Biblical Studies for the 21st Century
Renewed Philology is an international working group of scholars in biblical studies and related ancient disciplines reflecting critically on the intellectual frameworks brought to bear on philological practice.
Our work is diverse in its theoretical interests, interdisciplinary in its readings of ancient texts and recovery of ancient worldviews, and meta-critical in its practices. We seek to reshape philology’s future through a rigorous understanding of its history, power dynamics, and foundational assumptions.
Core Initiatives & Networks
Early Career Network & Translation Lab
A global platform fostering collaborative scholarship, methodological workshops, and the Translation Laboratory—a space dedicated to analyzing translations in progress and decision-making structures.
Publication & Editorial Leadership
Core members edit key academic venues, including T&T Clark’s Library of Hebrew Bible / Old Testament Studies (LHBOTS), and chair foundational program units within the Society of Biblical Literature.
Conferences & Working Groups
Convening international workshops, panel sessions, and scholarly forums dedicated to critical readings of ancient texts, material culture, language theory, and disciplinary history.
Theoretical Rationale & Scope
Understanding Disciplinary Foundations
Philology has been foundational to modern humanistic inquiry, shaping how we reconstruct ancient contexts and formulate contemporary ideas. However, philological methodologies often operate without critical engagement with their own disciplinary histories—and the historical inequalities those ways of knowing produced. We seek to discover overlooked lines of inquiry and critically re-examine philology's posture.
Critical & Interdisciplinary Interventions
We interrogate philology as both a set of reading practices and an integrated theory of language. Our work centers interventions that interrogate subject positions embedded in our analytical tools—including gender, race, class, and religious identity—while engaging broader questions of artistic production, personhood, material textuality, and the ancient religious imagination.
Recommended Reading
Leadership & Governance
Core Conveners
David Lambert
Associate Professor of Religious Studies; Hebrew Bible and Ancient Judaism.
Eva Mroczek
Simon and Riva Spatz Chair in Jewish Studies; Professor of Religious Studies.