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Sung Jin Park

Dean of Asian Studies and Professor of Old Testament & Hebrew
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Sung Jin Park serves as the Dean of Asian Studies and Professor of Old Testament & Hebrew at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Prior to joining Midwestern, Dr. Park was an adjunct faculty member at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, where he taught Biblical Hebrew narratives, poetry, and syntax to Ph.D. and Rabbinical students. Additionally, he contributed as a research assistant in Syriac literature for the Comprehensive Aramaic Project at the same institute.

Dr. Park holds a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in Material Science & Engineering from Hanyang University and POSTECH in South Korea. Before his call to full-time ministry, he worked as a research engineer at Hyundai Motor Company for six years, securing 32 international patents and utilities. After relocating to the United States, he earned a Th.M. in Old and New Testaments from Dallas Theological Seminary, as well as an M.Phil. and a Ph.D. in Judaic, Hebraic, and Cognate Studies and Hebrew Bible and Ancient Near Eastern Studies from Hebrew Union College.

Dr. Park’s research focuses on Biblical Hebrew poetry and narratives, the diachronic linguistic development of Semitic languages, Deuteronomic laws and their practical applications, religions of Israel and Ugarit, and the Masoretic accentuation system. His notable publications include Typology in Biblical Hebrew Meter: A Generative Metrical Approach (2017) and The Fundamentals of Hebrew Accents: Divisions and Exegetical Roles beyond Syntax (2020), along with articles in internationally recognized academic journals. He also serves on the editorial board of the Journal for the Evangelical Study of the Old Testament and as a guest editor for the special issue Narrating the Divine: Exploring Biblical Hebrew Poetry and Narratives in Religions.

Dr. Park has received numerous honors and awards, including the Research Grant for Innovative Theological Education (In Trust, 2022-23), Professor of the Year (MBTS, 2022), the Isadore and Goldie Millstone Fellowship (HUC, 2005-09), the Rev. John Oak Foundation Scholarship (Sarang Community Church, Korea, 2005-07), the Merrill F. Unger Award in the Old Testament (DTS, 2004), the Seminary Full Scholarship for International Students (DTS, 1999-2003), the POSCO Research Fellowship (1991-93), the Hyundai Motors Research Fellowship (1991-93), the University Scholarship of Excellence (Hanyang, 1987-89), and the Korea National Research Foundation Scholarship of Excellence (Republic of Korea Government, 1989-91).

In his ministry, Dr. Park has served at the Cincinnati Chinese Church and the Arlington Chinese Church for 14 years and has been involved in the foreign laborer ministry at Sarang Community Church in Seoul, Korea. He is married to Alice, and they have three children: Eileen, Eunice, and Euclid.

Books or Book Chapters:

The Fundamentals of Hebrew Accents: Divisions and Exegetical Roles beyond Syntax (New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2020).

Typology in Biblical Hebrew Meter: A Generative Metrical Approach (Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen, 2017).

“Biblical Hebrew Poetry”, in “Where Shall Wisdom Be Found?” A Grammatical Tribute to Professor Stephen A. Kaufman (eds. Hélène Dallaire, Benjamin Noonan, and Jennifer E. Noonan; Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2017), 289-316.

Journal Articles:

“On the Disparity of Penalties in Deuteronomy 22:13-21,” Vetus Testamentum (forthcoming).

“You Shall Purge Evil among You: The Legal Omissions and Reconstructions of Illicit Sex Laws in Deuteronomy 22:22-29,” Catholic Biblical Quarterly (forthcoming).

“Temporal Disjunction Unveiled in Narratology: The Hidden until Revealed (HUR) Technique in Exodus 2,” Biblica (forthcoming)

“The Validity of the Phonetic Value Changes of Shewa in Various Tiberian Accentual Contexts,” Hebrew Studies 60 (2019): 333-355.

“Pointing to the Accents in the Scroll: The Functional Development of the Masoretic Accents in the Hebrew Bible,” Hebrew Studies 55 (2014): 73-88.

“The Text and Translations of Job: A Comparative Study on 11QtgJob with Other Versions According to Translation Techniques,” Journal for the Evangelical Study of the Old Testament 2/2 (2013): 165-190.

“Application of the Tiberian Accentuation System for Colometry of Biblical Hebrew Poetry,” Journal of Northwest Semitic Languages 39/2 (2013): 113-128.

“A New Historical Reconstruction of the Fall of Samaria,” Biblica 93/1 (2012): 98-106.

“The Cultic Identity of Asherah in Deuteronomistic Ideology of Israel,” Zeitschrift für die alttestamentlich Wissenschaft 123/4 (2011): 553-564.

“Short Notes on the Etymology of Asherah,” Ugarit Forschungen 42 (2010): 527-534.

Book Reviews:

David J. Shepherd, King David, Innocent Blood, and Bloodguilt (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2023) in Bulletin for Biblical Research (forthcoming).

Paul K. -K. Cho, Willingness to Die and the Gift of Life: Suicide and Martyrdom in the Hebrew Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2022) in Bulletin for Biblical Research 33/3 (2023): 347-9.

Dalit Rom-Shiloni, Voices from the Ruins: Theodicy and the Fall of Jerusalem in the Hebrew Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2021) in Journal of the Evangelical Theological Studies 65/2 (2022): 352-4.

Mark S. Smith, The Genesis of Good and Evil: The Fall(out) and Original Sin (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2019) in Bulletin for Biblical Research 31/3 (2021): 391-393.

Elie Assis, Identity in Conflict: The Struggle between Esau and Jacob, Edom and Israel (Siphrut: LTHS 19; Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2016) in Bulletin for Biblical Research 28/1 (2018): 82-84.

Philip R. Davies, The History of Ancient Israel: A Guide for the Perplexed (Bloomsbury Guides for the Perplexed, Bloomsbury & T&T Clark, 2015) in Journal of the Evangelical Theological Studies 60/1 (2017): 163-165.

Raymond F. Person, Deuteronomy and Environmental Amnesia (EBCS 3, Sheffield Phoenix, 2014) in Bulletin for Biblical Research 26/4 (2016): 565-568.

Daisy Yulin Tsai, Human Rights in Deuteronomy: with Special Focus on Slave Laws (BZAW 464. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2014) in Bulletin for Biblical Research 25/4 (2015): 560-564.

Nicole J. Ruane, Sacrifice and Gender in Biblical Law (New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2013) in Bulletin for Biblical Research 24/3 (2014): 412-414.

Kenneth C. Way, Donkeys in the Biblical World: Ceremony and Symbol (History, Archaeology, and Culture in the Levant 2; Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2011) in Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 57/2 (2014): 416-418.

Knut Martin Heim, Poetic Imagination in Proverbs: Variant Repetitions and the Nature of Poetry (BBR Supplement 4; Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2013) in Bulletin for Biblical Research 24/1 (2014): 93-96.

Jean-Dominique Barthélemy, Studies in the Text of the Old Testament: An Introduction to the Hebrew Old Testament Text Project (Textual Criticism and the Translator 3; Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2012), in Bulletin for Biblical Research 24/1 (2014): 75-76.

John H. Walton, Job (NIV Application Commentary; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2012) in Bulletin for Biblical Research 23/3 (2013): 421-423.

E. Merrill, M. Rooker, and M. A. Grisanti, The World and the Word: An Introduction to the Old Testament (Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing Group, 2011) in Bulletin for Biblical Research 23/2 (2013): 257-259.

Caryn A. Reeder, The Enemy in the Household: Family Violence in Deuteronomy and Beyond (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2012), in Review of Biblical Literature (2013).

B. C. Hodge, Revisiting the Days of Genesis: A Study of the Use of Time in Genesis 1-11 in Light of Its Ancient Near Eastern and Literary Context (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2011) in Journal for the Evangelical Study of the Old Testament 2/1 (2013): 135-137.

Yitzhaq Feder, Blood Expiation in Hittite and Biblical Ritual: Origins, Context, and Meaning (Atlanta, GA: Society of Biblical Literature, 2011) in Journal for the Evangelical Study of the Old Testament 1/2 (2012): 250-253.

Jeffrey Burns, The Music of Psalms, Proverbs and Job in the Hebrew Bible (Jüdische Musik Band 9; Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 2011) in Bulletin for Biblical Research 22/3 (2012): 424-426.

R. B. Salters, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Lamentations (International Critical Commentary; New York, NY: T & T Clark, 2010) in Journal for the Evangelical Study of the Old Testament 1/1 (2012): 111-113.

Stephen J. Bennett, Ecclesiastes/Lamentations: A Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition (New Beacon Bible Commentary; Kansas City, MO: Beacon Hill, 2010) in Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 55/1 (2012): 166-168.

Shemaryahu Talmon, Text and Canon of the Hebrew Bible: Collected Studies (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2010) in Bulletin for Biblical Research 22/1 (2012): 117-118.

Jürg Luchsinger, Poetik der alttestamentlichen Spruchweisheit (Stuttgart: W. Kohlhammer, 2010) in Bulletin for Biblical Research 21/3 (2011): 400-401.

William P. Brown, Psalms (Interpreting Biblical Texts Series; Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2010) in Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 54/3 (2011): 616-617.

Robin A. Parry, Lamentations (The Two Horizons Old Testament Commentary Series; Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2010) in Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 54/1 (2011): 141-143.