Stephen A. Geller

Irma Cameron Milstein Professor Emeritus in Bible and Ancient Semitic Languages

Department: Bible, Ancient Semitic Languages, Biblical Literature, Biblical Poetry

Phone: (212) 678-8921

Email: stgeller@jtsa.edu

Building Room: Unterberg 608

Office Hours: By Appointment

Biography

BA, Cornell University; MHL and Rabbinical Ordination, The Jewish Theological Seminary; PhD, Harvard University

Stephen A. Geller is the Irma Cameron Milstein Professor Emeritus of Bible at The Jewish Theological Seminary. Dr. Geller teaches courses in biblical literature, with special emphasis on the Book of Psalms, biblical poetry, and the prophets.

Dr. Geller has published numerous books and articles on biblical language, poetry, literature, and religion. His dissertation, “Parallelism in Early Biblical Poetry,” was published in 1979. His most recent book is Sacred Enigmas: Literary Religion in the Hebrew Bible. Dr. Geller’s article “Wisdom, Nature, and Piety in Some Biblical Psalms” appeared in Riches Hidden in Secret Places: Ancient Near Eastern Studies in Memory of Thorkild Jacobsen (edited by I. Tzvi Abusch). He is currently completing a commentary on the Book of Psalms for the Hermeneia series of commentaries.   

In May 2002, Dr. Geller lectured on “The Genealogy of Faith” and taught a seminar based on Sacred Enigmas at the University of Chicago Divinity School. He has taught at York University in Toronto, Dropsie College, and Brandeis University, in addition to serving on the faculty at JTS.   

Dr. Geller received a BA from Cornell University in 1960 and rabbinical ordination from JTS in 1965. He also studied at Heidelberg University and Columbia University. He received his doctorate from Harvard University in 1976. 

Publications

  • Sacred Enigmas: Literary Religion in the Hebrew Bible. London and New York: Routledge, 1996.
  • “Wisdom, Nature, and Piety in Some Biblical Psalms.” In Riches Hidden in Secret Places: Ancient Near Eastern Studies in Memory of Thorkild Jacobsen, edited by I. Tzvi Abusch. Eisenbrauns: Winona Lake, IN, 2002.

Lectures

“The Genealogy of Faith,” University of Chicago Divinity School, 2002.