Two professors of the Hebrew bible offered a seminar “The Biblical Covenant and its Afterlife” sponsored by the Leiden Jewish Studies Network
The covenant arguably constitutes the core of biblical tradition: the Noachide covenant; the covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; the Mosaic covenant; and last but not least, God’s covenant with David and his descendants. Two notable professors joined a diverse group from the Religious Studies, Jewish Studies and Ancient Near Eastern communities at Leiden for a special session on June 8, 2026.
Prof. Robert Kawashima, from the Department of Religion and the Bud Shorstein Center for Jewish Studies at the University of Florida, explored the significance of the Mosaic covenant as it is embedded in the narratives of the wilderness in Exodus through Deuteronomy as a type of rite of passage. Kawashima writes primarily on the Hebrew Bible and other ancient myths and epics, which he focuses on through the lens of comparative literature. He is most notably the author of Biblical Narrative and the Death of the Rhapsode (Indiana UP, 2004) and The Archaeology of Ancient Israelite Knowledge (Indiana UP, 2022).
Prof. Stephen Russell, Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of History at John Jay College, City University of New York, explored the influence that the biblical idea of the covenant had in early-modern political theory, namely, in the work of Thomas Hobbes. Russell’s broader research focusses on the Hebrew Bible, on the social and legal world that produced it, and on the politics of the Bible's use in the modern world. His most recent book, A Lesson on Race: The Bible and the Morant Bay Rebellion in the Atlantic World (Cambridge, 2025), reveals the competing visions for race relations encoded in biblical slogans that were used to discuss Jamaica's 1865 Morant Bay Rebellion.
Mr. Daan Sikkens, who attended the event, noted that “the opportunity to attend an event in which established and foremost scholars of religion discuss their latest research about how people experience and interpret religious texts was one I, as a recent MA graduate in Religious Studies, could not miss out on. Both Robert’s and Stephen’s interpretation and analysis of the concept of the ‘Covenant’ in their respective contexts was striking. I was particularly intrigued about the idea of ‘leisure’ as an import aspect to the Sabbath.” Another attendee, Ms. Nasreen Javanjoo, reflected that “as a graduate from the MA Religious Studies, I’m always looking for ways to stay connected to my field of study and to keep learning about how people understand and express their religious identities. I was particularly intrigued by Stephen and Robert’s talk about the concept of ‘covenant’ in the Hebrew Bible as I am especially interested in the many different ways in which people today (re)interpret and engage with ancient religious texts in their daily lives. It was an absolute pleasure not only to gain a new perspective on these texts from two excellent scholars, but also to connect with others who share similar research interests.”
The Leiden Jewish Studies Network was established at Leiden in 2025. For more information on upcoming and past events please see our website.
