Min Won Song, Ph.D. Candidate

Min Won Song, Ph.D. Candidate

Biblical Hebrew teacher

A Few Words About Me

“I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you” (Job 42:5)

Min Won is a Biblical Hebrew teacher at the Israel Institute of Biblical Studies, and has also taught Biblical Hebrew and Aramaic at the University of Chicago. Min Won’s religious background covers a very wide spectrum, from conservative to progressive. He grew up as a pastor’s kid in the denomination of GAPCK, got a confirmation in a Korean Anglican Church, went to the PROK seminary, and served in PCUSA and UCC churches in the US. His academic interest is not purely academic, but a part of his calling, which is to serve as a bridge and overcome barriers between academia and the public.

Education

Min Won holds a B.A. from Seoul National University in German Linguistics and Literature, an M.Div. degree in Church History from Hanshin University Graduate School of Theology, M.A.T.S. in Old Testament from McCormick Theological Seminary, and an MA in Northwest Semitic Philology from the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago.  He is currently a Ph.D. Candidate in the same program at the University of Chicago, working on a dissertation about the conceptions of death and the Netherworld in the ancient Near East.

Professional Experience

Min Won has been teaching the Bible, Biblical Hebrew, Biblical Greek, and Aramaic in various schools including the University of Chicago and McCormick Theological Seminary.  His academic and religious interest has always been in the “origin” and “behind the text” – unveiling and unearthing the hidden world behind the Bible and ancient literature. He has eagerly studied the New Testament and the Hellenistic world as its background, extending to the Hebrew Bible and the ancient Near East as its background. Beyond academia, he teaches the Bible in a church setting with the main focus on understanding the Bible within its linguistic and cultural background.  His lecture series include “Reading the Bible in 3D,” and “Understanding the Hebrew Bible within the Ancient Near Eastern world.”