Stephen L. Cook

Dr. Stephen L. Cook has served since 1996 as the Catherine N. McBurney Professor of Old Testament Language and Literature at Virginia Theological Seminary, the largest of the accredited seminaries of the Episcopal Church (founded in 1823). He and his wife Catherine, a psychotherapist, live amid the seminary community on its campus in Alexandria, Virginia. Their daughter, Rebecca, is a student at Fordham University.

Prior to joining the VTS faculty in 1996, Stephen served on the faculty of Union Theological Seminary at Columbia University in New York City for four years. He did his doctoral training in Old Testament at Yale University after having completing the M.Div. degree at Yale's Divinity School, where he also served as an instructor and fellow. His undergraduate work was at Trinity College, Connecticut, where he graduated with honors as a religion major in 1984.

Stephen is the author of several books, including an Anchor Yale Bible on Ezekiel; Reading Deuteronomy: A Literary and Theological Commentary (Smyth & Helwys, 2015); The Apocalyptic Literature (Abingdon, 2003); The Social Roots of Biblical Yahwism (Society of Biblical Literature, 2004); and Prophecy and Apocalypticism (Fortress, 1995); Conversations with Scripture: 2 Isaiah (Morehouse, 2008), and "The Season of Epiphany" in New Proclamation Year B, 2008-2009, Advent through Holy Week (Fortress, 2008). Most recently (2026), he has written a Commentary on Daniel for Baker Academic Press in the BCOT series. His other publications include journal articles, introductions and annotations to biblical books for both the New Oxford Annotated Bible and the Society of Biblical Literature Study Bible, and several entries for The New Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible. He regular posts biblical reels and reflections on Facebook and Instagram.

Stephen has served in several capacities as an officer of the Society of Biblical Literature, including as a member of SBL Council, a Regional Coordinator, and a Regional President for the guild. He is also the Corporation Representative for Virginia Seminary to the American Society of Overseas Research (ASOR) and a member of such other professional societies as the Anglican Association of Biblical Scholars and the Catholic Biblical Association. He is in high demand around the country as a lecturer, seminar speaker, and workshop leader