Dr Helen Spurling

History
School of Humanities
University of Southampton
Southampton
S017 1BJ

Position: Ian Karten Outreach and Teaching Fellow
Research group: The Parkes Institute

Research interests

My research focuses on the interpretation of Midrashic Literature, with particular reference to Jewish-Christian Relations, Jewish History from Biblical times to Late Antiquity, and Eschatology and Messianism. My most recent research project looked at ‘The Exegetical Encounter between Jews and Christians in Late Antiquity’, which examined the relationship between Rabbinic and Patristic interpretations of the book of Genesis. I also have a particular interest in apocalyptic literature, and my PhD focused on a translation, commentary and introduction to Pirqe Mashiah, a Hebrew eschatological text. The thesis paid close attention to apologetic motifs in the text as a possible response to streams of Christian thought and also addressed responses to the rise of Islam.

Outreach Work

I am responsible for developing the outreach work of the Parkes Institute. The programme of events and activities centres on developing adult education initiatives in conjunction with members of the Parkes Institute, and working with schools and colleges to develop aspiration raising activities and curriculum initiatives. The aims of the programme are to raise awareness of issues in Jewish/non-Jewish Relations to the public regardless of background, to encourage progression to Higher Education in general, and the University of Southampton and the Parkes Institute in particular, and finally to raise awareness of the work of the Parkes Institute and Jewish Studies as a subject in itself.

Contact

Email: H.Spurling@soton.ac.uk
Telephone: ext. 22230

Publications

• The Exegetical Encounter between Jews and Christians in Late Antiquity (Brill; Jewish and Christian Perspectives 18; 2009). Jointly edited with E. Grypeou.
• The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew - Vol. VI samek-pe (Sheffield Phoenix Press; 2007). Edited by David J. A. Clines. Contributed to articles beginning with pe-aleph to pe-nun.
• ‘Pirke-de Rabbi Eliezer and Eastern Christian Exegesis’ Collectanea Christiana Orientalia 4 (2007) 217-243. With E. Grypeou.
• ‘Genesis 49:10: Ephrem and Jewish Exegesis’ The Harp. A Review of Syriac, Ecumenical and Oriental Studies 23 (2008) 85-102.
• ‘Abraham’s Angels: Jewish and Christian exegesis of Genesis 18-19’ in E. Grypeou and H. Spurling (eds), The Exegetical Encounter between Jews and Christians in Late Antiquity (Brill; Jewish and Christian Perspectives 18; 2009). With E. Grypeou.
• ‘Biblical Symbols through Jewish Apocalyptic Imagery’ in Juan Pedro Monferrer-Sala and Angel Urban (eds), Sacred Text: Explorations in Lexicography (Frankfurt: Peter Lang Publishing Group, 2009).
• ‘Hebrew Visions of Heaven and Hell’ in R. Bauckham and J. Davila (eds), More Old Testament Pseudepigrapha (Eerdmans; forthcoming 2010).

Teaching responsibilities for Dr Helen Spurling

Module title	Module code	Discipline	Role
PT Jews and Christians on the Bible: Past and Present	HIST1099	History	Course leader
PT Jews, Christians and Muslims: Relations through the Ages	HIST1100	History	Course leader

Publications from e–Prints Soton

	Spurling, Helen and Grypeou, Emmanouela (2009) Abraham’s Angels: Jewish and Christian Exegesis of Genesis 18-19. In, Spurling, Helen and Grypeou, Emmanouela (eds.) The Exegetical Encounter between Jews and Christians in Late Antiquity. Leiden, The Netherlands, Brill, 181-203.
	Spurling, Helen (2009) Biblical Symbols through Jewish Apocalyptic Imagery. In, Monferrer-Sala, J-P and Urban, A (eds.) Sacred Text: Explorations in Lexicography. Frankfurt, Germany, Peter Lang, 271-299.
	Grypeou, E and Spurling, H (eds.) (2009) The Exegetical Encounter between Jews and Christians in Late Antiquity, Leiden, NL, Brill, 284pp. (Jewish and Christian Perspectives)
	Spurling, Helen (2008) Genesis 49:10: Ephrem and Jewish exegesis. The Harp. A Review of Syriac, Ecumenical and Oriental Studies, 23, 85-102.