About the Society
Honorary Members
Scholars from around the world whose work the Society has chosen to honour.
The distinction
Recognising work of lasting importance
Honorary membership is the highest distinction the Society confers. It is given to scholars outside the British Isles whose contribution to the study of the Hebrew Bible has shaped the field internationally.
Nominations come from the membership and are considered at the Business Meeting. The roll below reflects the wide spread of our honorary members’ host countries — a reminder that the Society's conversation has never stopped at the coast.
Current honorary members
Listed alphabetically by surname. Follow a name for their chair, their work and a select bibliography.
Professor Athalya Brenner-IdanProfessor Emerita of HB/OT, Universiteit van Amsterdam
Professor William P. BrownWilliam Marcellus McPheeters Professor of Old Testament, Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia
Dr. Norman C. HabelProfessor Emeritus, Flinders University of South Australia
Professor Dr. Reinhard KratzProfessor für Altes Testament at Georg-August-University, Göttingen
Professor Dr. Bernhard LangProfessor Emeritus für Altes Testament im Fach Katholische Théologie an der Universität Paderborn
Professor Dr. Christl M. MaierProfessor of Old Testament at Philipps-Universität Marburg, Germany
Professor Noam MizrahiProfessor of Hebrew Bible and Dead Sea Scrolls, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Professor Carol A. NewsomCharles Howard Candler Professor Emerita of Old Testament at Candler School of Theology, Emory University
Professor Kirsten NielsenProfessor Emerita of Old Testament, The Institute of Biblical Studies, Aarhus University
Professor Martti NissinenProfessor of Old Testament Studies, University of Helsinki
Professor Rabbi Tamara Cohn Eskenazi, Ph.D.The Effie Wise Ochs Professor of Biblical Literature and History, HUC-JIR Skirball Campus, LA
Professor Thomas RömerProfessor, Chair and President of the Collège de France
Professor Bernd SchipperProfessor of Old Testament /Hebrew Bible at the Faculty of Theology, Humboldt University of Berlin
Professor Konrad SchmidProfessor for Hebrew Bible and Ancient Judaism at the University of Zurich, Switzerland
Professor Rudolf SmendProfessor Emeritus für Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft, University of Göttingen
Professor Dr Ellen van WoldeProfessor Emeritus, Hebrew Bible/Old Testament at the Faculty of Philosophy, Theology, Religious Studies, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Nomination
The Guidelines for the Nomination of Honorary Members can be found in the members’ space here (login required), including the nomination form. Please send any nominations, on the appropriate form, to the secretary for honorary members, Prof Susan Gillingham (email).
Former honorary members include:
| Frank Cross | (1921-2012) |
| Rolf Rendtorff | (1924–2014) |
| Menahem Haran | (1924–2015) |
| Otto Kaiser | (1924–2017) |
| Eduard Nielsen | (1923–2017) |
| Bertil Albrektson | (1929–2021) |
| Norman Gottwald | (1926-2022) In Memoriam by Walter Brueggemann |
| Johannes Cornelis de Moor | (1935-2023) |
| Tryggve Mettinger | (1940-2023) |
| Sara Japhet | (1934-2024) |
| Walter Brueggemann | (1933-2025) In Memoriam by Ellen Davis here. |
| Michael V. Fox | (1940-2025) |