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Brennan W. Breed claims that biblical interpretation should focus on the shifting capacities of the text, viewing it as a dynamic process rather than a static product. Rather than seeking to determine the original text and its meaning, Breed proposes that scholars approach the production, transmission, and interpretation of the biblical text as interwoven elements of its overarching reception history. Grounded in the insights of contemporary literary theory, this approach alters the framing questions of interpretation from “What does this text mean?” to “What can this text do?”
Brennan W. Breed, MDiv ’06, is Associate Professor of Old Testament at Princeton Theological Seminary. He is the author of Nomadic Text: A Theory of Biblical Reception History (Indiana University Press), which was awarded the Manfred Lautenschlaeger Award for Theological Promise in 2016. He contributed to Carol A. Newsom’s Daniel: A Commentary in the Old Testament Library series (Westminster John Knox) and has edited several volumes on biblical reception and interpretation. His scholarship focuses on biblical wisdom literature and reception history.
Breed’s current research explores the intersection of biblical texts with ancient political, economic, and administrative systems, focusing on how Jewish scribes engaged with Ptolemaic administrative culture in the early Hellenistic period. He is working on commentaries on Daniel and Ecclesiastes, and continues to write for both scholarly and popular audiences about the ongoing use and relevance of biblical literature. Breed serves as a Main Editor for the Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception project, and he is on the editorial board of the Yale Anchor Bible Series, the Interpretation journal and series, and the Journal for the Study of the Old Testament.
As an ordained minister of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (USA), Breed pursues scholarship for the sake of the church and has a passion for teaching in congregational settings. He has served as theologian-in-residence at a variety of churches and has created online educational programs such as “Office Hours Bible Study” and “Sunday Morning Seminary.”Breed earned a BA in religion from the University of Virginia, an MDiv from Princeton Seminary, and a PhD in Old Testament from Emory University. Prior to joining Princeton Seminary in 2025, he served as Associate Professor of Old Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary.
Wisdom literature, reception history, biblical art, politics and Bible, apocalyptic literature, Hellenistic Judaism, biblical theology, ancient economics
“Holy, Wholly, Holey: Ecclesiastes 4:17-5:6 in Text and Tradition.” Catholic Biblical Quarterly 86 (2024): 700-721. Coauthored with Davis Hankins.“Delighting in an Argument with God: Job’s Speeches and the Great Complaint.” Pages 111-130 in Hiobs Reden: Zwischen Selbstreflexion, Klage und Streit. Edited by Anja Marschall. Leipzig: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, 2024.“The Reception History of Isaiah: Unsealing the Book.” Pages 326-344 in The Cambridge Companion to the Book of Isaiah. Edited by Christopher Hays. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2024.
Introductory Biblical Hebrew
Bible and Visual Art
Biblical Theology
