Dr. David Howard, Jr. is Professor of Old Testament at Bethel Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota.  He grew up in Costa Rica and Colombia, son of missionary parents, and he has also taught at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. 

His publications include numerous journal articles, book chapters, encyclopedia essays, and book reviews.  He is the author or editor of 13 books, including three on the Psalms, The Structure of Psalms 93-100 (1997); “My Words Are Lovely”: Studies in the Rhetoric of the Psalms; The Psalms: Language for all Seasons of the Soul (2013), and several on OT narrative texts: An Introduction to the Old Testament Historical Books (1993);  Joshua (New American Commentary; 1998); and Giving the Sense: Understanding and Using Old Testament Historical Texts (2003).  He is also the series editor for the Handbooks for Old Testament Exegesis (HOTE) series (six volumes).

Dr. Howard has served on the translation committees for three Bible versions: New Living Translation (1996); English Standard Version (2001); and the Holman Christian Standard Bible (2004).  He also has written notes for three study Bibles: The Nelson Study Bible: NKJV (1997: Joshua-Judges); English Standard Version Study Bible (2008: Judges); and Zondervan NIV Study Bible (2015: Psalms). 

He is a member of the Evangelical Theological Society, the Institute for Biblical Research, and the Society of Biblical Literature.  He served as Book Review Editor for the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, and was elected to the ETS Executive Committee in 2000-2007, serving as president of the Society in 2003. 

He and his wife Jan have two married daughters and four grandchildren.