Robert Donald Miller II OFS (born August 21, 1966) is an Old Testament theologian and biblical archaeologist at The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. He is also known for his Great Courses series Understanding the Old Testament. "Chieftains of the Highland Clans: A History of Israel in the Twelfth and Eleventh Centuries B.C.", published in 2005, is cited as among his best-known works.
Early life and education
Robert D. Miller II is originally from Apple Creek, Ohio. Miller obtained his B.A. in Old World Archaeology from Kent State University (1988), and both his M.A. and PH.D. in Biblical and Near Eastern Studies from the University of Michigan (1991/1998). Miller studied Hebrew Bible under Peter Machinist and Brian B. Schmidt and Archaeology under Henry T. Wright. In 1986 Miller converted to Catholicism, and in June 1998 professed to the Secular Franciscan Order.
Career
After graduate school, Miller began teaching as an Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at the West Virginia University Program for Religious Studies from 1998 to 1999. From 1999 to 2008, he taught as an Assistant (1999-2004), later Associate (2004-2008), Professor of Scripture at Mount St. Mary's Seminary. Since 2008 Miller has taught at The Catholic University of America as an Associate (2008-2018), later Ordinary (2018-present), Professor of Old Testament, receiving tenure in 2012. Miller was appointed Associate Dean of Graduate Studies for the School of Theology in 2017, serving until 2022. Additionally, Miller is Affiliated Faculty at the University of Pretoria and a Life Member of St John’s College, Cambridge.
Miller is a scholar of the history, literature, religion, and archaeology of Ancient Israel in the First Temple Period. Miller is also greatly interested in Biblical Theology, having organized several conferences on the subject, and published Syriac and Antiochian Exegesis and Biblical Theology for the 3rd Millennium (2008), Covenant and Grace in the Old Testament: Assyrian Propaganda and Israelite Faith (2012), Between Israelite Religion and Biblical Theology: Essays on Archaeology, History, and Hermeneutics (2016), and Many Roads Lead East: Overtures to Catholic Biblical Theology (2016).
Miller has also worked at the interface of science and theology as a recipient of two major grants, Religion and Science in Pastoral Ministry and Science for Seminarians. Interested in the education of the Old Testament and the general public, Miller has appeared in a number of media settings including, National Geographic “The Ten Plagues of the Bible”, The Associated Press “NOT REAL NEWS: A look at what didn’t happen this week”, and Aleteia “What is the best edition of the Bible for Catholics?”. Miller is a former member of the Board of Trustees of the American Schools of Oriental Research and serves as Chair of the Board of Control of the New American Bible for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Personal life
Miller has been married since 1990 to Anne-Marie Duffy Miller; they have four sons. In off hours, Miller performs with historian Jonathan C. Friedman in an electronic folk duo named "Sirocco."