William Lee Holladay, 89, of Amherst, Massachusetts, died unexpectedly of heart disease on May 6, 2016, with his loving wife Patricia Appelbaum at his side. Bill was born on June 23, 1926 in Dallas, Texas. His parents were William Lee Holladay and Louise (Cook) Holladay.
Bill graduated from the University of California (Berkeley) in 1948 after serving as a chaplain’s assistant in the Army. He received a B.D. from the Pacific School of Religion in 1951 and a Th.D. from the University of Leyden (Netherlands) in 1958. From mid-1951 until 1955 he was a pastor in rural California. After receiving the doctorate, he served as a chaplain at the University of Colorado at Boulder and then taught at Elmhurst College (Illinois).
From 1963 until 1970, he taught at the Near East School of Theology in Beirut (Lebanon), an experience that formed him deeply. From 1970 until his retirement in 1997, Bill was Lowry Professor of Old Testament at Andover Newton Theological School in Newton, Massachusetts. He continued to write and teach after retirement.
As a scholar, Bill was best known for his works on the prophets and the psalms. Trained in historical criticism and linguistic studies, he also embraced the study of poetic structures. His most significant works include A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament (1971), which has been continuously in print in several languages; Jeremiah 1 (1986) and Jeremiah 2 (1989) a major commentary in the Hermeneia series; and The Psalms through Three Thousand Years (1993). Bill also wrote effectively for nonprofessionals in Jeremiah: A Fresh Reading (1990), Long Ago God Spoke (1995), and many other works. In addition to six more books, Bill contributed articles to many journals, including Journal of Bible and Religion, the Journal of Biblical Literature, Vetus Testamentum, and the Harvard Divinity Bulletin.
Alongside his meticulous scholarship, Bill possessed an ebullient optimism and a confidence that things would always work out all right. He loved adventure; he traveled widely in Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa, and regretted that he was unable to visit Haiti this year. His spiritual life was rich and complex, formed by tradition but always able to accommodate new circumstances, intellectually deep yet alert to pastoral concerns. He was an important teacher for ministers and academics around the world.
Bill is survived by his wife Patty Appelbaum and his daughter Margaret Holladay, as well as by his first wife, Jean Grosbach, and three sons from his first marriage: David Holladay, Martin Holladay, and Peter Holladay. The family grew to include Clark MacKenzie. Bill is also survived by his grandchildren Anna LaRue, John LaRue, Seth Holladay, Diya Holladay, Moses Manning, Noah Manning, Mara Wolkoff, and Joshua Wolkoff; great-grandchildren Alexander and Zoe Lacker; his brother Richard Holladay; and his sister Nancy (Holladay) Weger. Bill was preceded in death by his daughter Cathy Holladay.
This list includes one booklet. It does not include journal articles.
 | 1958 | The root subh in the Old Testament (Phd Thesis) |
 | 1968 | Zionism - Judaism: is the old testament Zionist? (pdf) |
 | 1971 | Concise Hebrew And Aramaic Lexicon Of The Old Testament |
 | Sep 1974 | Jeremiah: Spokesman Out of Time |
 | Aug 1976 | Architecture of Jeremiah, 1-20 |
 | 1986 | Jeremiah 1 (Hermeneia: a Critical and Historical Commentary on the Bible) |
 | May 1987 | Isaiah, scroll of a prophetic heritage |
 | 1989 | Jeremiah 2 (Hermeneia: a Critical and Historical Commentary on the Bible) |
 | Aug 1995 | Long Ago God Spoke |
 | Aug 1996 | The Psalms Through Three Thousand Years |
 | Feb 2002 | Unbound By Time: Isaiah Still Speaks |
 | Oct 2006 | Jeremiah: Reading the Prophet in His Time - And Ours |
 | Mar 2012 | Jeremiah: A Fresh Reading |
(web page created by David Holladay)