Amy-Jill Levine

Amy-Jill Levine (born 1956) is Rabbi Stanley M. Kessler Distinguished Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies at Hartford International University for Religion and Peace and University Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies Emerita at Vanderbilt University. Her research treats Second Temple Judaism, Jewish-Christian relations, the historical Jesus, and the parables, with sustained attention to eliminating antisemitic, sexist, and homophobic readings of biblical texts. She earned a B.A. at Smith College with high honors in religion and English, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Religion at Duke University.

Career Levine taught at Swarthmore College before joining Vanderbilt University in 1994, where she held appointments in the Divinity School and the Department of Jewish Studies. She later became Mary Jane Werthan Professor of Jewish Studies and University Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies. She retired from Vanderbilt in 2021 with emerita status, then joined Hartford International University as Rabbi Stanley M. Kessler Distinguished Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies.

Levine serves as New Testament editor of the Oxford Biblical Commentary Series and as editor or volume editor for several volumes in the Wisdom Commentary series.

Scholarship Levine has published on the historical Jesus, Matthean studies, Pauline interpretation within Judaism, and the reception of Jews and Judaism in Christian exegesis and homiletics. With Marc Zvi Brettler she co-edited The Jewish Annotated New Testament first published by Oxford University Press in 2011 with a revised and expanded second edition in 2017. With Ben Witherington III she co-authored the commentary The Gospel of Luke in the New Cambridge Bible Commentary series, a project that juxtaposes Jewish and Christian scholarly perspectives. She co-edited The Pharisees: An Interdisciplinary Study with Joseph Sievers, published by Eerdmans in 2021, which includes an essay by Pope Francis and addresses the figure of the Pharisee in history, exegesis, and reception.

Her single-author monographs for general audiences include The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus and Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi. With Brettler she co-authored The Bible With and Without Jesus: How Jews and Christians Read the Same Stories Differently. Her Abingdon Press series offers introductions to biblical themes for congregational study, including The Difficult Words of Jesus, Witness at the Cross, Signs and Wonders, and The Gospel of Mark: A Beginner's Guide to the Good News.

Public engagement Levine lectures internationally on the Bible, Christian–Jewish relations, and questions of religion, gender, and sexuality. She has held leadership roles in the Society of Biblical Literature, the Catholic Biblical Association, and the Association for Jewish Studies. She is a member of Congregation Sherith Israel in Nashville, an Orthodox synagogue, and has described herself as an "unorthodox" Orthodox member.

Honors and recognition Levine was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2021.

She has received honorary doctorates from Franklin College, Christian Theological Seminary, Drury University, the University of Richmond, the Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest, and the University of South Carolina-Upstate. with Warren Carter, The New Testament: Methods and Meanings Nashville, Abingdon, 2013. with Marc Zvi Brettler, The Bible With and Without Jesus: How Jews and Christians Read the Same Stories Differently New York, HarperOne, 2020. The Marvelous Mustard Seed Louisville, Flyaway Books, 2018. Who Is My Neighbor? Louisville, Flyaway Books, 2019. A Very Big Problem Louisville, Flyaway Books, 2020.

Teaching Company courses Great Figures of the Old Testament The Teaching Company, 2002, audio and guidebook. Great Figures of the New Testament The Teaching Company, 2003, audio and guidebook. The Old Testament The Teaching Company, audio course.

Personal life Levine is married to Jay Geller, a scholar of modern Jewish culture. They have two children. She is a member of Congregation Sherith Israel in Nashville.