Education

Grove City College, B.S.
Westminster Theological Seminary, MDiv
University of Cambridge, Ph.D.

About Dr. Ross

Dr. William A. Ross is Associate Professor of Old Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary in Charlotte, N.C., where he teaches courses in biblical interpretation and ancient languages, including Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic. Ross completed his doctoral research at the University of Cambridge as a Cambridge Trust Scholar under James K. Aitken (1968-2023), specializing in the Septuagint, Greek lexicography, and the textual history of the Bible.

Ross’s research interests focus primarily on the Septuagint but also several related fields, especially Second Temple Judaism, post-Classical (“koine”) Greek, linguistics, and the history of biblical philology. He serves on various scholarly committees with the International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies, as well as the Society for Biblical Literature, including the Biblical Lexicography and Cognitive Linguistics in Biblical Interpretation program units. Ross is also a member of the Biblia latina e historiografía eclesiástica: edición y estudio de textos research project (2021-2024) based at the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas in Madrid. He blogs at Septuaginta&c.

Publications

BOOKS

  • edited with Elizabeth Robar, Linguistic Theory and the Biblical Text. Cambridge Semitic Languages and Cultures; Cambridge: Open Book Publishers, 2023. [Open Access]
  • Postclassical Greek and Septuagint Lexicography. SBLSCS 75; Atlanta: SBL Press, 2022.
  • Postclassical Greek Preposition and Conceptual Metaphor: Cognitive Semantic Analysis and Biblical Exegesis. FoSub 12. Berlin: DeGruyter, 2022.
  • with Gregory R. Lanier, The Septuagint: What it is and Why it Matters. Wheaton: Crossway, 2021.
  • edited with W. Edward Glenny, T&T Clark Handbook of Septuagint Research. London: T&T Clark, 2021.
  • with Gregory R. Lanier, A Book-by-Book Guide to Septuagint Vocabulary. Peabody: Hendrickson, 2019.
  • edited with Gregory R. Lanier, Septuaginta: A Reader’s Edition. 2 vols.; Peabody: Hendrickson, 2018.
  • with G. K. Beale and Daniel J. Brendsel, An Interpretive Lexicon of New Testament Greek: Analysis of Prepositions, Adverbs, Particles, Relative Pronouns, and Conjunctions. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2014.

JOURNAL ARTICLES 

  • “Donkey Words and Dating the Greek Pentateuch.” Journal of Septuagint and Cognate Studies 56 (2024): 131–149.
  • “Some Problems with Talking about ‘Septuagint Greek’.” Journal for the Study of Judaism 54.4–5 (2023): 451–493.
  • “Sidney Jellicoe and the Formation of the IOSCS (1967–1969).” Journal for Septuagint and Cognate Studies 55 (2022): 9–30.
  • “The Past Decade in Septuagint Research (2012–2021).” Currents in Biblical Research 21 (2022): 269–337.
  • “Questioning the ‘Opposition’ and Interpretatio Christiana in Marcus Aurelius (Med. 11.3).” Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses 95 (2019): 667–687.
  • “David’s Spiritual Walls and Conceptual Blending in Psalm 51.” Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 43.4 (2019): 607–626.
  • “Septuagint Lexicography and Language Change in Greek Judges,” in Tyndale Bulletin 70.1 (2019): 156–60.
  • “Style and Familiarity in Judg 19,7 (Old Greek): Establishing Dependence in the Septuagint.” Biblica 98.1 (2017): 25-36.
  • “Ὦ ἀνόητοι καὶ βραδεῖς τῇ καρδίᾳ: Luke, Aesop, and Reading Scripture.” Novum Testamentum 58.4 (2016): 369-79.
  • “Text-Critical Question Begging in Nahum 1,2-8: Re-evaluating the Evidence and Arguments.” Zeitschrift für die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 127.3 (October 2015): 459-74.

VOLUME CONTRIBUTIONS

  • “The Syntax of Year Expressions in Hellenistic Greek Papyri and Ancient Jewish Translation.” In Proceedings of the XXXth Congress of Papyrology. Studia Papyrologica et Aegyptiaca Parisina; Paris: Collège de France, forthcoming.
  • “Reevaluating Parataxis in the Septuagint.” In (In)Subordination in Post-Classical Greek. Edited by Klaas Bentein, Eleonora Cattafi, and Ezra La Roi. Trends in Classics – Greek and Latin Linguistics. Berlin: De Gruyter, forthcoming.
  • “Ancient Greek Dictionaries.” Pages  in Conversations on Dictionaries. Edited by Ilan Stavans. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, forthcoming.
  • “Bavinck and Philology.” Pages 124–152 in Herman Bavinck: Centenary Essays. Edited by Bruce R. Pass. Studies in Reformed Theology 49. Leiden: Brill, 2024.
  • “Dictionaries in Religious History and Biblical Interpretation.” Pages 361–384 The Cambridge Handbook of the Dictionary. Edited by Edward Finegan and Michael Adams. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2024.
  • “Cognitive Linguistic Theory and the Biblical Languages.” Pages 111-171 in Linguistic Theory and the Biblical Text. Edited by William A. Ross and Elizabeth Robar. Cambridge Semitic Languages and Cultures. Cambridge: Open Book Publishers, 2023. [Open Access]
  • “Construals of Faith in ἐν and ἐκ Prepositional Constructions.” Pages 123–152 in Postclassical Greek Preposition and Conceptual Metaphor: Cognitive Semantic Analysis and Biblical Interpretation. Edited by William A. Ross and Steven E. Runge. Fontes et Subsidia ad Bibliam pertinentes 12. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2022.
  • “Modern Language Translations of the Septuagint.” Pages 329–344 in T&T Clark Handbook of Septuagint Research. Edited by William A. Ross and W. Edward Glenny. London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2021.
  • “The ‘Scissors and Paste’ Septuagint Concordance in the Bodleian Library (Auct. E 1.2,3).” Pages 882–98 in 7. Internationale Fachtagung von Septuaginta-Deutsch (July 2018). Edited by Martin Meiser et al. WUNT 444; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2020.
  • “Some Aspects of Παιδάριον and Νεανίσκος in Ptolemaic Egypt.” Pages 189–205 in The Legacy of Soisalon-Soininen: Towards a Syntax of Septuagint Greek. Edited by Tuukka Kauhanen and Hanna Vanonen; DSI 13; Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2020.
  • “The Septuagint as Catalyst for Language Change in the Koine: A Usage-Based Approach.” Pages 383–97 in Die Septuaginta — Geschichte. Wirkung. Relevanz: 6. Internationale Fachtagung von Septuaginta-Deutsch (LXX.D), Wuppertal 21.-24. Juli 2016. Edited by Martin Meiser, Michaela Geiger, Siegfried Kreuzer, and Marcs Sigismund. WUNT 405; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2018.
  • “Lexical Possibilities in Septuagint Research: Revision and Expansion.” Pages 341–59 in XV Congress of the International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies: Munich, 2013. Edited by Wolfgang Kraus, Martin Meiser, and Michaël van der Meer. SBLSCS 64. Atlanta: SBL Press, 2016.

OTHER CONTRIBUTIONS

  • with Leonard J. Greenspoon, “Septuagint.” In Oxford Bibliographies in Biblical Studies. Edited by Christopher R. Matthews. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 
  • “Introduction.” Pages 1–10 in Postclassical Greek Preposition and Conceptual Metaphor: Cognitive Semantic Analysis and Biblical Interpretation. Edited by William A. Ross and Steven E. Runge. Fontes et Subsidia ad Bibliam pertinentes 12. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2022.
  • “Introduction.” Pages 1–5 in T&T Clark Handbook of Septuagint Research. Edited by William A. Ross and W. Edward Glenny. London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2021.
  • “Reading the Septuagint Alongside the Hebrew Bible.” Pages 162–164 in Hebrew for Life: Strategies for Learning, Retaining, and Reviving Biblical Hebrew. Edited by Adam Howell; Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2020.

DICTIONARIES & ENCYCLOPEDIAS

  • “δεξιός,” in Historical and Theological Lexicon of the Septuagint. Volume 2; edited by Eberhard Bons. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, forthcoming.
  • “διώκω, ἐκδιώκω, καταδιώκω,” in Historical and Theological Lexicon of the Septuagint. Volume 2; edited by Eberhard Bons. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck.
  • “εὐώνυμος.” In Historical and Theological Lexicon of the Septuagint. Volume 2; edited by Eberhard Bons. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, forthcoming.
  • “Lexicons of New Testament and Septuagint Greek, History of,” in Encyclopedia of Biblical Greek Language and Linguistics. Edited by Dana Harris, Christopher Land, Jonathan Watt, and Stanley Porter. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, forthcoming.
  • “Septuagint as a Translation,” in Encyclopedia of Biblical Greek Language and Linguistics. Edited by Dana Harris, Christopher Land, Jonathan Watt, and Stanley Porter. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, forthcoming.
  • “Muraoka, Takamitsu,” in Encyclopedia of Biblical Greek Language and Linguistics. Edited by Dana Harris, Christopher Land, Jonathan Watt, and Stanley Porter. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, forthcoming.
  • Entries for “Body Parts” through “Bronze” (Hebrew). In The Baker Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words. Edited by Tremper Longman III and Mark Strauss; Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2023.