Prof. Sandra Richter is the Robert H. Gundry Chair of Biblical Studies at Westmont College. Richter earned her Ph.D. from Harvard University’s Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations Department and her M.A. in Theological Studies from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Richter is best known for her work on the Book of Deuteronomy and the Deuteronomistic History, and has a forthcoming commentary on Deuteronomy with Eerdmans Publishers Commentaries for Christian Formation series. She is the author of The Epic of Eden: A Christian Entry into the Old Testament (IVP 2008), The Deuteronomistic History and the Name Theology: lešakkēn šemô šām in the Bible and the Ancient Near East. BZAW 318 (de Gruyter, 2002), and most recently Stewards of Eden: What Scripture Has to Say about Environmentalism and Why it Matters (IVP 2020). Richter has taught at Asbury Theological Seminary (Wilmore, KY), Wesley Biblical Seminary (Jackson, MS) and Wheaton College (Wheaton, IL), and spent many of those years directing Israel Studies programs focused on historical geography and field archaeology.
Last Updated
August 11, 2021
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Deuteronomy refers to the central cult site as the place where YHWH chooses לְשַׁכֵּן שְׁמוֹ שָׁם, an unusual phrase often translated “to cause His name to dwell there,” and interpreted to mean that an abstracted aspect or hypostasis of YHWH takes up residence in the Temple. A parallel phrase found in many Akkadian inscriptions refutes this understanding, offering us a critically important correction to our reading of Deuteronomy.
Deuteronomy refers to the central cult site as the place where YHWH chooses לְשַׁכֵּן שְׁמוֹ שָׁם, an unusual phrase often translated “to cause His name to dwell there,” and interpreted to mean that an abstracted aspect or hypostasis of YHWH takes up residence in the Temple. A parallel phrase found in many Akkadian inscriptions refutes this understanding, offering us a critically important correction to our reading of Deuteronomy.
