David J. A. Clines


David John Alfred Clines is a biblical scholar. He is currently Emeritus Professor at the University of Sheffield.

Education

Clines studied at the University of Sydney and St John’s College, Cambridge.

Career

He has served as President of the Society for Old Testament Study, as well as President of the Society of Biblical Literature. In 2003, a Festschrift was published in his honour. Reading from Right to Left: Essays on the Hebrew Bible in Honour of David J.A. Clines included contributions by James Barr, John Barton, Joseph Blenkinsopp, Walter Brueggemann, Brevard Childs, Patrick D. Miller, Rolf Rendtorff, Hugh Williamson, and Ellen van Wolde. In 2013, he was honoured with another Festschrift, Interested Readers: Essays on the Hebrew Bible in Honor of David J. A. Clines, which included contributions from Marc Zvi Brettler, Norman C. Habel, and Athalya Brenner.
Clines served as president of the Society of Biblical Literature in 2009. Together with David M. Gunn, Clines made the University of Sheffield a pioneer in literary readings of the final form of the biblical text. Followers of this approach are sometimes referred to as the "Sheffield school".

Theology

Clines holds a moderate Arminian soteriological view. His essay "Predestination in the Old Testament" demonstrates this theological approach.

Honours

In 2015, Clines was awarded the Burkitt Medal by the British Academy "in recognition of his significant contribution to the study of the Hebrew Bible and Hebrew lexicography".

Selected works

Books