John Sailhamer

John Herbert Sailhamer (born 1946)^[1] is professor of Old Testament studies at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary in California. He was president of the Evangelical Theological Society in 2000 and has made notable contributions to Old Testament studies.^[2]

After a B.A. at California State University, Long Beach, his Th.M. at Dallas Theological Seminary, and his M.A. and Ph.D. (1981) at University of California at Los Angeles, Sailhamer began his teaching career in 1975 at Biola University, then taught at Bethel Seminary, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Western Seminary (1995 - 1998), Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (1999 - 2006),^[3] and since 2006 at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary.^[4] He was briefly appointed as provost of Dallas Theological Seminary in 1993, but resigned before he was to begin serving in 1994.^[5]

Sailhamer served on the review and editorial teams for two recent Bible translations - the New Living Translation^[6] and the Holman Christian Standard Bible.^[7]

Sailhamer has published extensively on Old Testament matters, especially the Pentateuch. In Genesis Unbound: A Provocative New Look at the Creation Account (1996), he argued that the creation account in Genesis 1 is a record of the preparation of the Garden of Eden, not a record of the preparation of the whole earth.^[8]

Sailhamer's latest publication, The Meaning of the Pentateuch (2009), has been called his magnum opus and briefly broke into Amazon.com's top 100 sellers.^[9] John Piper has heartily endorsed it saying, "There is nothing like it. It will rock your world. You will never read the 'Pentateuch' the same again."^[10]

Other publications include:

• Genesis: The Expositor's Bible Commentary (1990) with Walter C. Kaiser Jr., Richard Hess, Tremper Longman III and David E. Garland ISBN 978-0310230823
• NIV Compact Bible Commentary (1999)^[11] ISBN 978-0310228684
• An Introduction to Old Testament Theology: A Canonical Approach (1995) ISBN 978-0310232025
• The Pentateuch as Narrative: A Biblical-Theological Commentary (1995) ISBN 978-0310574217
• "Biblical Theology and the Composition of the Hebrew Bible", pp 25–37 in Biblical Theology: Retrospect and Prospect, edited by Scott J. Hafemann (2002) ISBN 978-0830826841

References

1. Ollenburger, Ben C. (2004). Old Testament Theology: Flowering and Future. Eisenbrauns. ISBN 1575060965.
2. "Reports Relating to the Fifty-First Meeting of the Society" (PDF). JETS 43 (1). March 2000.
3. McMillan, Byron Scott (Apr 19, 1999). "Renowned Hebrew scholar to join Southeastern Seminary’s faculty". Baptist Press.
4. Phifer, Amanda (Oct 27, 2006). "Golden Gate trustees meet at Rocky Mountain campus". Baptist Press.
5. Hannah, John D. (2009). An Uncommon Union: Dallas Theological Seminary and American Evangelicalism. Zondervan. p. 233. ISBN 0310237866.
6. Taylor, Mark D. (March 2006). "The New Living Translation".
7. Marlowe, Michael (August 2011). "The Holman Christian Standard Bible".
8. Jordan, James B. (April 1997). "John Sailhamer Weighs In". Biblical Chronology 9 (4). Retrieved 15 September 2012.
9. Hansen, Collin (Jan 11, 2010). "Finding Meaning in the Pentateuch". Christianity Today.
10. Piper, John. "Not Just for Theological Uber Geeks".
11. Essex, Keith (Spring 1996). "Book Review: NIV Compact Bible Commentary". Master's Seminary Journal 7 (1): 139–140.

External links

• John Sailhamer's faculty bio from Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary
• The Writings of John Sailhamer (An Online Bibliography) (PDF)