Dr John Bimson is Tutor in Old Testament at Trinity College, Bristol.
John studied at Sheffield University where he did his degree and postgraduate research at the Department of Biblical Studies in the 1970s. His doctoral research was on the historicity and setting of the Exodus and Conquest. He spent two years at Tyndale House in Cambridge doing research on the patriarchal narratives. He joined the faculty at Trinity in 1981.
His special interests include the historical and archaeological background to the Old Testament as a tool for understanding it, and he has taken part in excavations in Israel. He is also interested in environmental issues and in developing a biblical perspective on creation care. In recent years he has become a regular speaker on such topics. Read his short note on Job 38-39 on the Operation Noah website: http://www.operationnoah.org/notes-on-job.
He is committed to demonstrating the continuing importance and relevance of the Old Testament.
He is married to Maya and they have two sons. His hobbies include birdwatching, writing and walking
Publications (selected)
‘Reconsidering a Cosmic Fall’, Science and Christian Belief 18/1, 2006, 63-81.
(When) Did it Happen? New Contexts for Old Testament History (Cambridge: Grove, 2003). See box below.
‘Joseph: an Egyptian vizier?’, ‘The Israelite Exodus; myth or reality?’, and ‘Who was ‘King Shishak of Egypt’?’, in B. Manley (ed), The Seventy Great Mysteries of Ancient Egypt (London: Thames & Hudson, 2003). See box below.
‘Who is "this" in "Who is this" (Job 38.2)? A Response to Karl G. Wilcox’, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, 87, 2000, 125-128.
‘Iron Age Palestine: The Need for Chronological Revision’, Journal of the Ancient Chronology Forum, 8, 1999, 57-65.
‘Bringing the Past to Life’, ‘Nomadic Life’ and ‘Settled Life’, in D.Alexander and P. Alexander (eds), The Lion Handbook to the Bible, 3rd edn. (Oxford: Lion, 1999).
Introduction to A. Edersheim, The Temple: Its Ministry and Services as they were at the Time of Jesus Christ, illustrated edition (Aylesbury: Angus Hudson, 1997), 7-21.
Illustrated Encyclopedia of Bible Places (Consulting Editor and Contributor) (Leicester: IVP, 1995).
‘I-II Kings’, in D. A. Carson, R. T. France, J. A. Motyer and G. J. Wenham (eds), New Bible Commentary: 21st Century Edition (Leicester: IVP, 1994), 334-387.
‘Shishak and Shoshenq: a case of mistaken identity?’, Journal of the Ancient Chronology Forum, 6, 1992, 19-32.
‘Merenptah’s Israel and Recent Theories of Israelite Origins’, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, 49, 1991, 3-29.
‘The Philistines: their origins and chronology reassessed’, Journal of the Ancient Chronology Forum, 4, 1990, 58-76.
Travel Diary of the Holy Land (Tring: Lion, 1989).
‘The Origins of Israel in Canaan: an examination of recent theories’, Themelios, vol. 15, no. 1, 1989, 4-15.
The World of the Old Testament (London: Scripture Union, 1988).
‘Exodus and Conquest – Myth or Reality? Can Archaeology Provide the Answer?’, Journal of the Ancient Chronology Forum 2, 1988, 27-40.
‘Redating the Exodus’ (with D. Livingston), Biblical Archaeology Review, vol. XIII, no. 5, 1987, 40-53, 66-68.
New Bible Atlas (contributing editor with J. P. Kane) (Leicester: IVP, 1985).
Redating the Exodus and Conquest (Sheffield: JSOT, 1978; 2nd edition Sheffield: Almond Press, 1981).
‘Archaeological data and the dating of the patriarchs’, in A. R. Millard and D. J. Wiseman (eds), Essays on the Patriarchal Narratives (Leicester: IVP, 1980), 59-92.
