Joshua J. Van Ee

About Dr. Van Ee

Dr. Van Ee is a minister in the United Reformed Churches in North America and has taught language and biblical studies courses at Westminster Seminary California since 2002. He is the son of a pastor and learned to love both Reformed theology and outdoor activities while his father served churches in Alaska and Montana. In college, he and his wife were able to spend a semester studying in Israel where he developed further his interests in geography and archaeology. During his time at WSC, he embraced the redemptive historical and comparative methods for a deeper study of the biblical text while also developing a fondness for the ocean along with the mountains. After graduating with an MDiv in 2002, he began to teach Greek and eventually Hebrew classes at WSC as he was studying for his doctorate at the University of California San Diego. In his dissertation, he analyzed biblical creation accounts and explored their relationship with Sumerian and Akkadian literature and future images of blessing in the prophets. His graduate work also included a summer archaeological dig in Wadi Faynan in Jordan.

Dr. Van Ee began teaching full-time at WSC in 2007 and has focused most of his research on the Pentateuch and the Historical Books. He has published popular and peer-reviewed articles, including in the Journal of Biblical Literature, and is an active member of the Society of Biblical Literature. His current projects include a commentary on the book of Leviticus (Crossway) and an introduction to the sacrificial-ceremonial system.

Dr. Van Ee and his wife, Heidi, have three children and attend Escondido United Reformed Church. He has had the opportunity to serve several terms on the board of trustees for Calvin Christian School in Escondido.

An Interview with Dr. Van Ee

More by Dr. Van Ee

Publications

• with David Noel Freedman, “Scribal Interventions in 1QIsaiah^a,” in Birkat Shalom: Studies in the Bible, Ancient Near Eastern Literature, and Postbiblical Judaism Presented to Shalom M. Paul on the Occasion of His Seventieth Birthday. Edited by Chaim Cohen, et al. Eisenbrauns, 2008.
• “Rahab the Prostitute, Heroine of Faith,” Modern Reformation 23, no. 1 (Jan/Feb 2014): 28-29.
• “Wolf and Lamb as Hyperbolic Blessing: Reassessing Creational Connections in Isaiah 11:6-8,” Journal of Biblical Literature 137, no. 2 (June 2018): 319-337.
• “Was Adam Created Mortal or Immortal? Getting Beyond the Labels,” Sapientia (a periodical of the Henry Center at TEDS) May 31, 2018. (http://henrycenter.tiu.edu/2018/05/was-adam-created-mortal-or-immortal-getting-beyond-the-labels/)
• “The Psalm of David the Shepherd,” Tabletalk (August 2018): 6-8.
• “Jewish Worship under Greco-Roman Rule,” Tabletalk (February 2022): 12-14.
• “Legacy of Learning,” Westminister Seminary California Update (Spring 2023): 4-7.
• “Hezekiah’s Tunnel,” “Lachish Letters,” “Ketef Hinnom Scrolls,” Pool of Siloam,” and “Crucified Man at Givat Hamivtar,” Tabletalk (September 2023): 15-20.
• “‘You Shall Be Holy’: A Reassessment of Israel’s Call to Holiness,” Journal of Biblical Literature 143, no. 4 (2024): 563-581.
• “The People of God,” Tabletalk (July 2025): 27-29.

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