Robert S. Walker

Hebrew Bible/Septuagint

Second Temple Judaism

Ancient Texts and Text-Cultures

Scribal Practice

Linguistics

Egyptology

Biography

MPhil, University of Cambridge; PhD, University of Cambridge

Robert Walker completed a PhD in Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Cambridge in January 2025 and is currently employed as an Affiliated Lecturer in New Testament Greek at the Faculty of Divinity, University of Cambridge. He also serves as an Undergraduate Supervisor in the Faculty of Divinity and Faculty of Linguistics.

Research

Robert's research focuses on the cultural and literary interaction between various ancestral traditions in the ancient world. His doctoral dissertation "Conceptualizing Variation in Greek Exodus and Postclassical Greek" not only contextualises linguistic variation in the Greek Pentateuch within the broader developments of the Greek language, but also frames Jewish translation practice within the biological realities of bilingual cognitive processing.

His publications include articles/chapters in The Journal for the Study of Judaism in the Persian, Hellenistic and Roman Period; The Journal of Septuagint and Cognate Studies; The Septuagint in its Ancient Context: Philological, Historical and Theological Approaches; and T&T Clark’s Handbook to Hellenistic Jewish Literature in Greek. He currently serves as a series editor on the forthcoming De Gruyter book series ‘Studies on the Septuagint within the History of Greek,’ and is also an editor on the forthcoming collected edition, Postclassical Greek and Cultural Identity in the Septuagint; In Memoriam: James K. Aitken (1968-2023).

Publications

Key publications:

Edited Series/Volumes:

Bentein, Klaas, Marieke Dhont, Trevor Evans, Andrew Keenan, and Robert Walker, Series Editors. Studies on the Septuagint within the History of Greek. Berlin: De Gruyter, forthcoming 2025- .
Keenan, Andrew T., and Robert S. Walker, eds. Postclassical Greek and Cultural Identity in the Septuagint; In Memoriam: James K. Aitken (1968-2023). Studies on the Septuagint within the History of Greek. Berlin: De Gruyter, forthcoming 2025.

Journal Articles and Book Chapters:

Horton, Tyler, Andrew Keenan, and Robert Walker. “Limitless Dimensions of LXX Words.” In Postclassical Greek and Cultural Identity in the Septuagint; In Memoriam: James K. Aitken (1968-2023), eds. Andrew T. Keenan and Robert S. Walker. Berlin: De Gruyter, forthcoming 2025.
Walker, Robert S. “The Testaments of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” In T&T Clark Handbook to Hellenistic Jewish Literature in Greek. London: Bloomsbury, forthcoming 2025.
Walker, Robert S. “Interrogatives in the Greek Pentateuch: The ‘Why’ (tí hóti) of Translation Technique.” In The Septuagint: Multilateral Focus on the Text, ed. Helena Panczová. Turnhout: Brepols, 2024.
Horton, Tyler, Andrew Keenan, Timothy Lee, Robert Walker, Travis Wright, and Marieke Dhont. “Additional Evidence of Semantic and Syntactic Sensitivity in the Septuagint.” Journal for the Study of Judaism 54, 4-5 (2023): 606-645.
Walker, Robert S. “Dative Alternation within Septuagint Exodus in light of Post-classical Greek.” Journal of Septuagint and Cognate Studies 56 (2023): 151-170.
Walker, Robert. “Review of Leviticus: A Commentary on Leueitikon in Codex Vaticanus, by Mark Awabdy.” Journal of Septuagint and Cognate Studies 55 (2022): 185-187.