MF CASR is excited to welcome Louis C. Jonker as the 2024 Global Fellow.

Prof Dr Jonker is a leading scholar in the field of Hebrew Bible / Old Testament studies, particularly in the area of biblical literature from the Achaemenid Persian and early Hellenistic period of Ancient Israel’s history (538 – ca. 300 BCE). He not only enjoys recognition in his field in his own country as a rated scientist by the South African National Research Foundation and as Distinguished Professor of Stellenbosch University, but also in international circles as regular participant at the main conferences in the field and through his publications.

His exegetical work is characterised by a multidimensional sensitivity for and competence in the textual dimension (with thorough grammatical and genre analyses of the Hebrew texts and their versions), the historical dimension (with thorough focus on the socio-historic circumstances of origin and processes of growth of the texts), and the rhetorical dimension (with thorough focus on the discursive nature of the ancient texts in their historical literary environments, and the reception history of these texts). He employs various methodological angles to explore these dimensions, as illustrated in his work on the identity negotiation processes witnessed in the biblical book of Chronicles. He was invited to write a commentary on the biblical book Chronicles for the Old Testament Library series, and the manuscript will be submitted at the publisher at the end of November 2024. He has also been contracted to write a commentary on Ezra-Nehemiah in the Oxford Commentary Series.

We look forward to welcoming Professor Jonker in the autumn term!