Email: [email protected]
First Year at Gordon-Conwell: 2015
Expertise: Old Testament Studies; Ancient Near Eastern thought and Art
Biography:
Dr. Christine Palmer grew up in Athens, Greece, where she acquired a love for the historical and cultural world of the Bible. She came to faith in college when she was encountered by the incomparable God of Isaiah. Since that time, her life’s calling has been to lead others to encounter the Lord through his Word. She teaches courses on Hebrew exegesis and biblical theology, and she leads archaeological study tours to Israel, Jordan, Turkey, and her own native country of Greece. She has a heart for theological education and has enjoyed also teaching in the context of global missions in Europe and the Middle East.
Dr. Palmer, a Gordon-Conwell alumna, holds a PhD in Bible and the Ancient Near East from Hebrew Union College. Her dissertation, High Priestly Dress in Ancient Israel: Symbolism and Instrumentality, brings together the worlds of the Biblical text, ancient Near Eastern iconography, and the material culture of Syria-Palestine to demonstrate how high priestly investiture reflects the divine-human covenant between Yahweh and Israel.
Dr. Palmer has contributed articles on Israelite religion and culture in several publications, including the New Dictionary of Biblical Theology and the Archaeological Study Bible. She regularly presents at academic conferences and co-chairs ASOR’s Biblical Texts in Cultural Context session that explores the Bible in its ancient Near Eastern context. Her current writing projects include a biblical theology of worship and a commentary on Leviticus.
She and her husband David have two children, Salome and Jonathan, who have accompanied them on many a trip and who love the Lord and all things ancient.
Degrees
- MA (Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary)
- PhD (Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion)
Select List of Publications
- Leviticus: ESV Expository Bible Commentary Series (Crossway, 2022)
- “Israelite High Priestly Apparel: Embodying an Identity between Human and Divine.” In Fashioned Selves: Dress and Identity in Antiquity. Edited by Megan Cifarelli. Oxford; Havertown, PA: Oxbow Books, 2019.
- “Unshod on Holy Ground: Ancient Israel’s ‘Disinherited’ Priesthood.” Pages 1-18 in Fashioning Jews: Clothing, Culture, and Commerce. Studies in Jewish Civilization. Edited by Leonard Greenspoon. West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Press, 2013.
- Authored thirty-five articles in NIV Archaeological Study Bible: An Illustrated Walk through Biblical History and Culture. Edited by Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., and Duane Garrett. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005.
- “Clothes.” Pages 866-869 in New Dictionary of Biblical Theology. Edited by T. Desmond Alexander and Brian S. Rosner. Leicester, UK; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000.