John Day

John Day (born 13 September 1948) is a British scholar of the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible. His research has focused on the relationship between ancient Israelite religion and Canaanite religion, the interpretation of Genesis 1–11, and a range of other topics in Old Testament studies.

Education and academic career John Day studied Theology at Christ’s College, Cambridge (1967–1970), concentrating on biblical studies. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1970, later proceeding to the Master of Arts degree in 1974 in accordance with Cambridge practice. He then completed postgraduate study at Cambridge (then known as Theology Part III, now the M.Phil.), specializing in the Old Testament, Biblical Hebrew, and Aramaic.

In 1972–1973 Day spent a year at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem as John Goodenday Fellow. He subsequently returned to Cambridge to undertake doctoral research on Baal mythology and the Old Testament, and was awarded the Ph.D. in 1977.

From 1977 to 1980 he was Research Fellow in Arts at the University of Durham. In 1980 he was appointed to a permanent post at the University of Oxford, combining a university lectureship with a Fellowship and Tutorship in Theology (Old Testament) at Lady Margaret Hall. He was promoted to Reader in 1996 and to Professor of Old Testament Studies in 2004. He retired in 2013 and was appointed Emeritus Professor of Old Testament Studies and Emeritus Fellow of Lady Margaret Hall.

Research

Canaanite religion and the Old Testament In his early work, Day examined the interaction between the religion and mythology of ancient Israel and that of Canaan. His publications from this period include studies of mythological motifs, divine figures, and cultic practices reflected in biblical texts. Major works include God’s Conflict with the Dragon and the Sea, Molech: A God of Human Sacrifice in the Old Testament, and Yahweh and the Gods and Goddesses of Canaan. He also published an award-winning essay on the goddess Asherah and her cult symbol.

During this period Day also identified and edited a manuscript of William Robertson Smith’s Lectures on the Religion of the Semites (second and third series), previously thought to be lost, providing an introduction and critical evaluation.

Editing and collaborative scholarship In the middle period of his career, Day undertook extensive editorial work. For more than a decade he organised a series of Oxford Old Testament Seminars on specific themes and edited the resulting volumes. These included King and Messiah in Israel and the Ancient Near East, In Search of Pre-Exilic Israel, Temple and Worship in Biblical Israel, and Prophecy and the Prophets in Ancient Israel.

Genesis 1–11 In later years Day has focused primarily on Genesis 1–11. He has published a series of essays on these chapters, collected in From Creation to Babel (2013) and From Creation to Abraham (2022). His work in this area combines close philological analysis with attention to the ancient Near Eastern background of the biblical text and to its history of interpretation in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic traditions.

These studies form part of his preparation for A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Genesis 1–11 for the International Critical Commentary series.

Personal life Day was married to Jane Osborn, a Philosophy Tutor at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, from 1981 until her death in 2021. They adopted two children. In 2023 he married Jennifer Jones, a former schoolteacher and carer.

Selected publications