Here are a few words straight from Mike...

"Let's get the academic stuff out of the way first. I have an M.A. and Ph.D. in Hebrew Bible and Ancient Semitic Languages from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. My dissertation was entitled, "The Divine Council in Late Canonical and Non-Canonical Second Temple Jewish Literature" (English translation: the dissertation dealt with the presence of a pantheon in the Hebrew Bible and the binitarian nature of ancient Israelite religion and Judaism, a backdrop for the the belief in the deity of Christ in the New Testament). Before going to the UW-Madison, I also earned an M.A. in Ancient History from the University of Pennsylvania (major fields, Ancient Syria-Palestine and Egyptology). I can do translation work in roughly a dozen ancient languages, among them Biblical Hebrew, Biblical Greek, Aramaic, Syriac, Egyptian hieroglyphs, Phoenician, Moabite, Ugaritic cuneiform, and Klingon (just kidding there). I have also studied Akkadian and Sumerian independently. All that but I have difficulty understanding my wife (she'd vouch for that).

I taught on the college level for twelve years before taking my current position as Academic Editor (read: ancient language geek) with Logos Bible Software in Bellingham, WA. I taught approximately twenty different courses. I also taught outside my immediate area (speech) while going through grad school.

My main academic interests (try not to yawn) are in ancient languages and texts (what a shocker), biblical archaeology (apologies to Bill Dever), ancient Near Eastern religions, Egyptology in general, textual criticism and ancient manuscript transmission, epigraphy, paleography, the history of the alphabet, biblical theology, and Intertestamental (Second Temple Period) Jewish writings, like 1 Enoch.

As this website suggests, I've had a lifelong interest in the paranormal, particularly the UFO phenomenon. No, I haven't been abducted by aliens, Watchers, Men in Black, or bill collectors (yet). I do have an unidentified metal object in my calf (no kidding), but since I used to work in a factory where you ran into about a billion such fragments a night, I don't feel the slightest bit interested in having it checked out. I just mention it to sound spooky. (The voices in my head told me to say that). Other than UFO-related issues, I am most intrigued by high technology in the ancient world, cultural diffusionism, archaeological / artifactual anomalies, and western occult and esoteric traditions.

Going back a bit farther in my life (I'm almost done - really), I grew up in Lebanon, PA, attended Lebanon High for three years, and then graduated from Cedar Crest High in 1981. I've been married since 1987 (miracles do happen). We now have four children (three girls, one boy). At present we are home-schooling and attend a Church in the Reformed tradition. I never met a pizza I didn't like. I also like the Packers, Cubs, and the Red Sox. You can pity me now."

-Michael S. Heiser

Dissertation:

"The Divine Council in Late Canonical and Non-Canonical Second Temple Jewish Literature." The dissertation involved exegesis primarily in the Pentateuch, Wisdom Literature, and Isaiah, but also dealt at length with Israelite Religion (all stages), Second Temple texts (Qumran, Pseudepigrapha, Septuagint), and early rabbinic material.

Areas of proficiency:

Hebrew Bible, Northwest Semitic languages [biblical Hebrew, biblical Greek, Syriac, Aramaic, Ugaritic, Egyptian, Akkadian, Sumerian, Phoenician, Moabite], biblical theology, the history and religions of the ancient Near East, and Second Temple Jewish literature.

Selected graduate coursework: