Timothy H. Lim

Timothy H. Lim
Occupation	Biblical scholar
Academic background
Alma mater	University of British Columbia, Regent College, Macquarie University, University of Oxford
Academic work
Discipline	Hebrew Bible, Second Temple Judaism, Dead Sea Scrolls, Canon studies
Institutions	University of Edinburgh
Notable works	Holy Scripture in the Qumran Commentaries and Pauline Letters Pesharim The Dead Sea Scrolls: A Very Short Introduction The Formation of the Jewish Canon The Earliest Commentary on the Prophecy of Habakkuk co-editor The Oxford Handbook of the Dead Sea Scrolls

Timothy H. Lim is a British and Canadian scholar of the Hebrew Bible and Second Temple Judaism, Professor Emeritus at the University of Edinburgh, and a specialist in the Dead Sea Scrolls and canon formation.^[1]

He is General Editor of the Oxford Commentary on the Dead Sea Scrolls published by Oxford University Press, co-editor of The Oxford Handbook of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the author of monographs including Holy Scripture in the Qumran Commentaries and Pauline Letters, Pesharim, The Dead Sea Scrolls: A Very Short Introduction, The Formation of the Jewish Canon, and The Earliest Commentary on the Prophecy of Habakkuk.^{[2][3][4][5][6]}

Education

Lim earned a BA at the University of British Columbia in 1982. He earned an MCS at Regent College in 1985. He earned a Graduate Diploma in Ancient History at Macquarie University in 1986. He earned an MPhil in 1988 and a DPhil in 1991 at the Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Oxford.^[7] Lim holds British and Canadian nationality and lists Chinese as his mother tongue.^[7]

Career

Following his DPhil, Lim held the Kennicott Hebrew Fellowship at the University of Oxford and a Junior Research Fellowship at the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies with affiliation to St Hugh's College from 1991 to 1993. He joined the University of Edinburgh in 1994 as Lecturer in Dead Sea Scrolls and Christian Origins. He was promoted to Reader in Hebrew and Old Testament Studies in 1998 and to Professor of Hebrew Bible and Second Temple Judaism in 2005. He demitted his chair in September 2023 and was awarded the title Professor Emeritus.^[7][1][8]

Lim's research program spans textual criticism and reception history of authoritative scriptures in ancient Judaism and the Dead Sea Scrolls. His publications concentrate on canon formation and Qumran literature. His teaching portfolio has included the Pentateuch, Leviticus, Habakkuk, Song of Songs, Bible and Archaeology, Early Jewish texts, Advanced Hebrew, and Aramaic.^[1]

Lim serves as General Editor of the Oxford Commentary on the Dead Sea Scrolls. His Habakkuk volume inaugurated the series. The series publishes line by line commentaries with translation, textual notes, and thematic analysis based on the best digitized images.^[2][9]

Publications

Lim's publications include influential monographs, edited volumes, and critical editions on the Dead Sea Scrolls, canon formation, and Second Temple Judaism. Lim's contributions address the structure and hermeneutics of the Qumran pesharim, the textual diversity of biblical traditions in the late Second Temple period, and the emergence of authoritative scripture collections in Jewish communities. The Formation of the Jewish Canon presents a historical model in which communities configured plural collections prior to later rabbinic stabilization.^[4][1]

Year	Title	Type	Publisher
1997	Holy Scripture in the Qumran Commentaries and Pauline Letters	Monograph	Clarendon Press, Oxford [10]
1997	4Q303–305 in Qumran Cave 4 XV: Sapiential Texts, Part 1 (DJD XX)	Edited scrolls	Clarendon Press, Oxford [11]
2000	4Q306–4Q307 in Qumran Cave 4. XXVI. Cryptic Texts and Miscellanea, Part 1 (DJD XXXVI)	Edited scrolls	Clarendon Press, Oxford [11]
2001	On Scrolls, Artefacts, and Intellectual Property	Edited volume	Sheffield Academic Press [12]
2002	Pesharim	Monograph	Sheffield Academic Press, later Continuum [11]
2005, 2017	The Dead Sea Scrolls: A Very Short Introduction	Monograph	Oxford University Press [3]
2010	The Oxford Handbook of the Dead Sea Scrolls	Edited volume	Oxford University Press [6]
2013	The Formation of the Jewish Canon	Monograph	Yale University Press [4]
2020	The Earliest Commentary on the Prophecy of Habakkuk	Monograph, OCDSS series	Oxford University Press [5][13]

Lim's Very Short Introduction on the Dead Sea Scrolls has been translated into Bulgarian, Chinese, Arabic, Dutch, Korean, Portuguese, and Italian.^[1]

References

1. "Professor Timothy Lim". The University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 30 September 2025.
2. "Oxford Commentary on the Dead Sea Scrolls". University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 30 September 2025.
3. "The Dead Sea Scrolls: A Very Short Introduction". Oxford University Press. Retrieved 30 September 2025.
4. "The Formation of the Jewish Canon". Yale University Press. Retrieved 30 September 2025.
5. "The Earliest Commentary on the Prophecy of Habakkuk". Oxford University Press. Retrieved 30 September 2025.
6. "The Oxford Handbook of the Dead Sea Scrolls". Oxford University Press. Retrieved 30 September 2025.
7. "Curriculum Vitae, August 2024" (PDF). The University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 30 September 2025.
8. "Professor Lim delivers distinguished lecture in Jerusalem". School of Divinity, University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 30 September 2025.
9. "Unravelling the Dead Sea Scrolls". School of Divinity, University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 30 September 2025.
10. "Holy Scripture in the Qumran Commentaries and Pauline Letters". Oxford University Press. Retrieved 30 September 2025.
11. "Prof. Timothy H. Lim, Publications list" (PDF). University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 30 September 2025.
12. "On Scrolls, Artefacts, and Intellectual Property". University of Edinburgh Research Explorer. Retrieved 30 September 2025.
13. "OCDSS, volumes". University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 30 September 2025.

External links

• University profile and CV