The International Organization for
Septuagint and Cognate Studies

The John William Wevers Prize in Septuagint Studies

The International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies (IOSCS) offers an annual prize of $500 to be awarded to an outstanding paper in the field of Septuagint studies. The prize has been named in memory of John William Wevers to honor his many contributions to Septuagint studies.

The field of Septuagint studies is construed broadly, and a paper may focus on any aspect of the study of the Greek translation of the Jewish Scriptures.  The IOSCS wants to encourage the study of these translations by younger scholars, and eligibility is thus limited to advanced graduate students or recent Ph.D. recipients (4 years or less after receiving the degree).

The papers will be judged by a committee of IOSCS members, with the expectation that the winning paper be published in the Journal of Septuagint and Cognate Studies (JSCS).

The deadline for submitting papers for the current year is September 1. Papers should be between 4500-5500 words in length. Please submit the paper electronically to Dr. Michaël van der Meer at the following address.

If electronic submission is not possible, paper submissions may be mailed to Dr. van der Meer at the following mailing address.

Dr. Michaël van der Meer
Baarsjesweg 138-B
1057 HM Amsterdam
The Netherlands

Recent Prize Winners

The IOSCS is pleased to announce that the 2020 John W. Wevers prize for an outstanding paper in LXX studies goes to Joel Korytko for his paper "The Death Penalty in OG Exodus in Light of Graeco-Egyptian Legal Formulations." Joel is a PhD student at the University of Oxford working under the supervision of Prof. Alison Salvesen.

The jury of the John William Wevers Prize in Septuagint Studies is pleased to announce that the winner of the 2019 prize is Bryan Beeckman of the Catholic Universities of Leuven and Louvain-la-Neuve in Belgium. He won the prize with a paper entitled “Unitas Vegetabilium? The Greek Rendering of Hebrew Floral, Plant and Herb Names in LXX-Proverbs and LXX-Job." The winner works on a PhD thesis under supervision of Prof. Dr. Hans Ausloos and Prof. Dr. Bénédicte Lemmelijn.

The 2018 Wevers prize goes to Daniel Olariu for his paper, “The Mechanics of the Recensional Process: Theodotion’s Treatment of First-Found Equivalents in Old Greek Daniel.” Daniel is a PhD student at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His research project is “An Analysis of the Revisional Process in Theodotion’s Greek Text of Daniel,” being carried out under the supervision of Profs. Emanuel Tov and Michael Segal.

The IOSCS is pleased to announce that the 2017 John W. Wevers prize has been awarded to Jelle Verburg for his paper "The LXX of the Law of Deposit in Exodus 22:6-14.” Jelle is a doctoral student at Oxford working under the supervision of Jan Joosten.

Dr. Nesina Grütter (Abteilung Altes Testament, Theologische Fakultät der Universität Basel) was awarded the 2016 John William Wevers prize for her paper, "A Tale of One City (Nah 3:8–9): A Text-Critical Solution for an Often Discussed Problem Provided by a Reading Preserved in the Septuagint.” Dr. Grütter completed her doctoral degree in Sept 2015.

The 2015 John William Wevers Prize in Septuagint Studies has been awarded to Dr. Christoffer Theis for his paper, “Θεκεμείνας und תַּחְפְּנֵיס in 1. Könige 11,19.” Dr. Theis holds a doctorate in Egyptology (2013) from the Ruprecht-Karls-University in Heidelberg, Germany. He is currently a doctoral student in Theology at the same school.

James R. Covington, a PhD student at the University of Chicago Divinity School, won the 2014 John William Wevers Prize in Septuagint Studies for his essay titled, “How to Do Things with God’s Words: Translation Technique of Divine Speech Acts in LXX Genesis.”

Ben Johnson won the 2013 John William Wevers Prize in Septuagint Studies for his essay titled, "Narrative Sensitivity and the Variation of Verb Tense in 1 Reigns 17:34-37."

Bradley John Marsh, Jr. won the 2011 John William Wevers Prize in Septuagint Studies. Jason Gile won the 2010 John William Wevers Prize in Septuagint Studies. No prize was awarded in 2012.