The Rev. Melody Knowles, Ph.D., is the Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs and Associate Professor of Old Testament. She teaches courses on the religion of Israel, the Psalms, Hebrew, and the Bible in film.
The Rev. Melody Knowles, Ph.D., joined the VTS faculty in 2013. Before coming to VTS, she was a member of the faculty at McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago from 1999-2013.
Dr. Knowles received her Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary in 2001. Her dissertation, “The Centrality of the Jerusalem Temple and Religious Practice of Yehud in the Persian Period,” stemmed from her interests in the reworking of historical traditions within the Psalter, women’s use of the Psalms, and the ancient practice of religion. She earned an M.Div. from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1994, and a B.A. (summa cum laude), from Trinity Western University, Langley, BC, Canada in 1991.
Dr. Knowles has been involved in archaeological excavations at various sites in Israel, and has worked to make archaeological collections at both McCormick Seminary and VTS a visible and well-used educational resource for students.
She was ordained in the Episcopal Church, USA, and has been active in congregations in Chicago, Poughkeepsie, NY, and Alexandria, VA.
Her published works include Bible and Film: An International and Intercultural Exploration (Wiley, 2026), Centrality Practiced: Jerusalem in the Religious Practice of Yehud and the Diaspora in the Persian Period (SBL Press, 2006), Contesting Texts: Jews and Christians in Conversation About the Bible (editor and co-author along with John Pawlikowski, Esther Menn and Timothy Sandoval; Fortress Press, 2007), and the chapter on the divided monarchy in Ancient Israel: From Abraham to the Roman Destruction of the Temple (4th edition; edited by Hershal Shanks; Boston and Washington: Prentice Hall and Biblical Archaeological Society, 2021).
Linked Publications
Pages 29-46 in Song, Prayer, Scripture: Aspects of the Use of the Book of Psalms from the Hebrew Bible to the 21st Century. Edited by David Davage and Lena-Sofia Tiemeyer. London: T&T Clark, 2026.
Read ChapterReviews in Religion and Theology 32.1-2 (2025): 14-20.
Read ReviewPages 223-251 in The Formation of Biblical Texts: Chronicling the Legacy of Gary Knoppers. Edited by Deirdre N. Fulton, Kenneth A. Ristau, Jonathan S. Greer, and Margaret E. Cohen. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2024.
Read ChapterCo-Written with Amanda P. Bourne. Anglican and Episcopal History 90.3 (2021): 251-272. Reproduced by permission of Anglican and Episcopal History.
Read ArticleDie Bibel in der Kunst/Bible in the Arts 5 (2021): 1-28.
Read ArticlePages 276-289 in The Oxford Handbook of the Writings of the Hebrew Bible. Edited by Donn F. Morgan. Oxford: O.U.P, 2018. Reproduced by permission of Oxford University Press.
Pages 264-268 in The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Bible and Ethics. Edited by Robert Brawley, Kathy Ehrensperger, Jan van der Watt, Isaac Kalimi, Ralph Klein, and Stephen Fowl. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014 Reproduced by permission of Oxford University Press.
Read EntryPages 424-36 in The Oxford Handbook of the Psalms. Edited by William P. Brown. Oxford: O.U.P, 2014. Reproduced by permission of Oxford University Press.
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