Jonathan Kearney
Dr
Jonathan Kearney is a graduate of University College Dublin where his undergraduate and postgraduate studies were in Near Eastern Languages, Islamic Studies and Jewish Studies. He lectured in the Department of Near Eastern Languages in UCD (part-time 1997–2001; full-time 2003–2007) and in St Patrick’s College, Maynooth (2007–2012). Between 2013 and 2016, Jonathan lectured in Religious Studies in St Patrick's College, Drumcondra. He has also lectured on an occasional basis in Trinity College DUblin. At present he lectures in Jewish Studies and Islamic Studies in the School of Theology, Philosophy, and Music, Dublin City University. Jonathan's research lies mainly in the textual and linguistic foundations of Judaism and Islam; religion and identity formation; and authority and boundaries in religions.
Book
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Jonathan Kearney (2012) Rashi - Linguist despite Himself. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing - T & T Clark. [Link] |
Book Chapter
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Jonathan Kearney (2024) 'Innovative Tradition: On some Aspects of Jewish Biblical Textuality' In: Critical Questions in Contemporary Theology: Essays in Honour of Dermot A. Lane. London : Peter Lang. [Link] | |
| 2022 | Jonathan Kearney (2022) 'Beyond Peshat and Derash: The Linguistic Dimension of Rashi’s Commentary on Deuteronomy' In: From Theodulf to Rashi and Beyond: Texts, Techniques, and Transfer in Western European Exegesis (800-1100). Leiden : Brill. [Link] | |
| 2018 | Jonathan Kearney (2018) 'Hebrew Echoes in Arabic: Some Observations on Saadia Gaon's Arabic Translation of the Pentateuch' In: The Cultural reception of the Bible. Dublin : Four Courts Press. | |
| 2018 | Jonathan Kearney (2018) 'From Intra-Religious to Interreligious Dialogue: The Amman Message as a Precursor and Companion to the A Common Word Initiative' In: The Future of Interfaith Dialogue: Muslim-Christian Encounters through A Common Word. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press. [Link] https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316466834.003 | |
| 2018 | Jonathan Kearney and Brad Anderson (2018) 'Introduction: Situating Ireland and Socio-Cultural Reception of the Bible' In: Ireland and the Reception of the Bible Social and Cultural Perspectives. London : Bloomsbury. | |
| 2017 | (2017) 'Mis-reading the Qur’an A non-Muslim pitfall?' In: Reading the Sacred Scriptures From Oral Tradition to Written Documents and their Reception. [Link] [DOI] | |
| 2013 | Jonathan Kearney (2013) 'An Illuminated Syriac Stepped Cross in the Chester Beatty Library' In: Treasures of Irish Christianity, Volume II: A People of the Word. Dublin : Veritas. | |
| 2017 | Jonathan Kearney (2017) '“Mis-Reading the Qur’ān: A Non-Muslim Pitfall?”' In: Reading The Sacred Scriptures: From Oral Tradition to Written Documents and their Reception. London : Routledge. |
Peer Reviewed Journal
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Jonathan Kearney (2024) 'Constructed Rivalry: The Aleppo and Leningrad Codices as Oppositional Artefacts'. Postscripts: the journal of sacred texts & contemporary worlds, 15 (1):1-35. [Link] http://www.doi.org/10.1558/post.29324 | |
| 2022 | Jonathan Kearney (2022) 'From Nuṣayrīs to ʿAlawīs: The Religiography of Muḥammad Kurd ʿAlī'. Religions, 13 (2). [Link] https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13020131 | |
| 2012 | Jonathan Kearney (2012) ''As Its Targum Has It’: On Some of Rashi’s Use of the Targumim in his Commentary on the Torah.”'. Proceedings of the Irish Biblical Association, 35 :111-120. | |
| 2012 | Jonathan Kearney (2012) '“The Torah of Israel in the Tongue of Ishmael: Saadia Gaon’s Tafsīr.” '. Proceedings of the Irish Biblical Association, 34 :55-75. | |
| 2006 | Jonathan Kearney (2006) '“Rashi’s Commentary on the Song of Moses: Soundings in Mediaeval Jewish Exegesis.”'. Proceedings of the Irish Biblical Association, 29 :57-77. |
Conference Contribution
Encyclopedia Entry
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Jonathan Kearney (2013) Grammatical Thought in Medieval Jewish Exegesis in Europe. Leiden: ENC [Link] |
Other Publication
Certain data included herein are derived from the © Web of Science (2024) of Clarivate. All rights reserved.
Outreach Activities
Research Interests
Islamic Studies, Jewish Studies; Islamic-Jewish Cultural Engagement; Textual traditions of Judaism, Islam and Christianity; Semitic languages and linguistics; Language and identity; Religious and linguistic minorities; History of religion; Religious Studies and the Study of Religion
Teaching Interests
My main teaching interests are in Judaism and Islam as religions, cultural complexes and civilisations. My approach is a broadly Religious Studies one: that is, I engage with religions as largely human phenomena and their cultural manifestations. I am also interested in the question of the nature of religion and utility of that term in describing the phenomena most commonly identified as religions. My initial training was largely philological, so I have a particular interest in the role played by languages in Judaism and Islam (from the role played by languages in the transmission of texts to the role of language as a marker of cultural identity). At present I teach introductory modules on Judaism, Islam and Arabic. I also contribute to a number of other modules offered by the School of Theology, Philosophy, and Music.