Lisbeth S. Fried

Visiting Scholar
Department of Middle Eastern Studies, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48104
lizfried@umich.edu

Home:  2826 Provincial Dr, Ann Arbor, MI

Publications :
Books:
Nehemiah, a Commentary (Sheffield Phoenix Critical Commentary Series; Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix Press), 2021.
Ezra, a Commentary (Sheffield Phoenix Critical Commentary Series; Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix Press), 2015, rev. ed. 2017.
Routledge Encyclopedia of Ancient Mediterranean Religions, edited with Eric Orlin, Michael Satlow, Jennifer Knust, and Michael Pregill. (London: Routledge), 2015.
Ezra and the Law in History and Tradition. Studies on Personalities of the Old Testament, James Crenshaw, series editor. (Columbia, S.C.: University of South Carolina Press), 2014.
Was 1 Esdras First? An Investigation into the Priority and Nature of 1 Esdras. L.S. Fried, Ed. (Ancient Israel and Its Literature, 7; Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature), 2011.
The Priest and the Great King: Temple Palace Relations in the Persian Empire. BJSUCSD
10 (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns), 2004.

Articles:
Who Was Nehemiah? Journal of Hebrew Scriptures, in press.
1 Esdras, in The Apocrypha and Septuagint, James Aitken and Bruce Longenecker, eds., in press. Ancient Literature for New Testament Studies (Zondervan Academic), in press.
Ezra’s Absence from Qumran, in Ezra and Qumran, Charlotte Hempel, ed., in press
The Changing Laws of Sukkot. In Sandra Jacobs, ed. The Dynamics of Early Judaean Law: Studies in the Diversity of Ancient Social and Communal Legislation (Berlin and Boston: de Gruyter), in press.
With Edward J. Mills, “Ezra as Soper.” In Johannes Ro and Benjamin Giffone, eds. Scribalism in the Hebrew Bible (Mohr Siebeck, FAT II, 2022).
Does Ishmael Molest Isaac? In www.thetorah.com. Sept. 2021.
Bury Me with My Fathers: A Voluntary or a Forced Return Migration? In Pamela Barmash and Mark W. Hamilton, eds., The Long Sixth Century: The Ancient Near East from Assurbanipal to Darius (Atlanta: SBL), 2021:77-96.
Sukkot as Resistance in the Book of Nehemiah, in Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra-Nehemiah, II, edited by Athalya Brenner and Gale A. Lee. Texts@Contexts, vol. 2. (London/New York: T. & T. Clark Ltd.), 2021:191-201.
Text Critical Issues in Ezra-Nehemiah, in Brad Kelle and Brent Strawn, eds., The Oxford Handbook on the Historical Books of the Hebrew Bible, New York: Oxford University Press, 2020.
Aramaic Texts and the Achaemenid Administration of Egypt, in C. Tuplin, and J. Ma, eds. Aršāma and his World: The Bodleian Letters in Context, vol. iii. Arshama’s Peoples, Oxford University Press, 2020:278-290.
Annotations of 4 Ezra, in Jonathan Klawans and Lawrence Wills, eds., The Oxford Jewish Annotated Apocrypha, Oxford University Press, 2020: 345-85.
Evidence for Jeremiah in Chronicles and Ezra, in James West and Niels Peter Lemche, eds, Jeremiah in History and Tradition (Copenhagen International Seminar Series, ed. Ingrid Hjelm and Emanuel Pfoh), Routledge, 2020:71-80.
Can the Book of Nehemiah Be Used as an Historical Source, and of What?, in Łukasz Niesiołowski-Spanò and Emanuel Pfoh (eds.), Biblical Narratives, Archaeology and Historicity: Essays in Honour of Thomas L. Thompson (Library of Hebrew Bible / Old Testament Studies Series; London: Bloomsbury T & T Clark), 2020:211-225.
150 Men at Nehemiah’s Table: The Role of the Governor’s Meals in the Achaemenid Provincial Economy. JBL 137 (2018): 819–829.
The Construction of Public Works in the Persian Empire: Nehemiah’s Wall as a Test Case. Transeuphratène 50 (2018) 39-47.
With Edward J. Mills, ‘The Image of the Messiah in Isaiah and Its Influence on Deuterocanonical Literature’, in Kristen de Troyer, ed., The Book of Isaiah in Deuterocanonical and Cognate Literature (DCLY; de Gruyter, 2018), 51-65.
Artaxerxes’ Letter and the Mission of Ezra—noch einmal.” In David M. Howard, et. al., eds “His Words Soar Above Him”: Biblical and Northwest Semitic Studies Presented to Charles R. Krahmolkov (AOAT; Münster: Ugarit-Verlag, 2017), 31-44.
Textual History of Ezra-Nehemiah, in Textual History of the Bible, Vol. 1C (eds. Armin Lange and Emanuel Tov; Leiden: Brill, 2017), 603-609.
No King in Judah? Mass Divorce in Judah and in Athens, in C. Waerzeggers and J. Silverman, eds., Political Memory in and after the Persian Period (Ancient Near Eastern Monographs 13; Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2015), 381-402.
Did Ezra Create Judaism? In Shamir Yonah, et. al. eds., Marbeh Hokma: Studies in the Bible and Ancient Near East in Memory of Victor Avigdor Hurowitz (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2015), 171-84.
Exploitation of Depopulated Land in Achaemenid Judah, in M.L. Miller, E. Ben Zvi, and G. N. Knoppers, eds. The Economy of Ancient Judah in its Historical Context (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2015), 149-62.
Sukkot in Ezra-Nehemiah and the Date of the Torah, in thetorah.com.  May 21, 2015.
The Torah of God as God: The Exaltation of the Written Law Code in Ezra-Nehemiah. In Nathan MacDonald and Izaak de Hulster, eds. Divine Presence and Absence in Exilic and Post-Exilic Judaism, Studies of the Sofja Kovalevskaja Research Group on Early Jewish Monotheism (FAT; Mohr Siebeck, 2013b), 283-300.
Cyrus and the Ten Lost Tribes, FEZANA Journal 27 (2) 2013:35-9.
Deus ex Machina and Plot Construction in Ezra 1-6. In M. J. Boda and L. M. Wray Beal, eds. Prophets and Prophecy in Ancient Israelite Historiography, (Eisenbrauns: Winona Lake, IN, 2013), 189-208.
The Role of the Governor in Persian Imperial Administration. In A. F. Botta, ed.; In the Shadow of Bezalel: Aramaic, Biblical, and Ancient Near Eastern Studies in Honor of Bezalel Porten. (Culture and History of the Ancient Near East; Leiden, Brill, 2013), 319-31.
Another Look at 1 Esdras: The Law Triumphant. In Jacob L. Wright, David Clines and Kent Richards, eds. Making a Difference:  Essays in Honor of Tamara C. Eskenazi, , (Sheffield: Sheffield-Phoenix Press, 2012), 132-38.
Ezra’s Use of Documents in the Context of Hellenistic Rules of Rhetoric. In I. Kalimi, ed. A New Perspective on Ezra-Nehemiah: Story and History, Literature and Interpretation, (Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 2012), 11-26.
The Artaxerxes Correspondence of Ezra 4, Nehemiah’s Wall, and Persian Provincial Administration, in A. M. Maeir, J., Magness, and L. H., Schiffman, eds., ‘Go Out and Study the Land’ (Judges 18:2): Archaeological, Historical and Textual Studies in Honor of Hanan Eshel. Supplement to the Journal for the Study of Judaism. (Leiden: Brill, 2012), 35-58.
Why the Story of the Three Youths? In eadem, ed. Was 1 Esdras First? An Investigation into the Nature and Priority of 1 Esdras. (SBL Symposium Series; Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2011), 79-88.
Something There Is That Doesn’t Love a Wall: The Crisis Created by the Wall Around Jerusalem. Transeuphratène 39 (2010) 77-87.
Because of the Dread Upon Them – Fear and Uncertainty in the Persian Empire. In John Curtis and St John Simpson (eds), The World of Achaemenid Persia: History, Art and Society in Iran and the Ancient Near East (Proceedings of a conference at the British Museum 29th September – 1st October 2005), (London: IBTauris Press), 2010: 457-69.
Temple Building in Ezra 1-6. In M. J. Boda and J. R. Novotny (eds.). From the Foundations to the Crenellations: Essays on Temple Building in the Ancient Near East and Hebrew Bible ( AOAT, 2010) 319-338.
The Concept of “Impure Birth” in Fifth Century Athens and Judea. In R. H. Beal, S. Holloway and J. Scurlock, eds. In the Wake of Tikva Frymer-Kensky: Tikva Frymer-Kensky Memorial Volume, (Gorgias Press, 2009) 121-42.
Who Wrote Ezra-Nehemiah and Why Did They? In M. J. Boda and P. Redditt, Unity and Disunity in Ezra-Nehemiah. (Hebrew Bible Monographs, 17; Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2008), 75-97.
From Xeno- Philia to -Phobia – Jewish Encounters with the Other. In Y. Levin, A Time of Change: Judah and its Neighbors During the Persian and Early Hellenistic Periods (London: T&T Clark, 2007), 179-204.
Did Second Temple High Priests Possess the Urim and Thummim? Journal of Hebrew Scriptures, Volume 7: Article 3 (2007).
Shaving Joseph: The Historical Background of Genesis 41:14. BAR 33 (4) 2007: 36-41,74.
Runner-up, Best of BAR 2007.
The House of the God Who Dwells in Jerusalem. Review article of P. Bedford’s Temple Restoration in Early Achaemenid Judah, 2001, and of J. Schaper’s Priester und Leviten im achaëmenidischen Juda, 2000,” in JAOS 126 (2006) 89-102.
Historians Can Use the Scientific Method. Transeuphratène 31, 2006, 125-27.
The ‘Am Hā’āretz in Ezra 4:4 and Persian Imperial Administration, in O. Lipschits and M. Oeming, eds. Judah and Judaeans in the Achaemenid Period (Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 2006), 123-45.
A Greek Religious Association in Second Temple Judah? A Comment on Nehemiah 10, Transeuphratène 30 (2005) : 77-96.
A Silver Coin of Yoḥanan Hakkôhen. Transeuphratène 26 (2003): 65-85, Pls. II-V.
A Governor of Byblos from Sippar. N.A.B.U. 36 (2003).
The Land Lay Desolate: Conquest and Restoration in the Ancient Near East, in O. Lipschits and J. Blenkinsopp, Judah and Judeans in the Neo-Babylonian Period (Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 2003), 21-54.
Cyrus the Messiah? The Historical Background to Isaiah 45:1. Harvard Theological Review 95 (2002): 373-93. Also published as “Cyrus the Messiah.” Bible Review 19.5 (2003): 26-33, 44.
The High Places (Bāmôt) and the Reforms of Hezekiah and Josiah: An Archaeological Investigation. Journal of the American Oriental Society 122 (2002): 437-65.
The Political Struggle of Fifth-Century Judah. Transeuphratène 24 (2002): 61-73.
You Shall Appoint Judges: Ezra’s Mission and the Rescript of Artaxerxes, in J. W. Watts, Persia and Torah: The Theory of Imperial Authorization of the Pentateuch, SBL Symposium Series (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2001): 63-89.
(With D. N. Freedman) “Was there a Jubilee Year in pre-Exilic Judah?” Excursus in J. Milgrom, Leviticus 23-27, Anchor Bible (2001):2257-70.
Toward the Ur-Text of Esther. JSOT 88 (2000) 49-57.
Book Reviews:
Review of Becoming Diaspora Jews: Behind the Story of Elephantine by Karel Van der Toorn, The Anchor Yale Bible Reference Library. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2019. Pp xi + 270, $65, Journal of the American Oriental Society. In press.
Review of The Edict of Cyrus and Notions of Restoration in Ezra-Nehemiah and Chronicles by Andrew M. Gilhooley (Hebrew Bible Monographs 89, Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2020), Review of Biblical Literature, published 2021-05-13.
Review of Reconsidering Nehemiah’s Judah by Deirdre N. Fulton. FAT 2/80, 2015, JTS, in press.
Review of Hasmonean Realities Behind Ezra, Nehemiah, and Chronicles, by Israel Finkelstein (SBL Press, Ancient Israel and Its Literature, Number 34, 2018), pp. vii-xi, 1-208; JAOS, in press.
Review of Gary N. Knoppers, Judah and Samaria in Postmonarchic Times: Essays on Their Histories and Literatures, Review of Biblical Literature., Aug. 2020.
With Ruth Scodel. Review of Women in Antiquity: Real Women across the Ancient World. Edited by Stephanie Lynn Budin and Jean Macintosh Turfa. Rewriting Antiquity. London: Routledge, 2016. Pp. xxxvi + 1074, illus. $240; JAOS 140.4, 2020:992-94.
Review of The Levites and the Boundaries of Israelite Identity by Mark Leuchter. Oxford University Press: 2017, RBL, in press.
Review of Leadership, Social Memory and Judean Discourse in the Fifth-Second Centuries bce. Edited by Diana V. Edelman and Ehud Ben Zvi. Worlds of the Ancient Near East and Mediterranean: Equinox, 2016. $100, hardback; $29.95, paperback; JHS in press.
Review of Susan Niditch’s, The Responsive Self: Personal Religion in Biblical Literature of the Neo-Babylonian and Persian Periods (The Anchor Yale Bible Reference Library; New Haven: Yale University Press, 2015), AJS Review, in press.
With Ruth Scodel, Daughters of Hecate: Women & Magic in the Ancient World. Edited by Kimberly B. Stratton and Dayna S. Kalleres (New York: Oxford University Press, 2014), JAOS, 183.3 (2018): 903-5.
Review of Deuteronomy-Kings as Emerging Authoritative Books: A Conversation. Edited by Diana V. Edelman. Ancient Near East Monographs, vol. 6. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2014. JAOS 137.2 (2017), 426-28.
Review of Israel in the Persian Period: The Fifth and Fourth Centuries B.C.E. By Erhard S Gerstenberger, translated by Siegfried S. Schatzmann. Biblical Encyclopedia, vol.8. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2011. Pp. xviii + 575. $65.95 (paper). JAOS 135.2 (2015), 368-9.
Review of Willa M. Johnson, The Holy Seed Has Been Defiled: The Interethnic Marriage Dilemma in Ezra 9-10. Hebrew Bible Monographs, 33; Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2011; JHS, 13, rev. 40.
Review of C. Cohen, V. (A.) Hurowitz, A. Hurvitz, Y. Muffs, B. Schwartz, and J. Tigay’s, Birkat Shalom: Studies in the Bible, Ancient Near Eastern Literature, and Postbiblical Judaism Presented to Shalom Paul on the Occasion of his Seventieth Birthday (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2008), JNES 72 (2013) 297-8.
Review of J. Blenkinsopp’s Judaism: The First Phase. The Place of Ezra and Nehemiah in the Origins of Judaism (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2009), JAOS 131.2 (2011) 308-9.
Review of K. M. Stott, Why Did They Write This Way? Reflections on References to Written Documents in the Hebrew Bible and Ancient Literature. (Library of Hebrew Bible/ Old Testament Studies 492; New York: T&T Clark, 2008), JHS (2010) Vol. 10.
Review of J. L. Berquist’s Approaching Yehud: New Approaches to the Study of the Persian Period. Semeia Studies 50 (2007), JAOS 129.4 (2009) 688-90.
Review of Melody D. Knowles, Centrality Practiced: Jerusalem in the Religious Practice of Yehud and the Diaspora in the Persian Period (Archaeology and Biblical Studies, 16; Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2006), JAOS 128.1 (2008): 161-2.
Review of Oded Lipschits, The Fall and Rise of Jerusalem (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2005), JAOS 128.1 (2008):162-4.
Review of S. Scholz, Introducing the Women’s Hebrew Bible (Introductions in Feminist Theology 13; London: T&T Clark, 2007), in Hebrew Studies 49 (2008) 101-103.
Review of M. E. Stevens, Temples, Tithes, and Taxes: The Temple and the Economic Life of Ancient Israel (Peabody, Mass: Hendrickson, 2006) in Interpretation 61 (2007):447-8.
Review of Sefer Moshe: the Moshe Weinfeld Jubilee Volume. Studies in the Bible and the Ancient Near East, Qumran, ad Post-Biblical Judaisms. Edited by H. Cohen, A. Hurvitz, and S. Paul, Journal of the American Oriental Society 125 (2005):339-40.
Review of D. S. Vanderhooft’s The Neo-Babylonian Empire and Babylon in the Latter Prophets, Harvard Semitic Museum Monographs 59 (Scholars Press, 1999), JAOS 122 (2002): 592-93.
Review of Rethinking the Foundations. Historiography in the Ancient World and in the Bible. Essays in Honour of John Van Seters, S. McKenzie, T. Roëmer, and H. Schmid, Eds. (De Gruyter), JAOS, 122, (2002): 135-36.
Review of Paul Heger’s Three Biblical Altar Laws, AJS Review 26 (2002): 109-11.
“Review of Edward Ball’s In Search of True Wisdom: Essays in Old Testament Interpretation in Honour of Ronald E. Clements (JSOT Sup., Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1999),” in M. A. Sweeney, ed. RBL 2001: 208-11.
“Review of Henry McKeating’s The Book of Jeremiah (Epworth Commentaries),” RBL, 2001: 208-11.
Encyclopedia and Dictionary Entries
2 Esdras in The Oxford Handbook of the Apocrypha,
Maadai; Maasmas; Machnadebai; Magbish; Mamdai; Mamitanemus, Encyclopedia of the Bible and its Reception, Vol 17 (De Gruyter: 2019).
Cyrus the Great, in The Oxford Dictionary of the Bible, W.R.F. Browning, ed, (Oxford University Press, 2009), 10.
Commentary on Pekudey – Another View. In The Reform Jewish Women’s Torah Commentary (New York: URJ Press, 2007), 560.
Commentary on Parashat Shemini. In The Reform Jewish Women’s Torah Commentary (New York: URJ Press, 2007), 615-29.
Esdras, First Book of. New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible (Abingdon Press, 2006).
4Q117 – 4QEzra, The Open Scrolls Project, www.openscrolls.org.
“Levites,” in Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible, 2000: 803-04.
“Levi,” in Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible, 2000: 802-03.
“Kohath,” in Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible, 2000: 778.
“Merari,” in Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible, 2000:885.
“Reader’s Guide to Chronicles,” in Readers’ Guide to Judaism, 2000: 115-16.
“Reader’s Guide to Ezra, Nehemiah,” in Readers’ Guide to Judaism, 2000: 176-177.

Books, Articles, and Reviews in Preparation:
Books:
Ruth, a Commentary (Sheffield Critical Commentary Series; Sheffield Phoenix Press: Sheffield, England).
Introduction to the Books of the Apocrypha and the Deuterocanonical Books, Oxford University Press; Oxford, England.
Reviews:
The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization. Vol. 1: Ancient Israel, from Its Beginnings through 332 BCE. Edited by Jeffrey H. Tigay and Adele Berlin. Lucerne: The Posen Foundation and New Haven: Yale University Press, 2021. Pp. lvii +538, illus. $200 (JAOS).
Voices from the Ruins: Theodicy and the Fall of Jerusalem in the Hebrew Bible, Dalit Rom-Shiloni, Eerdmans: Grand Rapids, 2021 (RBL).

Presentations and Invited Addresses:
“Bury Me with my Fathers? Why the Return from Exile?” Invited address, 2018 Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature; Denver.
“Writing a Commentary on Ezra-Nehemiah.” Invited address; 2017 Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature; Boston.
“The Messiah in Isaiah and Its Influence on Deuterocanonical Literature.” Invited address; 2016 Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature; San Antonio, TX.
“Nehemiah’s Wall: Public Works in Cities of the Persian Empire.” Invited Address IXe Colloque International sur la Transeuphratène à l’Époque Perse : Unité et Diversité 14-16 April 2016, Institut Protestant de Théologie de Paris, Paris.
“Nehemiah 5 and the Economics of Persian Period Judah.” Invited Address, Society of Biblical Literature, Atlanta, 2015.
“The Mass Divorce in Judah and Persian Imperial Administration,” Invited Address, Society of Biblical Literature, 2014.
“No King in Judah? The Mass Divorce under Ezra and Nehemiah,” Invited Address, Conference on Political Memory during and after the Persian Empire, Babylon ERC project, Leiden, 18-20 June, 2014
“The Temple Construction Narrative in Ezra 1-6,” Invited Address, Society of Biblical Literature, Baltimore, Nov. 2013.
“Allotment of Depopulated Land in the Achaemenid Empire,” Invited Address, European Society of Biblical Studies, Leipzig, July 2013.
“Inside a Persian Garrison: Achaemenid Egypt as Seen through the Elephantine Papyri.” Invited address, Conference on Arshama and Achaemenid Egypt. Oxford, UK, July 5-7, 2011.
“The Role of Empire in the Authorization of Torah-Law.” Invited address, SBL-International Meeting, London, July, 2011.
“Did YHWH Dwell in the Second Temple?” Invited address, Conference on Reflecting upon Divine Presence and Absence in the Exile and Persian Period (Göttingen, May 12-15 2011).
“Persian Administration of Empire: The Egyptian and Bactrian Evidence.” Invited addresses at the Universität Freiburg, Freiburg Switzerland, and at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, München, Germany, May 2011.
“Ezra ben Seraiah, Emissary of the Great King: Torah, Data’, and the Mission of Ezra.” Invited Address, Conference in Honor of Baruch A. Levine, New York University, Nov. 8, 2010
“‘Something There is That Doesn’t Love a Wall’: The Crisis Created by the Wall Around Jerusalem.” Invited Address. VIIIe Colloque International sur la Transeuphratène à l’Époque perse: Crises et autres difficultés. 8-10 April, 2010.
“Implications of 5th and 4th Century Documents for Understanding the Role of the Governor in Persian Imperial Administration.” Invited address for a Plenary Session at the World Congress of Jewish Studies XV, Jerusalem, 2009.
“Deus ex Machina: The Role of the Prophetic Voice in Ezra 5:1.” Invited address to the Canadian Society for Biblical Studies, May 24-26 at Carleton University, Ottawa, ON.
“Who Said Jews Can’t Intermarry Anyway?”, invited address at Beth Israel Congregation, Ann Arbor, Michigan, Dec. 2008.
“My Father was a Wandering Aramean: Ethnic Identity at Elephantine and in Persian Period Yehud.” Society of Biblical Literature, Nov. 2008, Boston.
“Who Was a Jew? Perceptions of Ethnic Identity at Elephantine,” Bar Ilan Conference on Ethnic Identity in Antiquity; June 26, 2008, Bar Ilan, Israel.
“The Concept of “Impure Birth” in Fifth Century Athens and Judea.” Memorial Panel for Tikva Frymer-Kenski. Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, San Diego, Nov. 2007.
“Why the Story of the Three Youths, i.e., Why 1st Esdras?” Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, San Diego, Nov. 2007.
“Prophetic Foundations of Jewish Culture,” invited address to the Seminar on Foundations of Jewish Culture, University of Michigan, September 19, 2006.
“Yohanan Hakkohen, A Second-Temple Priest with Urim and Thummim,” Society of Biblical Literature’s 125th Anniversary Program; The 2005 Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, Nov. 2005.
“Because of the Dread Upon Them.” The World of the Achaemenid Empire – Conference of the Iran Heritage Foundation, London, September 29- October 1, 2005.
“From Optimism to Doubt – Jewish Encounters with the Other.” Session on Jewish Responses to Hellenism in the 4th Century BCE, World Congress of Jewish Studies, Jerusalem, July 31-Aug. 4, 2005. Invited address.
“Respondent on a Panel Discussion of my The Priest and the Great King.” Persian Period Group. National Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, San Antonio, TX, Nov. 2004. Invited respondent.
“The Status of Megiddo in the Persian Empire.” The Megiddo Excavations, Israel, July 2004. Invited address.
“Who Wrote Ezra-Nehemiah? And Why Did They?” Paper presented at the National Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, Nov. 2003, Atlanta.
“A Religious Association in Second Temple Judah? A Comment on Nehemiah 10,” VIéme Colloque International sur La Transeuphratène à L’Époque Perse, Paris, November 6-8, 2003. Invited address.
“The Role of the Temple in the Achaemenid Empire,” 2003 International SBL, Cambridge England, July 20-25.
“The ‘Am Ha’Aretz and Achaemenid Imperial Policy,” Conference on Judah and Judaeans in the Achaemenid Period, Heidelberg, July 16-18, 2003. Invited address.
“The Rise to Power of the Judaean Priesthood: The Impact of the Achaemenid Empire,” January 16, 2003, Hebrew University, Jerusalem. Invited address.
“Priests and Politics in a Persian Province,” January 17, 2003, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Be’er Sheva. Invited address.
“The ‘People of the Land’ – A New Look,” Annual Conference of the Association of Jewish Studies, Los Angeles, December, 2002.
“Response to ‘Cult, Priesthood, and Temple’,” International Conference on the 6th Century BCE: Between Myth and Reality, Tel Aviv, May, 2001. Invited respondent.
“You Shall Appoint Judges: Ezra’s Mission and the Rescript of Artaxerxes,” National Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, Nashville, Nov. 2000.
“Cyrus, the Messiah? The Historical Background to Isaiah 45:1,” Presented at the National Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, Nashville, Nov. 2000.
“Cyrus and the Priests of Marduk,” Presented at the Midwest Meeting of The American Oriental Society, Chicago, 2000.
“An Achaemenid Governor in Jerusalem’s Court,” Presented at the Society of Iranian Studies Biennial Conference, Bethesda, May, 1998.
“The High Places (Bāmôt) and the Reforms of Hezekiah and Josiah,” National Meeting of the American Oriental Society, New Orleans, April, 1998.
“The Political Struggle in Fifth Century Judah,” Presented at the AAR/SBL Annual Meeting, San Francisco, November, 1997.
“Third Isaiah and the Zadokite Priesthood.” Presented at the AAR/SBL Annual Meeting, Kansas City, November, 1991.
“Third Isaiah and the Temple Cult: A New Interpretation of Isaiah 66:3-4a.” AAR/SBL Midwest Region. Chicago, February, 1991.

November, 2021