Michael Alan Lyons

Michael Lyons joined the School of Divinity in 2018. He received his doctorate in Hebrew and Semitic Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2005.

DI1004 Introduction to the Hebrew Language

DI2001 Old Testament 2: Wisdom, Psalms, Apocalyptic and Apocryphal Literature

DI2002 Hebrew 2

DI5105 Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament

The main focus of my research is how and why ancient Israelite and Second Temple-period authors used earlier texts. This project includes the definition of “quotation” and “allusion,” the consideration of text-referencing from the standpoints of production vs. reception, the development of criteria for identifying the direction of dependence, the creation of a typology of techniques of and motives for text-referencing, the identification of the function of text-referencing (rhetorical, structural, aesthetic, etc.) in specific texts, the identification of constraints on technique or function, and investigation into social factors associated with text-referencing (e.g., audience literacy; attitudes toward text; scribal culture; identity formation). My research aims to provide insight into the use, nature, production, and function of scripture in the Second Temple period and early Judaism and Christianity.

• the form and function of text-referencing techniques (quotation and allusion) in the literature of ancient Israel, Second Temple Judaism, and early Christianity
• compositional and rhetorical strategies in Israelite prophetic literature (especially Ezekiel)
• the poetics of Hebrew narrative and verse
• the history of scriptural interpretation (Jewish and Christian)