Daniel Patte

Daniel Patte (born 1939, died 2024) was a French-American biblical scholar and author. Patte is, since 2013, professor emeritus of Religious Studies, New Testament and Christianity at Vanderbilt University where he taught from 1971.

Patte studied in both European and American schools: following his Baccalauréat in Philosophy (Grenoble, 1958) he received a Baccalauréat en Théologie (1960) from the Faculté de Théologie Protestante, Montpellier, France, where he met his wife, Aline Teitelbaum; Licence en Théologie, (équivalent to Th.M., 1964) from the University of Geneva, Switzerland, and a Th.D. (1971) from the Jewish Christian Center at Chicago Theological Seminary.

As a biblical scholar and teacher in various settings around the world, Patte calls for an ethics of biblical interpretation that involves acknowledging the contextual character of any interpretation of the Bible, as his numerous books and articles indicate. In the 1970s-1980s Patte pioneered structural criticism in biblical studies, then served two terms (1992–98) as the General Editor of ''Semeia'', an Experimental Journal for Biblical Criticism of the Society of Biblical Literature.

Patte initiated and chaired programs of the Society of Biblical Literature, including on Semiotic and Exegesis, Romans Through History and Cultures, and, since 2007, Contextual Biblical Interpretation. With colleagues of the Society of Biblical Literature and of the American Academy of Religion involved in these programs, he envisioned and edited ''A Global Bible Commentary'' (2004) and ''The Cambridge Dictionary of Christianity'' (2010). Provided by Wikipedia