Dr. Tucker Samson Ferda is associate professor of New Testament. He previously served as assistant professor of New Testament, from 2017 to 2020 was visiting assistant professor, and from 2013 to 2016 was instructor. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh, where he also served as teaching fellow. In 2015, he was named a Regional Scholar of the Society of Biblical Literature, an award which “recognizes and promotes outstanding entry-level scholars.” Dr. Ferda has expertise in a wide range of areas in biblical studies, including the Gospels, the life of Jesus, the Old Testament in the New, the history of biblical interpretation, Hellenistic Jewish literature, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the theological interpretation of Scripture. Many of these interests intersect in his first book, Jesus, the Gospels, and the Galilean Crisis (Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2019), published in the Library of New Testament Studies series. He also authored Jesus and His Promised Second Coming: Jewish Eschatology and Christian Origins (Eerdmans, 2024). Dr. Ferda âis a frequent presenter at regional and national SBL meetings, and he has published more than a dozen articles in top-tier biblical studies journals, including Journal of Biblical Literature, Journal of Theological Studies, New Testament Studies, and Journal for the Study of Judaism, among others. Dr. Ferda is a member at Eastminster Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh, and he frequently leads studies in area churches.
Jesus and His Promised Second Coming: Jewish Eschatology and Christian Origins (Eerdmans, 2024)
“Jesus, Judaism, and the Parting of the Ways,” Early Christianity (forthcoming)
“John the Baptist: Prophet from the Margins,” in Character Studies in the Gospel of Matthew, ed. Craig Evan Anderson and Matthew Ryan Hauge, LNTS (London: Bloomsbury T & T Clark, 2024)
Co-editor with Daniel Frayer-Griggs and Nathan C. Johnson. “To Recover What Has Been Lost”: Essays on Eschatology, Intertextuality, and Reception History in Honor of Dale C. Allison Jr. Novum Testamentum Supplements Series 183. Leiden: Brill, 2021.
“Doubling Down: Zechariah’s Oracle, Judah’s Blessing, and the Triumphal Entry in Matthew,” Journal of Theological Studies 71 (2020): 1-27
“The Ending of Mark and the Faithfulness of God: An Apocalyptic Resolution to the Gospel of Mark,” Journal of Theological Interpretation 13 (2019): 36-52.
“Flesh from Heaven: The Text of John 6:52 and its Intertext.” New Testament Studies 65 (2019): 371-87.
“Between Text and Sermon: Matthew 21:1-11,” Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology 73.3 (2019): 294-96.
Jesus, the Gospels, and the Galilean Crisis, Library of New Testament Studies 601 (London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2018)
“Jesus and the Law: The Form of His Activity and the Impact of Social Reputation.” Catholic Biblical Quarterly 80 (2018): 62-80.
“Reason to Weep: Isaiah 52 and the Subtext of Luke’s Triumphal Entry,” Journal of Theological Studies 66 (2015)
“Matthew’s Titulus and Psalm 2’s King on Mount Zion,” Journal of Biblical Literature 133 (2014)
“Naming the Messiah: A Contribution to the 4Q246 ‘Son of God’ Debate,” Dead Sea Discoveries 21 (2014)
“Jeremiah 7 and Flavius Josephus on the First Jewish War,” Journal for the Study of Judaism 44 (2013)
“‘Sealed’ with the Holy Spirit (Eph 1,13-14) and Circumcision,” Biblica 93 (2012)
“The Seventy Faces of Peter’s Confession: Matthew 16:16-17 in the History of Interpretation,” Biblical Interpretation 20 (2012)
“John the Baptist, Isaiah 40, and the Ingathering of the Exiles.” Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus 10 (2012)
Current Church Membership: Eastminster Presbyterian Church