South Asia Bible Commentary

AJOY KUMAR LAMA was born and raised in a traditional Tibetan Buddhist family and came to Christ while studying veterinary science in Patna (India). He holds a BVSc from Rajendra Agriculture University, Pusa (India), an MDiv from AIT Bangalore, a DMin from Beeson Divinity School (Birmingham, AL) and a PhD in the Old Testament from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (Deer eld, IL). During his career he has served as a sta member of the Union of Evangelical Students of India, a senior pastor in India, a missions pastor in the USA, and is currently the General Secretary of the Council of Baptist Churches in North East India. Ajoy is married to Dr. Asangla Ao and they have three children.

Ajith Fernando, ThM, DD, is national director of Youth for Christ in Sri Lanka and a Bible expositor with a worldwide ministry. He studied at Asbury Theological Seminary and Fuller Seminary, and spends much time mentoring young workers and counseling Christian workers. He is active in Colombo Theological Seminary as chairman of the academic affairs committee.

ASHISH CHRISPAL, PhD, is a pastor, grassroots missionaries’ trainer, and theological education facilitator. Ashish has served with Overseas Council for the last ten years equipping seminaries in Asia to rethink theological education through being missional and ministry-oriented with a scholarly focus for the Lord’s glory.

HALIVAH DHARAMRAJ, PhD (Durham, UK), is the Academic Dean at the South Asia Institute of Advanced Christian Studies, where she teaches Old Testament. She is one of the editors of, and a contributor to, the South Asia Bible Commentary.

Ivan Satyavrata serves as Senior Pastor of the assembly of God Church in Kolkata, India. He has played an active role in Christian leadership training and ministerial education, and is currently Board Chair of the Centre for Global Leadership Development (formerly Southern Asia Bible College) in Bangalore, India.

JESUDASON BASKAR JEYARAJ is a professor of Biblical Studies and taught in various seminaries. He is an ordained clergy of the Church of South India – Diocese of Madurai and Ramnad. He earned his PhD in Old Testament from the University of Sheffield, UK. He has published several books and articles in journals and is one of the Associate Editors of the South Asia Bible Commentary (ODP/Zondervan, 2015). Currently, he is the Honorary Director of Jubilee Institute in Madurai, organizing seminars for developing leaders and networking with Holistic Child Development educational programmes. He is a life member of the Evangelical Fellowship of India, fellow of Langham Scholars, and a member of the International Association of Mission Studies.

KEN GNANAKAN (1940–2021) gained his PhD from Kings College London and engaged in education for over forty years. He founded the ACTS Group of Institutions in 1979, and he served as general secretary of the Asia Theological Association for fifteen years, later serving as chairman of the International Council for Higher Education.

PAUL SWARUP is a Langham Scholar who holds a ThM from Princeton and a PhD from Cambridge. He is ordained in the Church of North India and is currently presbyter in charge of the Cathedral Church of the Redemption in the Diocese of Delhi. He was a major contributor to the South Asia Bible Commentary, and one of the Old Testament editors for that volume.

PERVAIZ SULTAN holds a PhD from Oxford Centre for Mission Studies, UK. He is Principal of St Thomas’ Theological College in Karachi, Pakistan.

VINOTH RAMACHANDRA lives in Colombo, Sri Lanka. He holds both a B.S. (summa cum laude) and a Ph.D. in nuclear engineering from the University of London. An Anglican lay-theologian, writer, teacher and human rights advocate, he combines multiple interests in his international work with IFES, a global partnership of over 150 university-level Christian movements.