Daniela Scialabba

Affiliated researcher

Research interests

Biblical exegesis (Old Testament): Prophets, Psalms, Wisdom Literature, Septuagint, textual criticism, intertestamental literature, Josephus and Aseneth.

Education, academic and professional experience

She is currently a permanent faculty member (Associate Professor with National Scientific Qualification) at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome.

Since 2022, she has served as a member of the Academic Board of DREST, the Italian National PhD Programme in Religious Studies.

She is co-editor (with E. Bons) of volume II of the Historical and Theological Lexicon of the Septuagint.

She is in the editorial board of the international series Septuagint and Cognate Studies (SCS), published under the auspices of the International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies (IOSCS) and sponsored by the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL).

From August 2021 to December 2024, she has been a member of the Steering Committee of the Biblical Lexicography section of the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL).

In February 2021, she became Visiting Professor at the Patristic Institute “Augustinianum” in Rome.
From February 2021 to December 2023, she served as Chair of the “Hellenistic Judaism Unit” for the International Meetings of the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL).
In the same year, she joined the Fondazione per le Scienze Religiose as Scientific Coordinator of the Historical and Theological Lexicon of the Septuagint (HTLS).

From 2020 to 2022, she acted as Scientific Coordinator of the Historical and Theological Lexicon of the Septuagint (Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen), having previously served on its editorial board since 2012.
Since July 2020, she has been a member of the Executive Board of the International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies.
Since August 2020, she has served on the jury for the IOSCS “Wevers Prize”; beginning in September of the same year, she has also participated in the organization’s Nominations Committee.

In November 2019, she was awarded the 2018 Alberigo Academic Prize by the Fondazione per le Scienze Religiose for her doctoral dissertation, Creation and Salvation. Models of Relationship between the God of Israel and the Nations in the Book of Jonah, Psalm 33 (MT and LXX) and the novel Joseph and Aseneth (F.A.T. II/106, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, 2019). The award ceremony took place during the annual conference of the European Academy of Religion on 5 March 2019.

From September 2018 to February 2020, she held a postdoctoral research contract within the French-German ANR/DFG project “Pluritext – Thinking from the Margins: Textual Plurality Outside the Masoretic Tradition” at the University of Strasbourg.

Between September 2017 and August 2018, she was a full-time lecturer in Biblical Studies at the Faculty of Catholic Theology of the University of Strasbourg.
On 30 November 2017, she defended her PhD in Catholic Theology (Biblical Exegesis of the Old Testament) at the University of Strasbourg (supervisor: Prof. Eberhard Bons).

She undertook research stays at the École Française de Rome in May 2016 and May 2017.

From September 2015 to August 2017, she held an A.T.E.R. contract at the Faculty of Catholic Theology of the University of Strasbourg.

From February 2012 to January 2015, she held a funded doctoral position within the Excellence Programme at the Faculty of Catholic Theology of the University of Strasbourg; from February to August 2015, she was employed there under a fixed-term research contract.

Between October 2013 and June 2014, she conducted research at the École Biblique et Archéologique Française in Jerusalem; in October and November 2014, she undertook a research stay at the University of Cambridge, Faculty of Divinity, Tyndale House.

In 2011, she received her qualification to teach Catholic Religious Education (IRC) in Palermo, and in November of the same year she completed her Licentiate in Biblical Theology cum laude at the Pontifical Faculty of Theology of Sicily, with a thesis entitled La conversione dei pagani in Giuseppe e Aseneth e Atti degli Apostoli. Modelli a confronto.

In September 2007, she earned her Baccalaureate in Sacred Theology cum laude from the Pontifical Faculty of Theology of Sicily “San Giovanni Evangelista,” in Palermo.

In 1998, she completed her classical secondary education (maturità classica) at the Liceo Classico “Vittorio Emanuele II” in Palermo.

Featured publications

Monographs

D. Scialabba, Creation and Salvation. Models of Relationship between the God of Israel and the Nations in the Book of Jonah, Psalm 33 (MT and LXX) and the Novel Joseph and Aseneth (Forschungen zum Alten Testament II 106), Tubinga, Mohr Siebeck, 2019.

Edited volumes

E. Bons, D. Candido, D. Scialabba (eds), La Settanta – Perché è attuale la Bibbia greca? Syracuse, Edizioni San Metodio, 2016, seconda edizione 2017.

E. Bons, D. Scialabba, D. Candido (eds.), La Septuaginta - ¿Por qué resulta actual la Biblia griega? (Estudios Bíblicos 65), Estella (Navarra, Editorial Verbo Divino, 2018.

E. Bons, P. Pouchelle, D. Scialabba (eds), The Vocabulary of the Septuagint and its Hellenistic Background (Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament II/496), Tübingen, Mohr Siebeck, 2019, XII + 157 pp.

E. Bons, A. Mambelli, D. Scialabba (eds.), Exodos. Storia di un vocabolo (Testi, ricerche e fonti, nuova serie 62), Bologna, Il Mulino, 2019.

Articles

D. Scialabba, La conversione dei pagani in Giuseppe e Aseneth e Atti degli Apostoli, «Ho Theológos» 30 (2012), pp 369-396.

D. Scialabba, The Vocabulary of Conversion in Joseph and Aseneth and in the Acts of the Apostles in W. Kraus, S. Kreuzer (a cura di), Die Septuaginta – Text, Wirkung, Rezeption («Wissen­schaft­liche Unter­suchun­gen zum Neuen Testament», vol. I/325), Tübingen, Mohr Sie­beck, 2014, pp 501-514.

D. Scialabba, Le parole del “buon ladrone” in Lc 23,41 alla luce del loro sfondo papirologico in E. Bons, D. Candido, D. Scialabba (a cura di), La Settanta. Perché è attuale la Bibbia greca? Siracusa, Edizioni San Metodio, 2016, pp 129-146.

D. Scialabba, What does the noun ἀγνόημα mean in Judith 5:20?, W. Kraus, M.N. van der Meer, M. Meiser (a cura di), XV Congress of the Inter­na­tional Meeting of Septuagint and Cognates Studies, Munich 2013 («Septuagint and Cognate Studies», vol. 64), Atlanta, Georgia, Society of Biblical Literature, 2016, pp 389-396.

D. Scialabba, “…Mio padre era un arameo errante…” (Dt 26,5). La trasmissione della fede nell’Is­­rae­le antico, in G. Alcamo (a cura di), Far toccare Dio. La narrazione nella catechesi, Milano, Paoline, 2016, pp 137-166.

D. Scialabba, The LXX translation of Jonah 1:6b – Text-critical and exegetical considerations, S. Kreu­zer, M. Meiser, M. Sigismund (a cura di), Die Septuaginta - Orte und Intentionen («Wissen­schaft­liche Un­tersuchungen zum Neuen Testament», vol. 1/361), Tübingen, Mohr Siebeck, 2016, pp 645-654.

D. Scialabba, “Non lo terremo nascosto ai nostri figli” (Sal 78,4). La trasmissione della fede nell’Is­raele antico, «Phôs» 8, 2016, pp 46-69 (versione più lunga dell’articolo n. 5).

D. Scialabba, La citation en Jn 6,31 à la lumière des traditions vétérotestamentaires sur l’Exode, «Revue biblique» 124, 2017, pp 529-544.

D. Scialabba, Las Palabras del ‘Buen Ladrón’ en Lc 23,41 a la luz de su trasfondo papirológico, in E. Bons, D. Scia­labba, D. Candido (a cura di), La Septuaginta - ¿Por qué resulta actual la Biblia Griega? (Estudios Biblicos 65), Estella, Navarra, Editorial Verbo Divino, 2018, pp 93-103.

D. Scialabba, Οὗτος δὲ οὐδὲν ἄτοπον ἔπραξεν (Lc 23:41). What did the Good Thief want to say? A New Testament citation and its papyrological background, «​The Vocabulary of the Septuagint and its Hellenistic Background (WUNT II/496)», Tübingen, Mohr Siebeck, 2019, pp 72-79.

E. Bons, P. Pouchelle, D. Scialabba, Introduction, in: E. Bons, P. Pouchelle, D. Scialabba (a cura di), The Voca­bulary of the Septuagint and its Hellenistic Background (WUNT II/496), Tü­bingen, Mohr Siebeck, 2019, pp VII-XII.

D. Scialabba, Travel and Wisdom – An Interpretation of Sirach 31[34], 9-12; 39,4; 51,13 against its Jewish and Hellenistic Background, «Biblica» 100/3, 2019, pp 373–385.

D. Scialabba, L’uso specifico di “Exodos” nei LXX: l’“Esodo” del popolo di Israele, in E. Bons, A. Mambelli, D. Scialabba (a cura di), EXODOS. Storia di un vocabolo, Bologna: Il Mulino, 2019, pp 87-102.

D. Scialabba, F. Vinel, Introduction, in D. Scialabba, F. Vinel, La Sagesse au carrefour des Nations, Henoch, Morcelliana, Brescia, 2020, pp 5-6.

D. Scialabba, Ignorance et idolâtrie: frontières et passerelles entre le monde Juif et son milieu non-Juif d'après le roman Joseph et Asénet, in D. Scialabba, F. Vinel, La Sagesse au carrefour des Nations, Henoch, Morcelliana, Brescia, 2020, pp 43-57.

D. Scialabba, Voce ἄτοπος, Historical and Theological Lexicon of Septuagint, vol. I, editore E. Bons, Tübin­gen, Mohr Siebeck, 2020, pp 1291-1297.

D. Scialabba, Voce ἀτοπία, Historical and Theological Lexicon of Septuagint, vol. I, editore E. Bons, Tübin­gen, Mohr Siebeck, 2020, pp 1298-1300.

D. Scialabba, Voce ἀντίλημψις, Historical and Theological Lexicon of the Septuagint, editore E. Bons, vol. I, Tübingen, Mohr Siebeck, 2020, pp 838 -846.

D. Scialabba, Voce ἄνθρωπος, Early Christian Literature, Historical and Theological Lexicon of the Sep­tua­gint, editore E. Bons, vol. I, Tübingen, Mohr Siebeck, 2020, pp 763-766.

D. Scialabba, Voce ἀλήθεια, Septuagint, Historical and Theological Lexicon of the Sep­tua­gint, editore E. Bons, vol. I, Tübingen, Mohr Siebeck, 2020, pp 516-520.

D. Scialabba, Voce γίγας, New Testament and Early Christian Literature, Historical and Theological Lexicon of the Sep­tua­gint, editore E. Bons, vol. I, Tübingen, Mohr Siebeck, 2020, p 1862.

D. Scialabba, Postfazione in N. Spadoni, Giuditta di Betulia, Cesena, Il Vicolo, 2015, pp 53-59 (con E. Bons).

Conferences, seminars, workshops

2-3 December 2021, Le due versioni di Girolamo del Salmo 33 (32) - Jerome's two versions of Psalm 33 (32), International Congress Hieronymus und die Bibel. Schrift – Texte – Kontexte, Universität Konstanz.

23 November 2021, chair of the panel Prophets, Transmission, and Literary Context, International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies (IOSOCS), Society of Biblical Literature, Annual Meeting, San Antonio, Texas.

20-23 November 2021, Observations on The Cambridge Greek Lexicon nel panel Review of the Cambridge Greek (Cambridge University Press, 2021), Society of Biblical Literature, Annual Meeting, San Antonio, Texas.

31 August 2021, Presentation of the volume I (alpha-gamma) of the Historical and Theological Lexicon of the Septuagint (Tubinga, Mohr Siebeck, 2020), European Academy of Religion, Annual Conference, Munster.

18-21 July 2021, To trust in the Lord. Observations on the use of πέποιθα in the LXX, The Septuagint Prophetic Words, Textual Worlds and Versions,8 th International Conference, Wuppertal.

20 April 2021, Presentation of the volume I (alpha-gamma) of the Historical and Theological Lexicon of the Septuagint (Tubinga, Mohr Siebeck, 2020), Pontificio Istituto Biblico di Roma.

1-3 February 2021, Colloquium Biblicum Lovaniense LXIX, Online Conference.

21 January 2020, seminar Il Salterio dei LXX, corso di aggiornamento degli ex-allievi del PIB organizzato da Prof. G. Barbiero e Prof. P. Bovati su Il Libro dei Salmi e il Libro di Giobbe, Pontificio Istituro Biblico, Roma.

19-20 December 2019, The concept of 'separation' in the Septuagint, in the panel Interpretation and survival Case studies from the Septuagint translation, The Limits of Exactitude, Prolepsis’ 4th International Conference.

23-26 November 2019, Intervention in the panel Historical and Theological Lexicon of the Septuagint: Methodological issues, Society of Biblical Literature, Annual Meeting, San Diego, California.

23-24 October 2019, The non-Israelites and the God of Israel - The Vocabulary of 'Conversion' in the Septuagint and Greek Jewish Literature against its Greek-Hellenistic background, New avenues in the exegesis of the Bible in the light of the LXX, International Conference, Pontificio Istituto Biblico, Roma.

4-9 August 2019, Considerations on the use of σέβομαι in the Septuagint and in Jewish-Hellenistic literature, The Septuagint in its Hellenistic Jewish setting, International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies (IOSCS), Aberdeen.

1-5 July 2019, The usage of ἐπιστρέφω in the Septuagint, Society of Biblical Literature, International Conference, Pontificio Istituto Biblico, Roma.

27-28 March 2019, Conference with Pr. E. Bons at the study days at Università “La Sapienza” di Roma on the Book of Ruth: Testo ebraico e testo greco.

4-7 March 2019, Aseneth, a Woman who Becomes ‘City of Refuge’ for Many: Remarks on the Female Protagonist of the Novel Joseph and Aseneth nel panel Women prove superior” (1 Esdr. 3:12). Women and Power in Jewish Hellenistic Literature, European Academy of Religion, Annual Conference, Bologna.

6 March 2019, main lecture Creation and Salvation. Models of Relationship between the God of Israel and the Nations in the Book of Jonah, Psalm 33 (MT and LXX) and the Novel Joseph and Aseneth, Alberigo Award 2018 Ceremony, European Academy of Religion, Bologna.

17-20 November 2018, The specific usage of ἔξοδος in the Septuagint: Israel’s Exodus from Egypt nel panel Exodus: An Investigation of Vocabulary and Concepts from Ancient Greek Literature to Early Christian Writings, Society of Biblical Literature, Annual Meeting, Denver, Colorado.

19-22 July 2018, Tourism in the Bible? An Interpretation of Sirach 34:9-10 against its Jewish and Hellenistic Background, Die Septuaginta. Themen – Ma­­nu­skripte – Wirkungen, 7th International Conference, Wuppertal.

2-6 July 2018, correction and redaction of the article «ἀλήθεια» in the Septuagint, workshop Oxford Workshop of the Historical and Theological Lexicon of the Septuagint, Christ Church Research Centre, Oxford University.

8 June 2018, C’est en voyageant qu’un homme habile se forme le mieux" (Goethe). Voyage et sagesse chez le Siracide, La sagesse au carrefour des nations, Université de Strasbourg.

4-8 marzo 2018, The specific usage of Ἔξοδος in the Septuagint: Israel’s Exodus from Egypt nel panel Exodus – An Investigation of Vocabulary and Concepts from Ancient Greek Literature to Early Christian Writings, European Academy of Religion, Annual Conference, Bologna.

17-22 November 2017, Co-presentation with Pr. E. Bons of the volume I of the Historical and Theological Lexicon of the Septuagint, Society of Biblical Literature, Annual Meeting, Boston, Massachusetts.

29-30 September 2017, The Septuagint Translation of Psalm 33 (32), Papyri, Septuagint, Biblical Greek, International Conference, Université de Strasbourg.