Reid OP, Donald Senior CP. London: Bloomsbury. Scheduled Publication: online, October, 2020; print, Jan. 2022.
“Introduction to Wisdom Literature.” In The Jerome Biblical Commentary for the Twenty-First Century, edited by John J. Collins, Gina Hens-Piazza, Barbara Reid OP, Donald Senior CP. London: Bloomsbury. Scheduled Publication: online, October, 2020; print, Jan. 2022.
“Collateral Damage: Divine Punishment of Others for David’s Sins in 2 Samuel.” In God and Gods in the Deuteronomistic History, edited by Corrine Carvalho and John L. McLaughlin. Catholic Biblical Quarterly Imprints, vol. 2, 143-59. Washington: Catholic Biblical Association of America, 2021.
“The Relation of the Minor Prophets to the Wisdom Tradition(s).” In The Oxford Handbook of the Minor Prophets, edited by Julia M. O’Brien, 213-225. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021.
“Wisdom Influence.” In The Oxford Handbook of Wisdom and the Bible, edited by Will Kynes, 409–22. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021.
“Wisdom from the Wise: Pedagogical Principles from Proverbs.” In Religion and Education in Antiquity: Essays in Honour of Michel Desjardins, edited by Alex Damm. SHR, vol. 160, 29–54. Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2018.

God and Gods in the Deuteronomistic History, edited by Corrine Carvalho and John L. McLaughlin. Catholic Biblical Quarterly Imprints, vol. 2. Washington: Catholic Biblical Association of America, 2021.

“Marzeah Papyrus.” In Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception. Vol. 17, Lotus–Maskerah, edited by Christine Helmer, et al., cols. 1236–37. Berlin/Boston: Walter de Gruyter, 2019.

“Charismatic Leadership Models.” The Bible Today 56 (2018): 215-19.
“Moses in Ben Sira.” The Bible Today 55 (2017): 335-40.

“Basic Income in Light of the Biblical Call for Justice.”
“Who is the God of the Exodus, El or Yahweh?”
‘Who Is This Who Darkens the Design?’ (Job 38:2): God’s Response to Job’s Curse.
“On the Translation of rāwāh (“Be Intoxicated?’).”

“The Two Mountains Gods: El Shaddai as ‘El of the Mountain’ and Yahweh.”
“The Law, the Prophet, and the Ideal King: A Narrative Analysis of the Reform of Josiah in 2 Kgs 22:1-23:30.
“Obeying the Lord When it Does not Make Sense: A Study on the Inter-relationship of David’s Census and the Balaam Narrative.
“Heliolatry in the Hebrew Bible: An Investigation into the Original Nature of Yahweh.”
“Yahweh and his Counselors: The Structure and Membership of the Council of Yahweh”
“The Sacrifice of Isaac: The First Born Law and the Redaction of the Pentateuch.”
“Understanding Immortality in ‘The Speech of the Wicked’ (Wisd 1:16-2:24).”
“In the Wrong Place: Qohelet’s Despairing Social Justice with Consideration to the King, Wealth, and Creation.”
“The Divine Fencing In: The Relationship Between Structure and Content in the Book of Job.”
“The Pain-Filled Necessity of Judgment: The Function of Jeremiah’s Laments in Jeremiah 11-20.”
“Terms of Separation: Cultural Purity and Social Identity in Ezra-Nehemiah.”
“David’s Rise: Articulating Power through Gender in the Deuteronomistic History.”
“The Theological Problem of the Yahwist Account of Man’s Creation and Fall: An Exegetical Analysis of Gen 2:4b-3:24.”

Faculty Directory

Ancient Israelite Religion

Ancient Israelite Religion

Dr. John L. McLaughlin

Interim Dean and Professor of Old Testament/Hebrew Bible

SMB5064H

Ancient Israelite Religion

SMB5064HS L0101

Ancient Israelite Religion