Arabic Contemporary Commentary

Father Feghali is a Lebanese scholar and an expert in Semitic languages, holding doctorates in both History of Religions and Biblical Studies (Sorbonne, Paris). He was a professor in the Lebanese university until 1999. His works exceed 350 books and include: Bible translation with Youssef El-Khal, the Greek-Arabic Interlinear Bible, the Hebrew-Arabic Interlinear Bible, Encyclopaedic Dictionary of the Bible and the Ancient World, Introduction to the Bible in six volumes, commentaries on many Bible books, translation of many Syriac books and apocryphal works and more than a thousand articles in various Lebanese and international magazines.

RIAD A. KASSIS holds a PhD in Old Testament from the University of Nottingham, UK, and an MA in Nonprofit Management from Regis University, Denver, Colorado, USA. Dr. Kassis previously served as International Director of the International Council for Evangelical Theological Education (ICETE), and Regional Directo for Overseas Council. He is currently the International Director of Langham Partnership. Riad is from Lebanon where he lives with his wife, Izdihar.

Bishop Naffa is the Auxiliary Bishop of Joubbé, Sarba e Jounieh in Lebanon.He holds a PhD in Biblical Theology (Old Testament) from the Gregorian University in Rome. He is Professor of Biblical Studies and Study Director at the Antonine University. He is also Coordinator for Distance Education at the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik.

Issa Diab is Lebanese. He is Professor of Semitic and Interfaith Studies (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) and Global Translation Adviser at the United Bible Societies. Further, he is a Bible interpreter and translation consultant for the United Bible Societies and regular lecturer throughout Lebanon and the Middle East, having taught at Saint Joseph University, the Near East School of Theology (NEST), Hagazian University, Middle East University and Arab Baptist Theological Seminary among others. He holds a total of four doctorates in the following fields: New Testament Studies, Ancient Near Eastern Civilizations, Islamic Culture and Society, and Old Testament Studies. He is a prolific author of articles and books.

REV YOHANNA KATANACHO is a professor of Biblical Studies and Academic Dean at Nazareth Evangelical College. He is a Palestinian Israeli evangelical who studied at Bethlehem University (BSc), Wheaton College (MA), and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (MDiv; PhD). He has authored many books in English and Arabic including The Land of Christ: A Palestinian Cry and contributed to the Palestinian Kairos Document. Rev Katanacho is an Old Testament editor for the Arabic Contemporary Commentary and Asia Bible Commentary Series.

GRACE AL-ZOUGHBI is a Christian Palestinian from Bethlehem who serves as a lecturer in Biblical Studies at Bethlehem Bible College. She was an undergraduate student at the college and finished her MA at the London School of Theology in 2010. Her thesis sought to explore the ways in which women can seek to defend and promote personal dignity, particularly within strongly patriarchal contexts. Grace is currently working on her PhD through the South African Theological Seminary. In her day-to-day life, she participates in leading a variety of programs through her local church in Bethlehem and is also involved in various translation projects. Grace joined the staff of BBC in 2011, and she is currently the head of the Biblical Studies department.

MUNTHER ISAAC holds a PhD in Biblical Studies from the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies. Currently he serves as Academic Dean at Bethlehem Bible College and Director of the influential Christ at the Checkpoint conferences. He is also a minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land. Munther is married to Rudaina, an architect, and they have two children, Karam and Zaid.

Dr Avuch was born in Argentina. He is Professor of New Testament at the University of Belmont. He received his PhD from Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität in Münster, Germany. He has written many articles published in books and journals in Arabic, German, English and Spanish.

Father Hanna was born in Kuwait. He holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in theology from the University of Balamand, Lebanon. He is currently studying for a PhD, examining the Arabic translations of the Gospel texts. He currently works at the Centre of Digital Humanities, University of Balamand. He has published many articles in Arabic and English.

Sister Khoury is an Antonine Lebanese nun who holds a doctorate in biblical theology with an emphasis on the New Testament, from the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik. She has taught Bible for many years at the same university and has attended other universities and specialized conferences. She has written many books, articles, research papers and translations. She is currently the General Director of the Antonine Sisters and the Director of the High School of the Antiochian Sisters of Rome.

Dr Matta is Professor of Biblical Studies (New Testament at) the Catholic Institute, Paris and Saint Joseph University, Beirut, Lebanon. She holds a PhD in Biblical Studies from the Catholic Institute, Paris, France. She teaches at three universities: The Catholic Institute of Paris, Saint Joseph University in Beirut, Lebanon, and The Holy Spirit University of Kaslik, Lebanon. She has published many studies in several languages.

An Egyptian scholar, Father William holds a PhD from the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome. Previously, he was the principal of the Faculty of Religious Sciences, University of Cairo, Egypt. He has written many articles in Arabic and French.