Research and Teaching Interests My research involves the overlaps between rhetoric, ritual and scriptures. An assignment to write a large commentary on Leviticus has me focused on very detailed texts in their ancient Near Eastern and later Jewish and Christian contexts, while the Iconic Books Project provides a vehicle for considering the functions of scriptures from cross-cultural and trans-historical perspectives.
Pentateuch
Aaron and the Golden Calf in the Rhetoric of the Pentateuch, Journal of Biblical Literature (2011)
In the Pentateuch, the contrast between law and narrative, or more precisely, ritual instructions and...
Using Ezra's Time as a Methodological Pivot for Understanding the Rhetoric and Functions of the Pentateuch, The Pentateuch: International Perspectives on Current Research (2011)
The Persian period saw the transformation of pentateuchal materials into a scripture, the Torah. The...
Ritual Legitimacy and Scriptural Authority, Journal of Biblical Literature (2005)
In this essay, James W. Watts explains the interdependence of texts and rituals with regard...
Ritual Legitimacy and Scriptural Authority, Journal of Biblical Literature (2005)
Theorists of ritual have frequently criticized the old tendency in Western culture to dichotomize ritual...
Reader Identification and Alienation in the Legal Rhetoric of the Pentateuch, Biblical Interpretation (1999)
Three voices dominate Pentateuchal discourse in turn: the omniscient narrator relates the stories of Genesis...
Leviticus
Ritual Rhetoric in the Pentateuch: The Case of Leviticus 1-16, The Books of Leviticus and Numbers (2008)
The writers of the Pentateuch combined distinct ancient literary conventions of ritual rhetoric from diverse...
'Olah: The Rhetoric of Burnt Offerings, Vetus Testamentum (2006)
The ‘olah offering receives pride of place in most lists of sacrifices in the Hebrew...
The Rhetoric of Ritual Instruction in Leviticus 1-7, The Book of Leviticus: Composition and Reception (2003)
Formal and structural features of Leviticus 1-7 distinguish these chapters as some of the most...
Comparative rhetoric
Ritual Rhetoric in Ancient Near Eastern Texts, Ancient Non-Greek Rhetorics (2009)
Many ancient Near Eastern texts reflect a concern for ritual accuracy. They depict ancient kings...
Story-List-Sanction: A Cross-Cultural Strategy of Ancient Persuasion, Rhetoric Before and Beyond the Greeks (2004)
Persuasion motivated the creation of many ancient Near Eastern texts. Persuasion was not limited to...
Ancient Iconic Books
The Political and Legal Uses of Scripture, The New Cambridge History of the Bible, Volume 1: From the Beginnings to 600 (2013)
Contemporary Iconic Books
Relic Texts, Iconic Books Blog (2012)
Religious traditions typically ritualize their scriptures in three dimensions. Other kinds of texts may be...
Disposing of Non-Disposable Texts, The Death of Sacred Texts: Ritual Disposal and Renovation of Texts in the World Religions (2010)
These concluding reflections on the essays in The Death of Sacred Texts consider evidence that...
Desecrating Scriptures, A Case Study for the Luce Project in Religion, Media, and International Relations (2009)
Desecrations of books of scripture appear regularly in media coverage of religious and political conflicts....
Ten Commandments Monuments and the Rivalry of Iconic Texts, Journal of Religion and Society (2004)
The legal and political controversy over Ten Commandments monuments in the United States involves iconic...
Inset Psalmody
Biblical Psalms Outside the Psalter, The Book of Psalms: Composition and Reception (2005)
Psalms appear irregularly in the narrative and prophetic literature of the Hebrew Bible, at Exod...
Psalmody in Prophecy: Habakkuk 3 in Context, Forming Prophetic Literature: Essays On Isaiah and the Twelve in Honor of John D.W. Watts (1996)
The psalm in Habakkuk 3 resembles songs in Exodus 15, Deuteronomy 32 and 33, Judges...
"This Song" Conspicuous Poetry in Hebrew Prose, Verse in Ancient Near Eastern Prose (1993)
The Hebrew Bible contains many passages in which prose narrative surrounds conspicuous poetry. The various...
Other topics
The Unreliable Narrator of Job, The Whirlwind: Essays on Job, Hermeneutics, and Theology in Memory of Jane Morse (2001)
This essay by James W. Watts provides analysis on the book of Job, questioning previous...