13 December 2023
Professor Michael A. Knibb (1938-2023)
King’s is saddened to share news of Professor Michael A. Knibb, from the Department of Theology and Religious Studies, who died on 6 December 2023, aged 84.
Michael Knibb, Samuel Davidson Professor Emeritus, was at King’s for many years, originally appointed as Lecturer in 1964. He was promoted to Reader in 1982 and to Professor in 1986. He was Samuel Davidson Professor of Old Testament Studies from 1997 to 2001. Having served as Head of Department, he retired in 2001 as Head of the School of Humanities, and was a Fellow of the College.
Michael Knibb was a scholar of distinction, focusing especially on Ethiopic literature and on the Septuagint, and was a Fellow of the British Academy. His primary publications included The Ethiopic Book of Enoch: A New Edition in the Light of the Aramaic Dead Sea Fragments, 2 vols (1978); Translating the Bible: The Ethiopic Version of the Old Testament (1999), Knibb’s Schweich Lectures for the British Academy given in 1995; Essays on the Book of Enoch and other early Jewish Texts and Traditions (2009); The Ethiopic Text of the Book of Ezekiel: A Critical Edition (2015); and (as editor) The Septuagint and Messianism (2006).
He maintained contacts across King’s, to which he remained devoted. Michael will be sadly missed by so many and our thoughts are with all those who knew him.