Alexey Somov

Education

• 2014: Ph.D. in Biblical Studies, Dissertation "Representations of the Afterlife in Luke-Acts", VU University Amsterdam, the Netherlands
• 2008: Th.M., Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, NJ, USA
• 2004: Th.M., St. Philaret's Orthodox Christian Institute in Moscow, Russia
• 2001: B.A., St. Philaret's Orthodox Christian Institute in Moscow, Russia
• 1993: M.Sc. in Engineering, the State Academy of Oil and Gas, Moscow, Russia

Professional Experience

• 2017-: Associate Professor of the New Testament, St. Philaret's Orthodox Christian Institute in Moscow, Russia
• 2014-: Translation Consultant,?The Institute for Bible Translation (IBT), Russia/CIS
• 2008-2014: Translation Advisor, The Institute for Bible Translation (IBT), Russia/CIS
• 2005-2007: Assistant of the Translation Departement, The Institute for Bible Translation (IBT), Russia/CIS
• 2004-2017: Senior Lecturer (the Old and New Testament), St. Philaret's Orthodox Christian Institute in Moscow, Russia
• 2003-2004: Lecturer (the Old and New Testament), St. Philaret's Orthodox Christian Institute in Moscow, Russia
• 2002-2007, 2010-2013: Exegetical Editor, The Institute for Bible Translation (IBT), Russia/CIS

Research Fellowships

• 2019-2020 – Research fellow at the Centre for Advanced Studies, Research Project "Beyond Canon" (FOR 2770), Universit?t Regensburg, Germany
• 2019: Senior Research fellow at the Laboratory of Oriental Studies and Comparative Historical Linguistics at the School of Contemporary Humanitarian Research of the Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration
• 2014-: Research fellow, Department of the Old and New Testament (Faculty of Theology), University of Stellenbosch, South Africa
• 2013-2015: Research fellowship in Biblical Translation Studies, Russian Humanitarian Research Foundation, Russia

Colloquia Leadership

• 2019: "Stories and Images of Human Beings in the New Testament and Church Tradition", 8th International East-West Symposium of New Testament Scholars, Anthropology and Eschatology Seminar, Caraiman Monastery, Romania (co-chairing)
• 2018: "Enoch Within and Outside the Books of Enoch: Parabiblical Writings, Iconography and Oral Tradition (EABS Section) at the SBL International Meeting, Helsinki, Finland (co-chairing)
• 2017-2019: "Food as Concept / Symbol / Metaphor Consultation", Sections at the SBL International Meetings (co-chairing)
• 2016: "History and Theology in the Gospel Narrative", 7th East-West Symposium of New Testament Scholars, Luke Seminar Session, Moscow, Russia?(co-chairing)
• 2016: "The Pauline Epistles", International Conference jointly conducted by The Institute for Bible Translation (IBT), Russia/CIS, St. Thomas Catholic Institute, St. Andrew's Biblical-Theological Institute, Moscow, Russia (co-chairing)
• 2013-2014: "Space, Place, and Identity in the Ancient Mediterranean World", Section at the SBL International Meetings (co-chairing)

Professional Affiliations

• Society of Biblical Literature (SBL)
• European Association of Biblical Studies (EABS)
• The Society of the New Testament Studies (SNTS)

Other Professional Activities

• Official respondent to Fred Tappenden’s seminar paper ‘“In my Flesh I am Filling up what is Lacking …”: at the 74th General Meeting SNTS, Marburg, Germany, July 30th –August 2nd 2019
• Reviewer at “The Bible Translator” (TBT), the Catholic Biblical Quarterly (CBQ), Theologische Literaturzeitung, “The Quarterly Journal of St. Philaret's Institute,” and “Orientalistica” Research Journals, 2017-present

Monographs

• A. Somov: Representations of the Afterlife in Luke-Acts, LNTS 59 (London 2017).

Articles published or officially accepted as peer-reviewed publications

English:

• A. Somov, ?“Abraham as a Model of Hospitality in the Palaea and Cognate Literature”, Abraham as Ritual Model in Judaic, Christian, and Islamic Contexts, ed. by Thomas R. Blanton IV and Claudia D. Bergmann (Leiden: Brill, forthcoming).
• I. Miroshnikov, A. Somov. “A New Look at Enoch and Elijah in the Apocalypse of Elijah.” Pages 197-223 in: Christian Discourse in Late Antiquity: Hermeneutical, Institutional and Textual Perspectives. Edited by Anders Christian Jacobsen and Anna Usacheva. Paderborn: Ferdinand Sch?ningh, 2020.
• A. Somov, “The Image of Melchizedek in the Epistle to the Hebrews and in the Jewish Texts of the Second Temple Period.” The Quarterly Journal of St. Philaret’s Institute. 36 (2020): 230–248.
• A. Somov, ?“Resurrection of the Dead,” in The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 4th-ed., ed. By F. L. Cross, E. A. Livingstone, Andrew Louth (updating the existed article) 2022.
• A. Somov, ??‘The Martyrdom of Daniel and the Three Youths. The Legend about Their Death and Resurrection in Eastern Church Hagiography’, in: Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha. 30.4 (2021): 198-227.
• A. Somov, ??“Resurrection of the Righteous Sufferers in the New Testament: The Case of Matt 27:52–53.” Pages 357-372 in: The Gospel of Matthew in Its Historical and Theological Context: Papers from the International Conference in Moscow, September 24 to 28, 2018. Edited by Mikhail Seleznev, William R. G. Loader, and Karl-Wilhelm Niebuhr WUNT. Tübengen: Mohr Siebeck, 2021.
• A. Somov, “Resurrection and the Afterlife,” in The Oxford Handbook of the Synoptic Gospels. Edited by Stephen P. Ahearne-Kroll, Oxford (forthcoming).
• A. Somov, “Jesus’ Banquet Etiquette (Luke 14:7-14) and the Heavenly Banquet.” Pages 359-371 in: History and Theology in the Gospels. Edited by T. Nicklas, K.-W. Niebuhr & M. Seleznev. WUNT 447, Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2020.
• A. Somov, “Physicians”, in: LXX Ps 87:11 and Isa 26:14: The Septuagint Rendering as a Polemic against the Hellenistic Cultural-Religious Environment. Journal of Septuagint and Cognate Studies (JSCS) 52 (2019), 145-156.

• A. Somov, Afterlife, in:?P.J.J. van Geest and B.J. Lietaert Peerbolte (eds.), Brill Encyclopedia of Early Christianity, (Leiden 2018).

• A. Somov, The Dove in the Story of Jesus’ Baptism: Early Christian Interpretation of a Jewish Image, in: The Bible Translator 69.2 (2018), 240-251.

• A. Somov and V. Voinov, Translating ‘Abraham’s Bosom’ (Luke 16:22-23) as a Key Metaphor in the Overall Composition of the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, in: Catholic Biblical Quarterly 79.4 (2017), 615-633.

• A. Somov, Metaphorical Representations of the Biblical Concepts of Death and Resurrection When Translating in a Buddhist context, in: The Bible Translator, 68.1 (2017), 51-63.

• A. Somov, ’He lifted up his eyes’: Translating Luke 16:23 in the Context of Cognitive Interpretation, in: Journal of Biblical Text Research 35 (2014), 291-309.

Russian:

• A. Somov, Ancient Views on the Upright Human Posture and the New Testament Concept of Resurrection, in: Orientalistica 2.3 (2019), 752–768.

• A. Somov, “Or Physicians Will Raise Up…” (Ps 87:11; Isa 26:14): a Septuagint Polemic against the Hellenistic Cult of Asclepius?, in: The Quarterly Journal of St. Philaret's Institute 25 (2018), 138-157.

• A. Somov et. al., Paul’s Letters: A Commentary (Moscow 2017).

• A. Somov, The Dove in the Story about Jesus’ Baptism, in:The Quarterly Journal of St. Philaret's Institute 14 (2015), 67-79.

• A. Somov, Cognitive Metaphor Theory as an Interpretation Approach to the Holy Scripture, in: Pages: Theology, Culture, Education 18.3 (2014), 501-508.

• A. Somov, Some Aspects of Gospels’ Ideas About the Resurrection From the Dead in the Context of Cognitive Metaphor Theory, in: Text Research 6 (2014), 101-112.

• A. Somov, The Conceptions of the Afterlife in Luke: Unity or Diversity, in: New Testament Studies: Problems and Perspectives (Moscow 2014), 130 -143.

• A. Somov, The Concept of the Resurrection from the Dead in the Worldview of the Authors of Biblical and Cognate Literature, in: Religious Studies Research 7-8 (2013), 169-194.

• A. Somov, Bible Translation into Languages with a Traditional Buddhist Culture, in: Rodnoy Jazyk 1 (2013), 93-116.

• A. Somov, The Canon of the Old Testament: History, Problems, and Research Prospects, in: The Quarterly Journal of St. Philaret's Institute 4 (2011), 9-35.

• A. Somov, Some Features of the Views on the Afterlife in the Worldview Represented in Jewish Literature of the Second Temple Period and in the New Testament, in: Religious Studies Research 5-6 (2011), 74-90.

• A. Somov, The Conceptions of Angels in the Qumran Community, in: Religious Studies 1 (2011), 3-9.

• A. Somov, A. Tkachenko, Enoch, the Third Book of, in: Russian Orthodox Encyclopedia 18 (Moscow 2008), 480-484.

• A. Somov, A. Tkachenko, Enoch, the Second Book of, in: Russian Orthodox Encyclopedia 18 (Moscow 2008), 475-480.

• A. Somov, A. Tkachenko, Enoch, the First Book of, in: Russian Orthodox Encyclopedia 18 (Moscow 2008), 468-475.

• A. Somov, The Image of the Peacemaker in Biblical and Postbiblical Literature, in: The Culture of Interpretation (Moscow 2008), 94-124.

Conference Presentations

• March 2022. “The authority of the old for producing the new: Bible translations in Russia in the 21st?century,” Retranslating the Bible and the Qur’an: Tensions between Authoritative Translations and Retranslations in Theory and in Practice International Conference, KU Leuven, Belgium (online).

• November 2021, “The Hospitality of Abraham in the Palaea and Cognate Literature,” 2021 SBL Annual Meeting, San Antonio, TX (online).

• July 2021, “Matt 27:52-53 and the Legend about the Martyrdom of Daniel and His Three Companions in Eastern Orthodox Bible Interpretation,”? a short paper at the 75th General SNTS Meeting, Leuven, Belgium (online).

• September 2019: “The Dove in Mark’s Story of Jesus’ Baptism,” “The Gospel of Mark in its historical and theological context” International Conference, Moscow

• July 30–August 2 2019: “Individual Resurrection in the New Testament: The Case of Matt 27:52-53,” a short paper at the 74th General Meeting SNTS, Marburg, Germany

• July 2019: “Food and Drink in the Kingdom of God? New Testament Views on the World-to-Come,” SBL International Meeting, Rome

• May 2019: “Ancient Views on the Upright Human Posture as a Mark of Immortality and New Testament Resurrection Imagery,” the Eighth International East-West Symposium of New Testament Scholars,” Anthropology and Eschatology Seminar, Caraiman Monastery, Romania

• April 2019: “The Resurrection of the Flesh and the Identity of the Community of the Faithful in Early Christianity,” the International Theological Conference “The Identity of the People of God in the Bible, History and Theology,” Saint Petersburg, Russia

• July 30–Aug 3 2018: “The Function of Enoch and Elijah in the Eschatological Scenario of the Apocalypse of Elijah” (together with Ivan Miroshnikov), SBL International Meeting, Helsinki

• Jul 30–Aug 3 2018: “Cognitive Metaphor Studies and Eschatological Meal Imagery: Some Methodological Observations,” SBL International Meeting, Helsinki

• Jul 30–Aug 3 2018: “’Physicians’ in LXX Ps 87:11 and Isa 26:14: The Septuagint Rendering as a Polemic against the Hellenistic Cultural-Religious Environment,” SBL International Meeting, Helsinki

• April 2018: “Metaphorical Imagery of God in the Apocalyptic Literature,” the International Theological Conference “Imagery of God in the Bible, History, Theology, and Art,” Saint Petersburg, Russia

• August 2017: “The Metaphorical Function of the Meal in Luke’s Portrayal of the World-to-Come,” SBL/EABS International Meeting, Berlin, Germany

• June 2017: “'Physicians' in LXX Ps 87:11 and Isa 26:14,” SIL Eurasia Consultant Development for Scripture-in-Context Domains (CD4SiCon 2017), Holzhausen, Germany

• September 2016: “Jesus’ Banquet Etiquette (Luke 14:7-11) and the Heavenly Feast: A Cognitive Interpretation,” 7th East-West Symposium of New Testament Scholars. Moscow, Russia

• June 2016: “The Resurrection of the ‘Spiritual Body’ in 1 Cor 15 and Early Christian Literature,” International Conference on the Pauline Epistles, Moscow, Russia

• October 2015: “Translating “Abraham’s Bosom” (Luke 16:22-23) as a Key Metaphor in the Overall Composition of the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus,” Bible Translation Conference 2015, Dallas, USA

• July 2014: “The Spatial Imagery of Gehenna in Geographical and Cognitive Terms,” SBL/EABS International Meeting, Vienna, Austria

• July 2013: “Spatial Representations of the Otherworld in Luke-Acts,” SBL International Meeting, St. Andrews, Scotland

• October 2013: “Metaphorical Representations of the Biblical Concepts of Death and Resurrection When Translating in a Buddhist Context,” Bible Translation Conference 2013, Dallas, USA

• November 2012: “The Biblical Concepts of Death and Resurrection from the Cognitive Metaphor Theory Perspective,” SBL Annual Meeting, Chicago, USA

• July 2012: “The Martyrdom of Stephen (Acts 6:8-7:60) in the Context of Luke’s Views on the Afterlife,” SBL/EABS International Meeting, Amsterdam

• July 2011: “’Who Then is This’ (Luke 9:7-9): Jewish Views on the Afterlife Behind Herod’s Perplexity and Their Use by Luke”, SBL International Meeting, London

• July 2010: “Conceptions of the Afterlife in the Gospel of Luke: Diversity or an Integral Picture?” SBL International Meeting, Tartu, Estonia

• December 2009: “The Old Testament Canon: History, Problems, Research,” Commencement Address at St. Philaret’s Orthodox Christian Institute, Moscow, Russia

• June 2008: “Jewish Conceptions of Angels and Sons of God in Luke 20:34-36,” The 2nd Enoch Graduate Seminar, Princeton, USA