Harvard-educated.
Professor of Old Testament.
Scholar of the Bible and Hebrew Language.

Dr. Vivian L. Johnson PhD

EDUCATION

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Cambridge, MA

Ph.D. | Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations in Hebrew Bible

HARVARD DIVINITY SCHOOL
Cambridge, MA

MTS | Thesis: “Was Isaac Sacrificed?”

WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY
Middletown, CT

BA | Religious Studies

LANGUAGES

Biblical Hebrew

Aramaic

Ugaritic

Akkadian

Northwest Semitic Epigraphy

Greek

Egyptian Hieroglyphics

PUBLICATIONS

David in Distress: His Portrait Through the Historical Psalms. April 2009. T & T Clark International.

“Esther (Greek).” Fortress Commentary on the Bible. October 2014. Fortress Press.

“The Letter of Jeremiah.” Biblia Africana. May 2009. Augsburg Fortress Publishers.

Review of Jeroboam’s Wife, by R. Gallagher Branch. Biblical Interpretation 18 (2010): 452–54. Brill Publishers.

“The Hebrew language invites us into holy play. Scripture is not a locked vault waiting to be decoded, but a playground of delight with wordplay, double meanings, and hidden connections. Learning even the Hebrew alphabet opens doors you did not know were there.”

With more than twenty-five years of teaching Biblical Hebrew, I have introduced hundreds of readers to the language behind much of Scripture. I serve as Professor of Old Testament and have taught Biblical Hebrew in the Harvard Divinity School Summer Language Program for over two decades. I hold a Ph.D. in Hebrew Bible from Harvard University in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations and an MTS from Harvard Divinity School.

Long before my doctoral studies, my journey took shape in a childhood marked by poverty and by the influence of my grandmother’s Pentecostal pulpit. In that environment, Scripture was not merely a spiritual resource; it was a practical guide for life and a pathway out of poverty. I took Paul’s words to heart that I could “do all things through Christ who strengthens me,” receiving them as a personal affirmation rather than a familiar cliché. Faith and poverty met early in my life. Poverty gave me the grit to leave it behind. Faith gave me the confidence that I could.

Diving deeper into the Old Testament has both strengthened my faith and shaped the direction of my scholarship. My research often focuses on narratives that highlight God’s involvement in human life. My book David in Distress: His Portrait Through the Historical Psalms revisits the story of King David and draws attention to the way David consistently turned to God in prayer during moments of crisis. My contributions to the Fortress Commentary on the Bible and Biblia Africana likewise explore themes of suffering and dependence on God in apocryphal literature. My current research on Leviticus examines how its rituals reveal a God who provides a way of life for his people.

This kind of work requires careful attention to language. My graduate studies required learning multiple ancient languages, including Biblical Hebrew, Aramaic, Ugaritic, Akkadian, Northwest Semitic epigraphy, and Greek. Acquiring these languages gave me a broad understanding of the linguistic and cultural world of the Old Testament and continues to shape the way I read and interpret the text.

Among these languages, Biblical Hebrew remains central. Engagement with the Hebrew text reveals what translation simply cannot convey. Hebrew words often carry more than one possibility, and careful attention to the language invites readers to encounter familiar passages in new ways. This conviction lies at the heart of Scripture in Color, an effort to illuminate the richness of meaning present in the Hebrew text by inviting readers to learn the language itself.

Through this work, I invite readers to engage more closely with the original tongue of the Bible. By investing in the study of the Hebrew language, we can deepen our relationship with the God it reveals.

Let’s explore together

Learn to read Scripture through the lens of the Hebrew language and rediscover the brilliance and color already present in the text. I invite you to engage with my teaching, speaking, and study opportunities below.