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Matthew JM Coomber

Professor


Prof. Coomber's teaching focuses on the intersections that develop between Bible and culture, shaping societal aspects ranging from politics to artistic expression. His primary research and publication focus is on Bible and economics, through which he explores how biblical texts challenging systemic poverty and imperialism might provide tools for confronting these challenges in our time.

Prof. Coomber has studied and taught in England, Canada, Japan, and India. He enjoys sharing his love of travel with students through an overseas course entitled "Genocide, Resistance, and God in Nazi Europe," which explores the theological questions raised by anti-fascist resistance groups and their selfless acts of service to their persecuted neighbors during the Second World War.

He is an Episcopal priest, has a graduate-level background in Buddhist Studies and Sanskrit, and bridges his academic life and human-rights concerns by serving as a co-director at The Center and Library for the Bible and Social Justice.

Prof. Coomber's personal interests include playing old-time mandolin and banjo, woodworking, brewing beer, spending time with his family, and supporting his favorite soccer team: Sheffield Wednesday F.C.

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See Courses Taught


Education and Training


  • PhD, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, England, Biblical Studies
  • MDiv, Trinity College, University of Toronto
  • Graduate Study, Naropa University, Boulder, CO, Buddhist Studies and Sanskrit
  • BA, Concordia College, Moorhead, MN, Religion and Philosophy

Areas of Professional Interest


  • Hebrew prophecy in socio-historical context
  • Biblical economics
  • Use of Bible in social-justice movements
  • Reception history
  • Contextual Bible study
  • Post-colonial interpretation

Highlights and Published Work


Books:
Amos and Micah Through the Centuries. Blackwell Bible Commentaries. Oxford: Wiley Blackwell, forthcoming.

Re-Reading the Prophets through Corporate Globalization: A Cultural-Evolutionary Approach to Understanding Economic Injustice in the Hebrew Bible. The Center and Library for the Bible and Social Justice Series. Eugene, Oregon: Cascade Books, 2022.

Edited Volumes:
Class and Intersectionality in the Hebrew Bible: Engaged Biblical Studies in the Academy and on the Streets. Edited by Matthew J. M. Coomber and Ludwig Beethoven J. Noya. The Center and Library for the Bible and Social Justice Series. Eugene, Oregon: Cascade Books (under contract).

Economics and Empire in the Ancient Near East: Guide to the Bible and Economics, Volume 1. The Center and Library for the Bible and Social Justice Series. Eugene, Oregon: Cascade Books, 2003.

Economics and Empire in the Greco-Roman World. Center and Library for the Bible and Social Justice Series on Bible and Economics: Edited by Matthew J.M. Coomber. Eugene: Cascade Books, forthcoming (under contract).

God, Mammon, and the Hope of the Poor: The First Testament. Center and Library for the Bible and Social Justice Series on Bible and Economics: Edited by Matthew J.M. Coomber. Eugene: Cascade Books, forthcoming (under contract).

God, Mammon, and the Hope of the Poor: The Second Testament. Center and Library for the Bible and Social Justice Series on Bible and Economics: Edited by Matthew J.M. Coomber. Eugene: Cascade Books, forthcoming (under contract).

Bible in the age of Capital: Challenges We Face. Center and Library for the Bible and Social Justice Series on Bible and Economics: Edited by Matthew J.M. Coomber. Eugene: Cascade Books, forthcoming (under contract).

Bible in the age of Capital: What is Being Done. Center and Library for the Bible and Social Justice Series on Bible and Economics: Edited by Matthew J.M. Coomber. Eugene: Cascade Books, forthcoming (under contract).

The Apocrypha: Fortress Commentary on the Bible Study Edition. Edited by Gale A. Yee, Hugh R. Page, Jr., and Matthew J.M. Coomber. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2016.

The Historical Writings: Fortress Commentary on the Bible Study Edition. Edited by Gale A. Yee, Hugh R. Page, Jr., and Matthew J.M. Coomber. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2016.

The Pentateuch: Fortress Commentary on the Bible Study Edition. Edited by Gale A. Yee, Hugh R. Page, Jr., and Matthew J.M. Coomber. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2016.

The Prophets: Fortress Commentary on the Bible Study Edition. Edited by Gale A. Yee, Hugh R. Page, Jr., and Matthew J.M. Coomber. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2016.

Wisdom, Worship, and Poetry: Fortress Commentary on the Bible Study Edition. Edited by Gale A. Yee, Hugh R. Page, Jr., and Matthew J.M. Coomber. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2016.


More About Dr. Coomber

Courses Taught

THEO 100 Just Theology (Theology and Social Justice)
THEO 130 Introduction to the Bible
THEO 336 Bible & the Arts
THEO 338 Bible in Modern Political Thought
THEO 339 Hebrew Prophecy: Mysticism in Action
THEO 360 Special Topics: Genocide, Resistance, and God in Nazi Europe (Study Abroad)
THEO 501 Old Testament: Torah and Prophets
THEO 502 Old Testament: The Writings
Honors 101 World of Ideas: War & Peace

Academic Affiliations and Leadership

Center and Library for the Bible and Social Justice, Director
Society of Biblical Literature, Co-Chair of Poverty in the Biblical World Section
Sheffield Institute for Interdisciplinary Biblical Studies, External Member
Society for Old Testament Study
Catholic Biblical Association of America 

Leadership

St. Ambrose Conference on Bible and Justice Series, Co-Organizer and Director
Society of Biblical Literature, Co-Chair of the Poverty in the Biblical World Section
International Society of Biblical Literature, Steering committee member of the Bible and Empire Section
Middle East Institute, Advisory Board
Dean Search Committee (2015-16), College of Arts and Sciences
SAU Center for International Education, Regional Expert: United Kingdom and Japan

Other Publications

Edited Volumes:
Fortress Commentary on the Bible: The Old Testament and Apocrypha. Edited by Gale A. Yee, Hugh R. Page, Jr., and Matthew J.M. Coomber. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2014.

Bible and Justice: Ancient Texts, Modern Challenges. Edited by Matthew J.M. Coomber. BibleWorld: New York: Routledge Publishing, 2011.

Political Theology 11, No. 3, 2010. Guest editor of this special edition, which is comprised of selected papers from the 2008 Conference on Bible and Justice Wealth and Poverty in the Biblical World. Edited by Matthew J.M. Coomber. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, forthcoming.

God, Mammon, and the Hope of the Poor: A Biblical Commentary. Edited by Matthew J.M. Coomber. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, forthcoming The Bible in the Age of Capital. Edited by Matthew J.M. Coomber. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, forthcoming.

Journal Articles:

"An Interpretive Model of Privileged Contempt: Understanding Disdain Toward Those of Lower Status, from Ancient Israel to the New American Politics." Journal of Religion and Society 23 (2021): 5–23.

"Let my People Go: Der Exodus und die Geschichte der Afroamerikanischen Sklaven." Welt und Umwelt Der Bibel 92, No. 1 (2019): 50–55.

"Seeking Community in a Capitalist Age: A Collective Response to Poverty and Debt, from the Bible to Today." Journal of Religion and Society 16 (2018).

"Debt as Weapon: Manufacturing Poverty from Judah to Today." Diaconia: Journal for the Study of Christian Social Practice 4, No. 2 (2013): 141-58.

"Caught in the Crossfire? Economic Injustice and Prophetic Motivation in Eighth-Century Judah" Biblical Interpretation 19, No. 4-5 (2011): 396-432.

"Prophets to Profits: Ancient Judah and Corporate Globalization." Pages 212-37 in Bible and Justice: Ancient Texts, Modern Challenges. BibleWorld. Edited by Matthew J.M. Coomber. Oakville, CT: Equinox Publishing, 2011.

Book Chapters:
"Introduction and Annotations for the Biblical Book of Micah." The Oxford Annotated Bible, 6th Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press (in production).

"Attitudes Toward Being Rich in Preexilic Prophecy." Is it Good to Be Rich? Answers from Antiquity and the Bible. Edited by Peter Altman, Nadine Ueberschaer, and Frank Ueberschaer. Tübigen: Mohr Siebeck (in production).

"Social Scientific Approaches." The State of Old Testament Studies: A Survey of Recent Research. Edited by H. H. Hardy and M. Daniel Carroll R. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic (in production).

"Going Public: Norman Gottwald's Call and the Urgent Need for Engaged Biblical Studies." Class and Intersectionality in the Hebrew Bible: Engaged Biblical Studies in the Academy and on the Streets. Edited by Matthew J. M. Coomber and Ludwig Beethoven J. Noya. The Center and Library for the Bible and Social Justice Series. Eugene, Oregon: Cascade Books (under contract).

"The Importance of Biblical Economics to the Field of Biblical Studies." Pages 1–11 in Economics and Empire in the Ancient Near East: Guide to the Bible and Economics, Volume 1. The Center and Library for the Bible and Social Justice Series. Eugene, Oregon: Cascade Books, 2003.

"St. Ambrose and His Biblical Response to Empire." Pages 57–66 in Ambrose and Community. Ambrosians on Ambrose Series, No. 1. Edited by Ethan Gannaway and Robert Grant. Davenport, Iowa: Fons Lumis Press, 2023.

"Poverty and Social Justice in Micah." Pages 208-23 in Cambridge Companion to the Hebrew Bible and Ethics. Edited by C. L. Crouch. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2021.

"Those at Ease Have Contempt for Misfortune: Biblical Approaches to Challenging Anti-Poor Sentiment." Pages 83-109 in Imagined Worlds and Constructed Differences. Edited by Jeremiah Cataldo. Library of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies. New York: Bloomsbury, 2019.

"The Church's Mission to Address Poverty in our Time." God, Mammon, and the Hope of the Poor: The First Testament and also in God, Mammon, and the Hope of the Poor: The Second Testament. Center and Library for the Bible and Social Justice Series on Bible and Economics: Edited by Matthew J.M. Coomber. Eugene: Cascade Books, forthcoming (under contract).

"Responding to Neoliberalism with Biblical Texts." Bible in the age of Capital: Challenges We Face and also in Bible in the age of Capital: What is Being Done. Center and Library for the Bible and Social Justice Series on Bible and Economics: Edited by Matthew J.M. Coomber. Eugene: Cascade Books, forthcoming (under contract).

"Debt" in Bible in the age of Capital: What is Being Done. Center and Library for the Bible and Social Justice Series on Bible and Economics: Edited by Matthew J.M. Coomber. Eugene: Cascade Books, forthcoming (under contract).

"Occupying the Temple in Ancient Judah: Resisting Debt Abuses, from Jerusalem to Wall Street," in Reading the Bible in an Age of Crisis: Political Exegesis for a New Day. Edited by Bruce Worthington and Jonathan Bernier. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2015.

"Micah's Date." Page li, in Micah. Authored by Julia O'Brien. Wisdom Commentary Series. Chicago: Liturgical Press, 2015.

"Women and Land Seizure in Micah." Pages 25-26 in Micah. Authored by Julia O'Brien. Wisdom Commentary Series. Chicago: Liturgical Press, 2015.

"Justice and Power," Pages 89-90 in Micah. Authored by Julia O'Brien. Wisdom Commentary Series. Chicago: Liturgical Press, 2015.

"Reading the Old Testament in Ancient and Contemporary Contexts." Pages 5-29 in Fortress Commentary on the Bible: The Old Testament and Apocrypha. Edited by Gale A. Yee, Hugh R. Page, Jr., and Matthew J.M. Coomber. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2014.

"Jonah." Pages 861-69 in Fortress Commentary on the Bible: The Old Testament and Apocrypha. Edited by Gale A. Yee, Hugh R. Page, Jr., and Matthew J.M. Coomber. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2014.

"Micah." Pages 870-84 in Fortress Commentary on the Bible: The Old Testament and Apocrypha. Edited by Gale A. Yee, Hugh R. Page, Jr., and Matthew J.M. Coomber. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2014.

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