About
My research focuses on the interpretation of midrashic literature, with particular reference to Jewish-Christian and Jewish-Muslim relations, Jewish history from biblical times to Late Antiquity, and apocalypticism and eschatology. Following a BA in Theology and an MPhil in Hebrew Bible, I completed my PhD at Christ’s College, University of Cambridge, examining Jewish apocalyptic texts as a response to the emergence of Islam. I then worked as a Research Associate first at the University of Sheffield (2003-2005) and then the University of Cambridge (2005-2009) before joining the
Parkes Institute for the Study of Jewish/non-Jewish Relations in 2009.
Publications
Helen Spurling, ‘A revival in Jewish apocalyptic? Change and continuity in the seventh-eighth centuries with special reference to Pirqe Mashiaḥ’, in: Hagit Amirav, Emmanouela Grypeou and Guy Stroumsa, eds, Apocalypticism and Eschatology in Late Antiquity: Encounters in the Abrahamic Religions, 6th-8th Centuries, Leuven, Peeters Publishers, 2017.
Helen Spurling, ed., The Jews and Political Discourse, Special Issue, Jewish Culture and History, 16.3, 2015, 219pp.
Helen Spurling, ‘Discourse of doubt: The Testing of Apocalyptic Figures in Jewish and Christian traditions of Late Antiquity’. Jewish Culture and History, 16.3, 2015, pp109-126.
Helen Spurling and Hannah Ewence, eds, Visualizing Jews through the Ages: Literary and Material Representations of Jewishness and Judaism, Studies in Cultural History, New York, Routledge, 2015, 335pp.
Helen Spurling, ‘The image of God in late antique apocalyptic literature: the Holy One as teacher in Pirqe Mashiah’, in: Helen Spurling and Hannah Ewence, eds, Visualizing Jews through the Ages: Literary and Material Representations of Jewishness and Judaism, Studies in Cultural History, New York, Routledge, 2015, pp32-47.
Helen Spurling and Emmanouela Grypeou, The Book of Genesis in Late Antiquity: Encounters between Jewish and Christian Exegesis, Jewish and Christian Perspectives Series 24, Leiden, Brill, 2013, 538pp.
Helen Spurling, ‘Hebrew Visions of Hell and Paradise’, in: R. Bauckham and J. Davila, eds Old Testament Pseudepigrapha: More Noncanonical Scriptures, Volume 1, Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 2013, pp699-753. (55pp, 29,000 words)
Hannah Ewence and Helen Spurling, eds, Image conscious: Jewish visuals and visualising Jews through the ages, Special Issue, Jewish Culture and History, 12.3, 2012.
Helen Spurling, ‘The image of God in late antique apocalyptic literature: the Holy One as teacher in Pirqe Mashiah’. Jewish Culture and History, 12.3, 2012, pp385-396.
Helen Spurling, ‘Qoph’, in: David J. A. Clines, ed. The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew – Vol. VII tsade-resh, Sheffield, Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2010. I was responsible for drafting over one hundred articles beginning with qoph.
Emmanouela Grypeou and Helen Spurling, eds, The Exegetical Encounter between Jews and Christians in Late Antiquity, Jewish and Christian Perspectives 18, Leiden, Brill, 2009, 279pp.
Emmanouela Grypeou and Helen Spurling, ‘Abraham’s Angels: Jewish and Christian exegesis of Genesis 18-19’, in: Emmanouela Grypeou and Helen Spurling, eds The Exegetical Encounter between Jews and Christians in Late Antiquity, Jewish and Christian Perspectives 18, Leiden, Brill, 2009, pp181-203.
Helen Spurling, ‘Biblical Symbols in Jewish Apocalyptic and Eschatological Imagery’, in: Angel Urban and Juan Pedro Monferrer-Sala, eds Sacred Text: explorations in lexicography, Frankfurt, Peter Lang, 2009, pp271-299.
Helen Spurling, ‘The Blessing on Judah: Ephrem and Jewish Exegesis’. The Harp. A Review of Syriac, Ecumenical and Oriental Studies, 23, 2008, pp85-102.
Helen Spurling and Emmanouela Grypeou, ‘Pirke-de Rabbi Eliezer and Eastern Christian Exegesis’. Collectanea Christiana Orientalia, 4, 2007, pp217-243.
Helen Spurling, ‘Pe’, in: David J. A. Clines, ed. The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew – Vol. VI samek-pe, Sheffield, Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2007. I was responsible for drafting over one hundred articles beginning with pe-aleph to pe-nun.
