Daniel Hawk is Professor of Old Testament and Hebrew. He is keenly concerned to expand students’ biblical horizons to empower Christian mission to a world in flux. For him, this means introducing students to an array of critical approaches and exploring insights from other fields of knowledge. In The Violence of the Biblical God, for example, he utilizes contemporary narrative criticism to address the complexity of the biblical witness on divine violence. In Joshua in 3-D he engages postcolonial theory to read the book of Joshua as a mirror for Christian conversation on the American master narrative of Manifest Destiny. His commentary on Ruth incorporates ethnic studies to reveal a story that presents an inclusive vision of Israelite identity.
Dr. Hawk loves the energy of the classroom and the insights that arise from addressing difficult questions and issues. Not content with restricting learning to the classroom, he challenges students to extend the biblical witness into the world, particularly as it calls Christian disciples to the pursuit of justice and peacemaking. Students often comment that they have left his classes with a deep appreciation for the truth, beauty, and relevance of Scripture.
An ordained minister in the United Methodist Church, Dr. Hawk’s teaching ministry is grounded in Christian community. Music is a big part of his life. The son, husband, father, and uncle of musicians, he has played keyboards for a working band, as well as on a number of worship teams. He and his wife Linda, a music teacher, are the parents of two adult sons and live in Ashland.
Books
The Violence of the Biblical God: Canonical Narrative and Christian Faith. Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2019.
Ruth. Apollos Biblical Commentary. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2015.
With Kay Higuera Smith and Jayachitra Lalitha, eds. Postcolonial Evangelical Conversations: Global Awakenings in Theology and Praxis. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2014.
Joshua in 3-D: A Commentary on Biblical Conquest and Manifest Destiny. Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2010.
Joshua. Berit Olam. Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 2000.
Every Promise Fulfilled: Contesting Plots in Joshua. Literary Currents in Biblical Interpretation. Louisville: Westminster/John Knox, 1991.
Selected Short Works
“The Other Stories: Biblical Resources for an Antiracist Church.” Word & World 41.5 (2021): 13-22.
“Narrative Eclipse, Theological Construction, and Historical Reconstruction.” Conversations with the Biblical World 39 (2019): 294-307.
“The Biblical Critique of the Conquest.” In Essays on the Hebrew Bible. Mark Roncace, ed. Northpoint, NC: Point of View, 2019.
“Israel, the United States, and Violent Origin Stories” and “Marriage and Metaphor in the Book of Ruth,” in Point of View Biblical Reader. Mark Roncace, ed. Northpoint, NC: Point of View, September, 2018.
“To the Present Day.” In Unsettling the Word: Biblical Experiments in Decolonization. Steve Heinrichs, ed. Altona, MB: Mennonite Church Canada, 2018.
“The Myth of the Emptied Land: Biblical Conquest and American Nationalism.” Word and World 37.3 (2017): 252-62.
“A Prophet unlike Moses: Balaam as Prophetic Intercessor.” Pp. 103-118 in Distinctions with a Difference: Essays on Myth, History, and Scripture in Honor of John N. Oswalt. Bill T. Arnold and Lawson G. Stone, eds. Wilmore, KY: First Fruits, 2017.
“Indigenous Helpers and Renegade Invaders: Ambivalent Characters in Biblical and Cinematic Conquest Narratives,” Journal of Religion & Film: Vol. 20: Iss. 3, Article 24, 2016.
“Genocide: Hebrew Bible/Old Testament.” Dictionary of the Bible and Its Reception. Vol. 10. Berlin: Walter deGruyter, 2015.
“From Good: ‘The Only Good Indian Is a Dead Indian’ to Better: ‘Kill the Indian and Save the Man’ to Best: ‘Old Things Pass Away and All Things Become White!’ An American Hermeneutic of Colonization.” With Richard Twiss. In Evangelical Postcolonial Conversations, 2014: 45-60.
“Indigenous Helpers and Invader Homelands.” In Joshua and Judges. Texts@Contexts. Athalya Brenner and Gale Yee, eds. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2013.
“Dark Matter: A Review and Reflection on the Morally-Problematic Aspects of Scripture.” Ashland Theological Journal 45 (2013): 107-16.
“The Truth about Conquest: Joshua as History, Narrative, and Scripture.” Interpretation 66 (2012): 129-40.
“Conquest,” “Joshua,” and “Judges.” In Dictionary of Scripture and Ethics. Joel B. Green, ed. Grand Rapids, MI.: Baker Academic, 2011.
“Christianizing Joshua: Making Sense of the Bible’s Book of Conquest.” Journal of Theological Interpretation 5 (2011): 121-43.
“Cast Out and Cast Off: Hagar, Leah, and the God Who Sees.” Priscilla Papers 25 (2011): 9-13.
“Avatar in Three Dimensions.” Ashland Theological Journal 42 (2011):1-11.
“Saul’s Altar.” Catholic Biblical Quarterly (2010): 678-87.
“Joshua, Book of.” Cambridge Dictionary of Christianity. Daniel Patte, ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010.
“Conquest Reconfigured: Recasting Warfare in the Redaction of Joshua.” Pp. 145-60 in Writing and Reading War: Rhetoric, Gender, and Ethics in Biblical and Modern Contexts. SBLSS 42. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2008.
“The God of the Conquest: The Theological Problem of the Book of Joshua.” The Bible Today
“Postmodernism: A Review Article.” Ashland Theological Journal 39 (2007): 99-102.
“Joshua, Book of.” In Dictionary of the Old Testament: Historical Books. Bill T. Arnold and Hugh Williamson, eds. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2005.
“Violent Grace: Tragedy and Transformation in the Oresteia and the Deuteronomistic History.” Journal for the Study of the Old Testament (2003): 73-88.
“Literary/Narrative Criticism,” “Joshua,” and “Altar.” In Dictionary of the Old Testament: Pentateuch. T. Desmond Alexander and David W. Baker, eds. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2002.
“Fixing Boundaries: The Construction of Identity in Joshua.” Ashland Theological Journal 32 (2001): 21-31.
“The Problem with Pagans.” Pp. 153-64 in Reading Bibles, Writing Bodies: Identity and the Book. Timothy K. Beal and David M. Gunn eds. London: Routledge, 1997.
“Strange Houseguests: Rahab, Lot, and the Dynamics of Deliverance.” Pp. 89-97 in Reading Between Texts. Danna Nolan Fewell, ed. Literary Currents in Biblical Interpretation. Louisville: Westminster/John Knox, 1992.