Exploring ritual, covenant, and curse in Deuteronomy and the ancient world.
Minister of Word and Sacrament, Presbyterian Church (USA)
Melissa Ramos is a scholar of the Hebrew Bible whose work explores the ritual world of ancient Israel: the covenants, oaths, curses, and blessings through which communities bound themselves to God and to one another. She holds a PhD from UCLA, an MPhil from Cambridge, and an MDiv from Fuller Theological Seminary, and served as Associate Professor of Biblical Studies at Portland Seminary of George Fox University from 2017 to 2026.
Her first book, Ritual in Deuteronomy: The Performance of Doom (Routledge, 2021), examines the dramatic enactment of the covenant in Deuteronomy 27–30. Her second, New Perspectives on Ritual in the Biblical World (T&T Clark, 2022), co-edited with Laura Quick, gathers essays on materiality, embodiment, and gender in ancient religious practice.
She is an ordained Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (USA), co-founder of Religion for Her, and a contributor to Working Preacher and TheTorah.com.
Explores the ritual world of Deuteronomy and its symbolic forms, focusing on the dramatic enactment of the covenant in Deuteronomy 27–30 and the role ritual plays in the literary shape of the book.
The Ancient Word series, edited by Seth Sanders.
A co-edited volume emphasizing materiality and embodiment in the study of religious practice: ritual and the body, official and non-official practice, and the textualization of ritual.
Co-edited with Laura Quick. Includes her chapter “Monumentalizing Slaughter: ‘Cutting Covenant’ in the Hebrew Bible and Levantine Inscriptions.”
A conversation about the covenant ceremony, its curses and blessings, and what ritual does in the book of Deuteronomy.
Does Proverbs 31 leave you feeling exhausted, discouraged, or as though you could never measure up? Join us for a discussion-based exploration of the women and female figures of the book of Proverbs. Together, we’ll encounter Lady Wisdom, Lady Folly, and the often-misunderstood “woman of strength” in Proverbs 31. As we place these figures in conversation with one another, we’ll explore what Proverbs might have to say about wisdom, strength, womanhood, and faithful living today.
Papers and invited talks at the Society of Biblical Literature, the American Academy of Religion, and university lectures. The full list is on the CV.
Interested in having Melissa speak?
Get in touchAn online community for women’s interpretation of Scripture, co-founded by Melissa with two partners. Courses, essays, and conversation for anyone reading the Bible with fresh eyes.