Roger S. Nam

Dr. Roger S. Nam joined Candler after serving as dean and professor of biblical studies at Portland Seminary at George Fox University in Oregon. A financial analyst before turning his attention to biblical studies, Nam focuses his research on the economies of the ancient Near East and the book of Ezra-Nehemiah, applying traditional historical-critical methods within social-scientific frameworks. He has also served as a pastor in Seoul, Korea.

His first book, Portrayals of Exchange in the Book of Kings (Brill, 2012), examines the social structures that undergird the economy of ancient Israel. He is presently completing The Theology of the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah (Cambridge University Press) as well as a technical commentary on Ezra-Nehemiah for the Old Testament Library (Westminster John Knox). He is coediting The Oxford Handbook for Wealth and Poverty in the Biblical World (Oxford University Press), and co-chairs the steering committee for Economics in the Biblical World for the Society of Biblical Literature’s annual meetings. He is a contributor to Working Preacher, a frequent collaborator with the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning, and a popular speaker at churches, conferences and universities.

BOOKS

The Theology of the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah, Cambridge University Press, forthcoming

Portrayals of Economic Exchange in the Book of Kings. Biblical Interpretation Series 112, Brill, 2012

CHAPTERS AND ARTICLES

“Biblical Studies, COVID-19, and Our Response to Growing Inequality,” in Journal of Biblical Literature, Vol. 139, No. 3, 2020

Book Review, The Economy of Late Achaemenid and Seleucid Babylonia, by Reinhard Pirngruber in The Journal of Near Eastern Studies, 78:1 (2019): 158-160

“‘Half Speak Ashdodite and None Can Speak Judean’: Code-Switching in Ezra- Nehemiah as an Identity Marker for Repatriate Judeans and Koreans.” In Landscapes of Korean and Korean-American Interpretation. Edited by John Ahn. SBL Press (2019): 119-131

“Design and Analysis Kinesthetic Language Learning: How an Oversight Led to a Revelation.” Teaching Theology and Religion, vol. 19, no. 4 (2017): 376-384

“The Ma’hadu Port: A Test-Case for Economic Anthropology and the Interpretation of Late Bronze Age Economies.” Aram 26 (2016): 419-432

Book Review,Social and Economic Life in Second Temple Judea, by Samuel L. Adams, The Sacred Economy, by Roland Boer and The City on a Hill: A Tradition-Historical Study of the Wealth of Nations Tradition, by Michael Chan in Catholic Biblical Quarterly 78 (2016): 339-345

Book Review, Jacob’s Wealth: An Examination into the Nature and Role of Material Possessions in the Jacob-Cycle (Gen 25:19-35:29), by Paul D. Vrolijk, Near Eastern Archaeology 78:2 (2015) 120-121

“‘The Poorest of the Land’: Perceptions and Identity of the Remnant in 2 Kings and Jeremiah.” Journal of Religion and Society Supplement Series 10 (2014): 61-69

“Economics and the Bible.” In The Oxford Encyclopedia of Biblical Interpretation. Edited by Steven McKenzie and David Garber, Jr. Oxford University Press (2013): 259-267

Seed Grant, “Race-Critical Consciousness and Theological Education,” The Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning, 2019

Faculty Summer Research Grant, “Oral Traditions, Scribal Cultures and the Bible,” George Fox University, 2016

Lilly Theological Research Grant, “‘Our Fields and Vineyards Belong to Others!’ Economic Redistribution in Nehemiah in Light of Recent Epigraphic and Numismatic Finds,” Association for Theological Schools, 2012-2013

Summer Fellowship, “Studies in Genesis Intertextuality,” The Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning, Summer Fellowship, 2011

Faculty Achievement Award: Graduate Faculty Researcher of the Year, George Fox University, 2010-2011

Pre-Tenure Theological Faculty Workshop, Fellow, The Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning, 2010-2011

Faculty Summer Research Grant, “The Political Economy of the Samaria Ostraca,” George Fox University, 2009

NELC Quality of Graduate Education Fellowship, UCLA, 2006

Graduate Research Mentorship, UCLA, 2005-2006

NELC Summer Language Fellowship for Modern Hebrew, UCLA, 2004