Bruce K. Waltke (born August 30, 1930) is an American Reformed evangelical professor of Old Testament and Hebrew. He has held professorships in the Old Testament at Dallas Theological Seminary, Regent CollegeinVancouver, British Columbia, Westminster Theological SeminaryinPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, Reformed Theological SeminaryinOrlando, Florida, and Knox Theological SeminaryinFt. Lauderdale, Florida.
Bruce K. Waltke
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| Born | (1930-08-30) August 30, 1930 (age 93)
New Jersey, United States
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| Title | Professor of Old Testament and Hebrew |
| Board member of | Translation committee of the New American Standard Bible |
| Academic background | |
| Education |
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| Alma mater |
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| Thesis | Prolegomena to the Samaritan Pentateuch (1965) |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Biblical studies |
| Institutions | Dallas Theological Seminary Regent College Westminster Theological Seminary Reformed Theological SeminaryinOrlando, Florida Knox Theological Seminary |
| Notable works | Proverbs (NICOT) |
Waltke was born in New Jersey to parents in the Mennonite Brethren tradition. He received an A.B. from Houghton College, a Th.M. and Th.D. (Greek and New Testament) from Dallas Theological Seminary in 1956 and 1958, respectively, and a Ph.D. (Ancient Near Eastern Languages and Literature) from Harvard University in 1965. His first dissertation was titled "The Theological Significations of ʼanti and ʻuper in the New Testament,"[1] and his second was titled "Prolegomena to the Samaritan Pentateuch."[2] Additionally, Waltke has been awarded an honorary D.Litt. from Houghton College.
His teaching career as a professor of Old Testament consisted of Dallas Theological Seminary (1958–1976),[a] Regent College (1976–1985; 1991–1995), Westminster Theological Seminary (1986–1990), Reformed Theological Seminary (1990–2010), and Knox Theological Seminary (2011–).
Waltke served as president of the Evangelical Theological Society in 1975.[3]He was on the translation committee for the New American Standard Bible (NASB),[4] and has been on the Committee for Bible Translation (CBT), responsible for the New International Version (NIV), since its inception in 1974.[5] He is the only current member of the CBT who was on the original committee for the NIV.
Waltke's books include Intermediate Hebrew Grammar, Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax, Finding the Will of God: A Pagan Notion? (Eerdmans, 2016; ISBN 978-0802872678), Creation and Chaos, and commentariesonProverbs (New International Commentary on the Old Testament, 2 vols.), Micah (Tyndale Commentary Series), and with C. J. Fredricks Genesis (Zondervan 2001, ISBN 978-0-310-22458-7), which was a winner of the 2002 Gold Medallion Book Award.[6] He was co-editor for the Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, and he was the Old Testament editor for the Expositor's Bible Commentary series, the New Geneva Study Bible, and the Spirit of the Reformation Study Bible. He wrote An Old Testament Theology: An Exegetical, Canonical, and Thematic Approach, which received an ECPA Christian Book Award in 2008.[7]
Waltke has travelled widely as a Bible expositor, as an area supervisor for excavations at Gezer, Israel, and as the director of field study trips to the Middle East and the Classical world. He is married and has three grown children.[8]
AFestschrift entitled The Way of Wisdom: Essays in Honor of Bruce K. Waltke (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000; ISBN 0-310-22728-3) was edited by J. I. Packer and Sven K. Soderlund.
In April 2010, news reports emerged alleging that Waltke was asked to resign his professorship at the Reformed Theological Seminary because he advocated that evolution and Christianity were compatible in a video on the Biologos Foundation's website.[9][10] However, the RTS chancellor, Ric Cannada, later stated that this was not the case and that Waltke had submitted his resignation without solicitation.[11] Waltke himself clarified things: "Ric's acceptance of my resignation has only added to the emotional turmoil; I have received letters from many quarters condemning RTS for his action. In fact, I was asked to be interviewed about my resignation on ABC News with Diane Sawyer! Of course, I refused because I am certain it would have been spun to reflect negatively on RTS and the church. I find no fault with the RTS administration; in fact, I think they did the right thing."[12][13]
Waltke now serves with the clergy at an ACNA Anglican parish in Washington state.[14]
A Prominent Evangelical Bible Scholar Has Been Attacked for Proposing That Evolution May Be True