David Jobling (born 1941) is a Canadian Old Testament scholar. He was professor of Old Testament language and literature at St. Andrew's College, Saskatoon. Jobling was a "mediating critic" between the schools of

structuralism In sociology, anthropology, archaeology, history, philosophy, and linguistics, structuralism is a general theory of culture and methodology that implies that elements of human culture must be understood by way of their relationship to a broader ...

and the

New Criticism New Criticism was a formalist movement in literary theory that dominated American literary criticism in the middle decades of the 20th century. It emphasized close reading, particularly of poetry, to discover how a work of literature functioned as ...

in biblical studies. He also combined

deconstruction The term deconstruction refers to approaches to understanding the relationship between text and meaning. It was introduced by the philosopher Jacques Derrida, who defined it as a turn away from Platonism's ideas of "true" forms and essences w ...

with both

liberation theology Liberation theology is a Christian theological approach emphasizing the liberation of the oppressed. In certain contexts, it engages socio-economic analyses, with "social concern for the poor and political liberation for oppressed peoples". In ...

and

feminist theology Feminist theology is a movement found in several religions, including Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Neopaganism, Baháʼí Faith, Judaism, Islam and New Thought, to reconsider the traditions, practices, scriptures, and theologies of those religi ...

. Norman K. Gottwald notes that Jobling "has been a leader of literary analysis of the Hebrew Bible", and has "made a great impact in his use of ideological criticism and his engagement with feminist criticism." Jobling wrote two volumes of ''The Sense of Biblical Narrative: Structural Analyses in the Hebrew Bible'' (1978 and 1986). He also wrote a commentary on 1 Samuel in the ''Berit Olam'' series (1998). He was President of the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies in 1992-93. In 2006, a ''

Festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

'' was published in his honor. ''Voyages in Uncharted Waters: Essays on the Theory and Practice of Biblical Interpretation in Honor of David Jobling'' included contributions from Norman K. Gottwald, David M. Gunn, and

Norman Habel Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Nor ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jobling, David Living people 1941 births Old Testament scholars Canadian biblical scholars University of Saskatchewan faculty