Elizabeth H. P. Backfish, Ph.D.

Libby H. P. Backfish, Ph.D., M.A.

Program Director – Biblical Studies; Associate Professor
School of Theology & Leadership
Rocklin, CA

Biography:

Libby has taught undergraduate and graduate level students for 12 years, and she has been teaching in various capacities in the church for nearly twenty years. She enjoys researching and teaching a broad range of topics pertinent to the Old Testament, but her areas of specialty include Hebrew poetry, the book of Psalms, and textual criticism. Some of the Hebrew poetic devices that she enjoys exploring most are wordplay, alliteration, and metaphor. In addition to various projects on Hebrew poetics, she is currently researching for a book project on the cultural context of Old Testament Theology.

Education:

Ph.D. in Theological Studies, Old Testament, Trinity International University
M.A. in Exegetical Theology, Covenant Seminary
B.A. in Biblical Studies, Montreat College

Publications / Work:

“Transformative Learning Theory as a Hermeneutic for Understanding Tensions within Scripture,” Christian Scholar’s Review 50/3 (2021): 281-195.
“Not Lost In Translation: Hebrew Wordplay in the Septuagint,” Biblical Archaeology Review (Winter 2021): 64-65.
“The Function of Alliteration in the Prosaic and Poetic Accounts of the Deborah Cycle,” JSOT 44/4 (2020): 551-562.
“Biblical Wisdom as a Model for Christian Liberal Arts Education,” Christian Higher Education, 2019.
Hebrew Wordplay and Septuagint Translation Technique in the Fourth Book of the Psalter. Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies. New York: Bloomsbury, 2019.
“Transformations in Translation: An Examination of the Septuagint Rendering of Hebrew Wordplay in the Fourth Book of the Psalter,” Journal of Biblical Literature, Vol. 137, No. 1 (Spring 2018), pp. 71-86.
Numerous journal and dictionary articles, book reviews, and papers presented at professional conferences.