Todd R. Hanneken, Ph.D.

Ph.D., University of Notre Dame
M.T.S., Harvard University
B.A., University of Chicago

Todd R. Hanneken, Ph.D., studies the Hebrew Bible in the context of Jewish literature in antiquity, including the Dead Sea Scrolls, the non-canonical books, Josephus, Philo and Rabbinic literature.

His publications and presentations focus on apocalyptic literature and the Book of Jubilees, a book that was authoritative among the Dead Sea Scrolls but omitted from European bibles.

Hanneken teaches biblical and related Jewish literature in the context of the variety of interpretations in the Jewish and Christian traditions, historical-critical and contemporary-critical approaches.

Hanneken is the director of the Jubilees Palimpsest Project, an initiative that uses the latest imaging technology to make ancient books and manuscripts available to the public that have not be readable to the human eye for hundreds of years. His work has been supported by grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

The Jubilees Palimpsest project is devoted to recovering illegible text from ancient manuscripts through new tools in digital archaeology.

The project applied advanced digitization techniques to an ancient collection of books attributed to Moses and an interpretation of the Gospel of Luke. These writings reflect major movements and debates in early Judaism and Christianity. Later, they were rejected by the mainstream and nearly lost forever.

The technology allows Hanneken and the project team to distribute, without cost, not only the textual discoveries, but the experience of working with the manuscript as a cultural artifact. For many students and scholars, this interactive online copy will be the closest they come to handling a fifth-century manuscript.

Marianist Educational Associate, stmarytx.edu/campuslife/spiritual/marianists/#mea

La Biblia y su Tradición, The Bible and Its Tradition – Collaboration to promote love of Scripture in the languages of the Southwest, in person and online at labiblia.stmarytx.edu

Monographs

Theological Questions. Atla Open Press 81. Chicago: Atla. 2021. The Subversion of the Apocalypses in the Book of Jubilees. Early Judaism and Its Literature 34. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature. 2012.

Articles

Morteza Maali Amiri, David W. Messinger, and Todd R. Hanneken, “Colorimetric Characterization of Multispectral Imaging Systems for Visualization of Historical Artifacts.” Journal of Cultural Heritage 68 pp. 136–148. 2024.

“The Origin and Development of the Prohibition of Eating on Blood.” Catholic Biblical Quarterly 85 pp. 595–617. 2023.

“What to Think About When Thinking About Digitization of Manuscripts.” Digital Philology 12 pp. 256–284. 2023.

“Three Priorities for Digitally-Enabled Research and Teaching in Manuscripts of Biblical Literature.” In New Approaches to Textual and Image Analysis in Early Jewish and Christian Studies, edited by Garrick Allen, Sara Schulthess, Paul Dilley and Peter Phillips. Digital Biblical Studies 5. Leiden: Brill pp. 5–24. 2022.

“New Technology for Imaging Unreadable Manuscripts and Other Artifacts: Integrated Spectral Reflectance Transformation Imaging (Spectral RTI).” In Ancient Worlds in a Digital Culture, edited by Claire Clivaz, Paul Dilley and David Hamidoviç. Digital Biblical Studies 1. Leiden: Brill pp. 180–195. 2016.

“Moses Has His Interpreters: Understanding the Legal Exegesis in Acts 15 from the Precedent in Jubilees.” Catholic Biblical Quarterly 77 pp. 686–706. 2015.

“The Sin of the Gentiles: The Prohibition of Eating Blood in the Book of Jubilees.” Journal for the Study of Judaism 45 pp. 1–27. 2015.

“The Use of the Book of the Watchers in Jubilees.” In The Fallen Angels Traditions: Second Temple Developments and Reception History, edited by Angela Kim Harkins, Kelley Coblentz Bautch and John C. Endres, S.J. Catholic Biblical Quarterly Monograph Series 53. Washington, D.C.: Catholic Biblical Association of America pp. 25–68.

“Creation and New Creation in the Hebrew Bible and Early Jewish Literature.” In God, Grace, and Creation, edited by Philip J. Rossi. Maryknoll: Orbis pp. 79–93. 2010.

“Angels and Demons in the Book of Jubilees and Contemporary Apocalypses.” Henoch 28 pp. 11–25. 2006.

Invited Contributions

“Coherence-Based Genealogical Method (CBGM).” In Textual History of the Bible Volume 3D, Science and Technology. Leiden: Brill. 2022.

“Early Judaism and Modern Technology.” In Early Judaism and Its Modern Interpreters, edited by Matthias Henze and Rodney Werline. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature Press. 2020.

“Ten-Times-Tested Abraham in the Book of Jubilees.” In Testing and Temptation in Early Jewish and Christian Literature, edited by Loren T. Stuckenbruck and Daniel L. Smith. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament II 519. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck. 2020.

“Texts Associated with Prophets.” In T&T Clark Encyclopedia of Second Temple Judaism, edited by Loren T. Stuckenbruck and Daniel Gurtner. London: T&T Clark. 2019.

“Jubilees.” In Early Jewish Literature: An Introduction and Reader, edited by Archie T. Wright, Ron Herms and Brad Embry. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans. 2017.

“The Status and Interpretation of Jubilees in 4Q390.” In A Teacher for All Generations: Essays in Honor of James C. VanderKam, edited by Eric F. Mason, Samuel I. Thomas, Alison Schofield and Eugene Ulrich. Supplements to the Journal for the Study of Judaism 153. Leiden: Brill pp. 407–428. 2012.

“The Book of Jubilees in Latin.” In The Textual History of the Bible. Armin Lange, General Editor; Matthias Henze, Editor of Volume 2, DeuteroCanonical Writings. Leiden: Brill, 2015.

Edited Volumes

Textual History of the Bible Volume 3D, Science and Technology, edited by Armin Lange, Russell E. Fuller, Marilyn Lundberg, and Todd Hanneken. Leiden: Brill, 2022.