• Assistant Professor of Old Testament

First Year at Gordon-Conwell:

2006

Degrees:

• B.A. (University of the Nations)
• M.A.R., M.A. (Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary)
• M.A., Ph.D. (Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations, University of Toronto)

Expertise:

Old Testament Studies, Near Eastern Archaeology

Biography:

Dr. Petter came to Gordon-Conwell in 2006 from Biblical Theological Seminary, where he had been Assistant Professor of Old Testament. He is also Visiting Lecturer in Biblical Studies at the University of the Nations, where he has been active for over 20 years. In that role, he has taught at several of the university’s locations, including Kona, Hawaii; Germany; France; and Togo, West Africa.

Born and raised in French-speaking Switzerland, Dr. Petter first came to the U.S. in 1986. He has also served as an adjunct instructor at Tyndale College and Seminary and served as a sessional instructor at the University of Toronto.

Dr. Petter has been actively involved in the publication project of Tell Dothan’s Western Cemetery. Dr. Petter was also involved in the Tell Madaba Archaeological Project at the University of Toronto. This project’s goal is to excavate the Tell Madaba and to incorporate those findings into a regional database. Dr. Petter was a staff member working with Late-Bronze Age-Iron Age I materials.

Dr. Petter has contributed to several publications, including the Dictionary of Old Testament: Historical Books and The Archaeology Study Bible. He has also presented a number of papers at various conferences. Along with his wife, Dr. Donna Petter, he is writing a commentary on Ezra-Nehemiah in the NIV Application Commentary Series (Zondervan).

Dr. Petter’s scholarly interests include ethnicity in ancient Israel, early Israel in Transjordan, biblical Hebrew syntax and Hebrew exegesis. His passion is for the expository preaching of the biblical text and the promotion of theological education in sub-Saharan Africa.

Dr. Petter and his wife, Donna, also a professor at Gordon-Conwell, have a son, Marcus, and live in Hamilton, MA.