David Pao, PhD

Dean, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS); Professor of New Testament
Why am I an evangelical teaching in an evangelical divinity school? Because I acknowledge that I am a sinner—wretched in the presence of the holy God—and that I could neither come before Him nor continue to exist apart from His grace; such recognition of my own sinfulness stands at the heart of understanding my need for the Evangelion, the Gospel.

Prior to joining the faculty at Trinity, Dr. Pao taught at Harvard University as a Teaching Fellow. He has also served as a visiting professor at institutions in Hong Kong, China, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia. He is currently serving as the New Testament editor of the Tien Dao Bible Commentary series and consulting editor of the Zondervan Exegetical Commentary series.

His publications include Acts and the Isaianic New Exodus (Mohr Siebeck/Baker, 2002), Thanksgiving: An Investigation of a Pauline Theme (InterVarsity, 2002), Early Christian Voices: In Texts, Traditions, and Symbols (coeditor, Brill, 2003), After Imperialism: Christian Identity in China and the Global Evangelical Movement (coeditor, Pickwick, 2011), Commentary on Colossians and Philemon (Zondervan, 2012), Ascent into Heaven in Luke-Acts: New Explorations of Luke’s Narrative Hinge (coeditor, Fortress, 2016), and 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus (Brill, 2023). He has also published several works in Chinese, including a two-volume commentary on the Gospel of Luke (Tien Dao, 2008, 2009) and more than ten volumes in the Guides to Biblical Studies series (Tien Dao, 2015–).

Other publications he has contributed to include the Dictionary for Theological Interpretation of Scripture (Baker, 2005), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary (vol. 10; Zondervan, 2007), New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible (Abingdon, 2008), Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament (Baker, 2007), The Baker Illustrated Bible Commentary (Baker, 2012), The NIV Zondervan Study Bible (Zondervan, 2015), Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception (de Gruyter, 2016), and Christian Higher Education: Teaching and Learning in the Evangelical Tradition (Crossway, 2018).
 

  • PhD (Harvard University)
  • MTS (Harvard University)
  • MA (Harvard University)
  • MA (Wheaton College Graduate School)
  • BA (Wheaton College)
     

Expertise

Greco-Roman World and Early Christianity, Second Temple Judaism, New Testament
 

Books and Book-Length Projects [English]

  • Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles. Brill Exegetical Commentary. Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2023.

  • Coeditor, Ascent Into Heaven in the Lukan Writings: New Explorations of Luke’s Narrative Hinge. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2016.

  • “Notes for the Gospel of Luke,” in D. A. Carson, ed., NIV Zondervan Study Bible, 2060–2139. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2015.

  • Commentary on Colossians and Philemon. Zondervan Exegetical Commentary. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2012. [Also translated into Chinese (2016), Korean (2018), and Romanian (2022)]

  • “Acts,” in Andrew Hill and Gary Burge, eds., The Baker Illustrated Bible Commentary, 1165–1219. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2012.

  • Coeditor, After Imperialism: Christian Identity in China and the Global Evangelical Movement. Eugene, OR: Pickwick, 2011.

  • Consulting Editor, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2008–present.

  • Co-author, “Luke,” in D.A. Carson and G.K. Beale, eds., Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament, 251–414. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2007.

  • Co-author, “Luke,” in Tremper Longman III and David E. Garland, eds., The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, vol. 10, 19–355. Rev. ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2007. 

  • Coeditor, Early Christian Voices—In Texts, Traditions, and Symbols. BibInt 66. Boston/Leiden: E.J. Brill, 2003.

  • Thanksgiving: An Investigation of a Pauline Theme. New Studies in Biblical Theology 13, ed. D. A. Carson. Leicester/Grand Rapids, MI: InterVarsity Press, 2002.

  • Acts and the Isaianic New Exodus. WUNT II.130. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2000/Grand Rapids: Baker, 2002.

Books and Book-Length Projects [Chinese]

  • The Gospel of Freedom: A Rereading of the Prison Epistles. Hong Kong: Tien Dao Publishing House, 2020. 

  • The Subversive Power of Grace: A Rereading of the Epistle to the Romans. Hong Kong: Tien Dao Publishing House, 2020. 

  • Subversive Gospel People: A Rereading of the Catholic Epistles. Hong Kong: Tien Dao Publishing House, 2019.

  • From Remembrance to the Reconstruction of Reality: A Theological Reflection of the Biblical Festivals. Hong Kong: Tien Dao Publishing House, 2019. 

  • Worship: A Reconception of Reality. Hong Kong: Tien Dao Publishing House, 2018.

  • Steadfastness in Turbulent Times: A Rereading of the Pastoral Epistles. Hong Kong: Tien Dao Publishing House, 2018. 

  • Subversive Christian Faith: A Johannine Apocalyptic Perspective. Hong Kong: Tien Dao Publishing House, 2017. 

  • Subversive Christology. Hong Kong: Tien Dao Publishing House, 2017. 

  • Subversive Ecclesiology. Hong Kong: Tien Dao Publishing House, 2016. 

  • Sola Scriptura: From Interpretation to Application. Hong Kong: Tien Dao Publishing House, 2016. 

  • The Subversive Christian Faith: A Lukan Perspective. Hong Kong: Tien Dao Publishing House, 2015. 

  • Commentary on the Gospel of Luke, 2 vols. Hong Kong: Tien Dao Publishing House, 2008–2009. 

  • New Testament Editor, Tien Dao Bible Commentary. Hong Kong: Tien Dao Publishing House, 2004–. 

  • Co-author, An Introduction to Biblical Canon and Extra-Biblical Literature. Hong Kong: International Bible Society, 2001. 

Articles

  • “Isaiah in the New Testament,” in Christopher B. Hays, ed., Cambridge Companion to Isaiah. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2024.

  • “Luke, Book of,” in G. K. Beale, D. A. Carson, B. L. Gladd, and A. D. Naselli, eds., Dictionary of the New Testament Use of the Old Testament. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2023.

  • Co-author, “The Importance of Research for Teaching and Learning,” in David S. Dockery, ed., Christian Higher Education: Teaching and Learning in the Evangelical Tradition. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2018.

  • “The Ten Commandments: From Law to Grace,” in Reading the Ten Commandments. Melbourne: Melbourne School of Theology, 2018. [Chinese]

  •  “Colossians 3:24” and “1 Timothy 6:17,” in Paul Jackson, ed., Devotions on the Greek New Testament II. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2017.

  • “Jesus’ Ascension and the Lukan Account of the Restoration of Israel,” in David K. Bryan and David W. Pao, ed., Ascent Into Heaven in the Lukan Writings: New Explorations of Luke’s Narrative Hinge, 137–55. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2016.

  • “Isaiah (Book and Person). New Testament,” in Dale C. Allison, Jr., et al., eds., Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception, vol. 13, 305–309. Berlin/New York: Walter de Gruyter, 2016.

  • “Israel and Israel’s Scripture,” Trinity Journal 37 (2016): 47–56.

  • “Let No One Despise Your Youth: Church and the World in the Pastoral Epistles,” JETS 57 (2014): 743–55.

  • “Adultery, Divorce, and the Hard-Hearted People of God: The Function of the Matthean Exception Clause (Matt 19:9) in Its Literary Context,” Paradosis (Journal of the Melbourne School of Theology) 1 (2014): 64–82 (originally presented at the Melbourne School of Theology Conference [July 2013]).

  • “Hearing from God: A Biblical and Theological Framework,” EFCA Today (Summer 2014).

  • “Old Testament in the Gospels,” in Joel B. Green, et al., eds., Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels, 631–41. 2nd ed. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2013.

  • “Ethical Relevance of New Testament Commentaries: On the Reading of Rom 13:1–7,” in Stanley E. Porter and Eckhard J. Schnabel, ed., On the Writing of New Testament Commentaries, 193–214. Text and Editions for New Testament Study 8. Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2012.

  • “Waiters or Preachers: Acts 6:1–7 and the Lukan Table Fellowship Motif,” Journal of Biblical Literature 130 (2011): 127–44.

  • “New Testament Studies in Asia,” in A. J. Kostenberger and R. W. Yarbrough, eds., Understanding the Times: New Testament Studies in the 21st Century (Essays in Honor of D. A. Carson), 300–23. Wheaton: Crossway, 2011.

  • “‘Holy War’ and the Universal God: Reading the New Testament Conquest Accounts in a Post-Colonial Setting,” in R. R. Cook and D. W. Pao, eds., After Imperialism: Christian Identity in China and the Global Evangelical Movement, 112–35. Eugene, OR: Pickwick, 2011.

  • “Gospel within the Constraints of an Epistolary Form: Pauline Introductory Thanksgivings and Paul’s Theology of Thanksgiving,” in S. E. Porter and S. A. Adams, eds., Paul and the Ancient Letter Form, 101–128. PAST 6. Boston/Leiden: Brill, 2010.

  • “Matthias,” New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible. Nashville: Abingdon, 2008.

  • “From Family to Table-Fellowship: Identity Definition and the Redrawing of Boundaries in the Writings of Luke,” in R. Priest and A. Nieves, ed. This Side of Heaven: Race, Ethnicity, and Christian Faith, 181–93. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007.

  • “Prophecy and Prophets in the NT,” in K. Vanhoozer, et al., eds., Dictionary for Theological Interpretation of Scripture, 624–26. London: SPCK/Grand Rapids: Baker, 2005.

  • “Disagreement Among the Jews in Acts 28,” in D. Warren, A. G. Brock, and D. Pao, ed, Early Christian Voices—In Texts, Traditions, and Symbols, 109–118. BibInt 66. Boston/Leiden: E.J. Brill, 2003.

  • “The Victorious Lamb in the Book of Revelation,” in The Glorious Christ and the Contemporary Christian, 115–39. Concord, CA: CWTS, 2003.

  • “Jesus Seminar and the Approaches of Modern Jesus Studies,” Topics in Contemporary Biblical-Theological Studies, 1–41. Hong Kong: Evangel Press, 2002. [Chinese]

  • “Physical and Spiritual Restoration: The Role of Healing Miracles in the Acts of Andrew,” François Bovon, et. al., eds. Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles, 259–80. Religions of the World. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1999.

  • “The Sebasteion in Aphrodisias: Structure and Meaning of a Temple Complex for the Imperial Cult,” Jian Dao: A Journal of Bible and Theology 6 (1996): 55–75.

  • “The Genre of the Acts of Andrew,” Apocrypha: Revue Internationale des Littératures Apocryphes 6 (1995): 179–202.

Awards & Honours

  • President-Elect, Evangelical Theological Society (2026)
  • Harvard University Teaching Fellowship
  • Harvard University Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship
  • Harvard University Edward J. Curley Scholarship
  • Wheaton College Graduate School Tenney Award in New Testament Studies
     

Recent Publications

Affiliations & Memberships

  • Evangelical Theological Society
  • Institute of Biblical Research
  • Society of Biblical Literature