Matthew A Kraus

Professor Kraus studies the history of biblical interpretation and Judaism in Greek and Roman antiquity. Most recently, he is the author of Jewish, Christian, and Classical Exegetical Traditions in Jerome’s Translation of the Book of Exodus:  Translation Technique and the Vulgate (Brill, 2017), "Rabbinic Traditions in Jerome’s Translation of the Book of Numbers,” Journal of Biblical Literature, and "Wisdom of Solomon" for the Jewish Annotated Apocrypha (forthcoming, Oxford University Press).  Editor of How Should Rabbinic Literature Be Read in the Modern World (2006 Gorgias Press), he has also published on Philo, the Gospel of John, and on the Old Latin version of the Bible. His courses include Women and the Bible, The Dead Sea Scrolls, History of Biblical Interpretation, Introduction to Judasim, Chanukah Through the Ages and Modern Hebrew.

Ph.D.: University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI, 1996 (Classics Doctoral Dissertaion "Jerome's Translation of the Book of Exodus Iuxta Hebraeos in Relation to Classical, Christian and Jewish Traditions of Interpretation," Sabine MacCormack, Director)

Rabbinic Ordination: Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion Cincinnati, OH, 1991 (Masters of Hebrew Letters, 1990 "Josephus' Paraphrase of the Book of Numbers, Chapters 1-18," unpublished Rabbinical Thesis, Adam Kamesar, director.)

Special Student: International Christian University Tokyo, Japan, 1986

B.A.: Harvard-Radcliffe University Cambridge, MA, 1985 (Classics)

• History of Biblical Interpretation
• Judaism and Christianity in the Greek and Roman Worlds
• Scholarship in Antiquity
• Patristics
• Late Antique Latin Literature
• Hebrew Language
• Translation

2006 -2007 Lecturer, Department of Religion, Philosophy and Classics , Wright State University,

2005 -2006 Visiting Associate Professor of Judaic Studies, University of Cincinnati,

2005 - Adjunct Professor, Wright State University,

2002 -2005 Associate Professor of Classics and Jewish Studies with tenure , Williams College,

1996 -2002 Assistant Professor of Classics and Jewish Studies, Williams College,

2007 -2012 Field Service Assistant Professor, Director of Hebrew Program and Undergraduate Direcor of Judaic Studies, Posen Project Coordinator 2007-2008, University of Cincinnati,

2019 -2020 Interim Department Head, Associate Professor - Judiac Studies, Univerity of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, USA

2012 -2018 Assistant Professor of Judaic Studies ,

2020 -To Present Department Head, Associate Professor - Judaic Studies, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH

2018 -To Present Associate Professor of Judaic Studies ,

Grant: #OHC #R12-100 Investigators:Kraus, Matthew 10-01-2012 -09-30-2013 National Endowment for the Humanities Are The Dead Sea Scrolls Dead? (UC Lichter Lecture Series 2012) Role:PI $2,500.00 Active Level:Federal

Investigators:Kraus, Matthew 06-15-2020 -02-22-2022 Association for Jewish Studies Jewish Women Breaking Boundaries: A Workshop on Jewish Women and the Graphic Novel Role:PI 5000.00 Awarded

Peer Reviewed Publications

"Philosophical History in Philo's In Flaccum," Society of Biblical Literature 1994 Seminar Papers, Eugene H. Lovering, Jr., ed. (Scholars Press, 1994)

"Hebraisms in the Old Latin Version of the Bible,"  Vetus Testamentum, 53.4 (2003) 487-513

"Christian, Jews and Pagans in Dialogue:  Saint Jerome on Ecclesiastes 12:1–7," Hebrew Union College Annual, 70/71 (1999-2000), 183-231.  

"It's the Economy Schmendrik:  An Economic Approach to American Judaism.”  The Reform Jewish Quarterly, Fall (2016), 91-105.

 "Rabbinic Traditions in Jerome’s Translation of the Book of Numbers.”  Journal of Biblical Literature 136.3 (2017), 539-563.

“The Vulgate and Christian-Jewish Dialogue,” Vulgata in Dialogue 2 (2018), 1-14 (https://ojs2.uni-tuebingen.de/ojs/index.php/vidbor/article/view/35).

“Renewing Abram’s and Sarai’s Unconditional Covenant or Why Be a Reform Jew?,” The Reform Jewish QuarterlySummer (2018),131-143.

“A Chanukah Thesis,” The Reform Jewish Quarterly Spring (2019),62-73

“How Jerome Dealt With Glosses,”  Vulgata in Dialogue 5 (2021), 1-4 (https://vulgata-dialog.ch/ojs/index.php/vidbor/article/view/811).

“Travel as Pedagogy, Pedagogy as Travel” AJS Perspectives, Spring 2022.

“The Vulgate and Jerome’s Biblical Exegesis: Intertextual Comparison” for the International Organization of Vulgate Studies in Zurich. August 2022 revised accepted for publication 2023 in Vulgata in Dialogue.

Book

How Should Rabbinic Literature Be Read in the Modern World.  Gorgias Press, 2006.

Jewish, Christian, and Classical Exegetical Tradtions in Jerome’s Translation of the Book of Exodus: Translation Technique and the Vulgate. 2017. Vigiliae Christianae Supplements series, Brill Publishers.

Review

Jew and Gentile in the Ancient World by Louis Feldman, CCAR Journal, Fall 1996.

Columbia Papyri XI (3rd to 7th century papyri relating to Christianity).  Bryn Mawr Classical Review, February, 2000

History, Apocalypse, and the Secular Imagination: New Essays on Augustine's City of God edited by Mark Vessey et al., Bryn Mawr Classical Review, July, 2001.

Diaspora:  Jews amidst Greeks and Romans by Erich S. Gruen,  New England Classical Journal,  30.3 (August, 2003) 176-179.

Japheth in the Tents of Shem:  Studies on Jewish Hellenism in Antiquity by Pieter W. van der Horst, Bryn Mawr Classical Review, February, 2004

Jews and Gentiles in the Holy Land in the Days of the Second Temple, the Mishna and the Talmud, Menachem Mor, Aharon Oppenheimer, Jack Pastor, Daniel R. Schwartz, edd., Bryn Mawr Classical Review, March, 2004

Remains of the Jews:  The Holy Land and Christian Empire in Late Antiquity by Andrew S. Jacobs, Bryn Mawr Classical Review, September, 2005.

The Cultural Turn in Late Ancient Studies: Gender, Asceticism, and Historiography edited by Dale B. Martin and Patricia Cox Miller, BMCR, June, 2006.

Susan Weingarten, The Saint’s Saints:  Hagiography and Geography in Jerome; Ancient Judaism & Early Christianity, Henoch (2007).

The Cambridge Companion to American Judaism, edited by Dana Evan Kaplan.  Cambridge:  Cambridge University Press, 2005, Journal of the American Jewish Archives 58 (2006).

Tessa Rajak.  Translation and Survival: The Greek Bible of the Ancient Jewish
Diaspora. Oxford: Oxford University Press, February, 2009.  H-Judaic, February, 2010.

Review of Jordan Rosenblum, Food and Identity in Early Rabbinic Judaism.(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010), BMCR, May 2011.

Review of Ishay Rosen-Zvi. Demonic Desires: Yetzer Hara and the Problem of Evil in Late Antiquity. Philadelphia  University of Pennsylvania Press, 2011, H-Judaic, November 2012.

Review of Andrew Cain, Jerome’s Epitaph on Paula:  A Commentary on the Epitaphium Sanctae Paulae, Oxford: Oxford University Press (2013), Review of Biblical Literature, 2015(http://www.bookreviews.org)

Review of Dana Kaplan, The New Reform Judaism: Challenges and Reflections, Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2013, American Jewish History, 99.1 (January, 2015)108-110.

Review of Studia Philonica Annual: Studies in Hellenistic Judaism,volume XXVI, 2014. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2014, BMCR, September, 2015

Review of Jacob L. Wright,David, King of Israel, and Caleb in Biblical Memory.  (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014) in Politics and Religion. 8.4 (2015), 844-847

Review of Honora Howell Chapman and Zuleika Rodgers, edsA Companion to Josephus. Blackwell Companions to the Ancient World, (Oxford: Wiley Blackwell, 2016), Bryn Mawr Classical Review(2016.11.52).

Review of Michael Herren, The Anatomy of Myth: The Art of Interpretation from the Presocratics to the Church Fathers.   (New York:  Oxford University Press, 2017), Bryn Mawr Classical Review(2018.01.51)

Review of William L. Krewson. Jerome and the Jews: Innovative Supersessionism (Eugene, Oregon: Wipf and Stock, 2017), inStudies in Christian-Jewish Relations13:1 (2018). 1-4

Review of Allan T. Georgia, Gaming Greekness: cultural agonism among Christians and Jews in the Roman Empire. Piscataway: Gorgias Press, 2020.  Bryn Mawr Classical Review (May 2022, 2022.05.23).   

Review of Beriger, Andreas and Widu-Wolfgang Ehlers (ed.). Hieronymus. Biblia Sacra vulgata: Lateinisch-deutsch Band 1-5, Berlin; Boston: De Gruyter, 2018.  Bryn Mawr Classical Review (November, 2020)

Popular Magazine Article

"A Chanukah Proposal,"  Tikkun, November-December, 2003, pp.85-87, 90.

Book Chapter

"New Jewish Directions in the Study of the Fourth Gospel" in New Currents Through John:  A Global Perspective. Edited by  Francisco Lozada Jr. and Tom Thatcher.  Society of Biblical Literature, 2006.

"The Late Antique Context of Jewish Exegetical Traditions in Jerome's Targum of the Bible," in Midrash in Context: Proceedings of the 2004 and 2005 SBL Consultation on Midrash.  Edited by Lieve Teugels and Rivka Ulmer.  Gorgias Press (2007).

“Christian Translation in Late Antiquity,”  Routledge Handbook of Translation History, Christopher R. Rundle, ed., (London: Routledge) 2021.

"Wisdom of Solomon" (annotations, commentary, and introduction) for The Jewish Annotated Apocrypha, Jonathan Klawans and Larry Wills, edd.,  (Oxford University Press, 2020).

Encyclopedia Article

“Hebraisms in the Latin Versions of the Bible,” commissioned for the Encyclopedia of Hebrew Language and Linguistics, Brill Publishers.

“Hebrew Loanwords into Latin,” the Encyclopedia of Hebrew Language and Linguistics, Brill Publishers 

“Satzverbindungen,” “Auffallende Stellen zu Hörnern in Ex 34,29-35 und Num 10,5-,” “Sprachspiel in Richter 12,6,” and “Die Befragung (Quaestio) in Ex 33,7”.  Lemmata for Manual on the Vulgate of Jerome (De Gruyter Publishing House), Edited by Prof. Dr. Michael Fieger, Prof. Dr. Bernhard Lang, Lic phil Brigitta Schmid MTh and Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Tauwinkl (forthcoming).

Essays

“Letter 49” American Values, Religious Voices, March 9, 2021 https://www.valuesandvoices.com/letters-2021/letter-49/. Hardcopy, American Values Religious Voices : Letters of Hope by People of Faith. 2023. Cincinnati: University of Cincinnati Press.
 

Invited Presentations

Matthew Kraus (09-2004. ) Judaism and Homosexuality .Rockdale Temple, Level:Local

(10-2004. ) Judaism and Greco-Roman Culture: Does Japheth Dwell in the Tents of Shem or Does Shem Dwell in the Tents of Japheth .Kinus Bogrim, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. Level:University

(01-2005. ) "Zechariah's Blood and the Destruction of the Temple: A Contextual Reading of Lamentations Rabbah 23." .Open History Seminar, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. Level:University

(02-2005. ) A Jewish Response to Mel Gibson's The Passion .Guest lecturer for class, Cincinnati Christian University. Level:University

(03-2005. ) "Judaism and Greco-Roman Culture" and "A Christian's Love-Hate Relationship With Judaism" .Clergy Institute, Dayton, OH. Level:Local

(04-2005. ) Judaism and Christianity in Late Antiquity .Guest lecturer for class, Miami University of OHio. Level:College

(08-2005. ) Jewish Mysticism .Presentation, Swedenborgian Church, Cincinnati, OH. Level:Local

(01-2006. ) Humor in the Classroom .Jewish Educators In-Service, Cincinnati, OH. Level:Local

(02-2007. ) The Jewish View of Poverty .Panel Discussion, Wright State University. Level:University

(03-2007. ) Found in Translation .Open History Seminar, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. Level:University

(03-2007. ) Found in Translation .Cincinnati Christian University. Level:University

(09-2007. ) Jews and Jesuits .Literary Board, Cincinnati, OH. Level:Local

(03-2008. ) Using Sacred Text: Bridging the Gap Between Word and Reality" .Annual Meeting, Central Conference of American Rabbis, Cincinnati, OH. Level:Prof. Org.

(11-2010. ) From Chanukah to Chrismakah .Rockdale Temple, Cincinnati, OH. Level:Local

(11-2010. ) How to Understand Torah in the Twenty-First Century: Translating the Talmud from Rashi to Steinsaltz .Myerson Jewish Community Center, Cincinnati, OH. Level:Local

(05-2011. ) The Nature of Jewish Life in America .Cedar Village, Cincinnati, OH. Level:Local

Paper Presentations

(1996. ) “The Hebrew Vorlage to the Old Latin,” .Professional Meeting. Level:National

(1999. ) “Found in Translation: Myth and Ritual in the Legend of the Septuagint.” .

(2000. ) "Jerome as an Ethnographer of the Jews," .

(2001. ) "The Late Antique Context of Jewish Exegetical Traditions in Jerome's Translation of the Bible," .Jerusalem. Professional Meeting. Level:International

(2001. ) "Jerome and Epistle 52: Biblical Exegesis, Classical Exegesis, and Classical Rhetoric," .

(2004. ) "The Late Antique Context of Jewish Exegetical Traditions in Jerome's Targum of the Bible," .

(2005. ) "Zechariah's Blood and the Destruction of the Temple: A Contextual Reading of Lamentations Rabbah 23." .

(2007. ) "Zechariah's Blood and the Destruction of the Temple: An Anthropological Reading of Lamentations 23," .

(12-2010. ) Was Jerome A Jewish Translator .Boston. Professional Meeting. Level:National