Dr Matthew O’Kelly

Subjects: Old Testament, Biblical Hebrew

Qualifications: PhD (Aberdeen); BTh Hons (GWC); BMus (UCT)

Matthew joined the faculty at GWC in 2026 as Online Coordinator.

His main areas of teaching and research are focused on the Old Testament, with particular interests in Proverbs, Deuteronomy, and the broader field of wisdom in the Old Testament.

In 2025, he completed his PhD through the University of Aberdeen. He has authored numerous journal articles, has a book forthcoming in the Vetus Testamentum, Supplements series published by Brill, and is currently co-editing a volume on wisdom across theological disciplines, forthcoming with T&T Clark.

Before beginning theological studies, Matthew studied music at the University of Cape Town, majoring in composition and jazz arrangement, and has served in various ministry roles at Tokai Community Church and Southern Cross Church.

  1. “Introductory Matters: Tracing the Aims of Proverbs 1:1–7 through the Book’s First Collection,” Scottish Journal of Theology 78.3: 252–62.
  2. “Forgetting the Covenant of Her God: Ethnicity, Social Memory, and the Covenant in Proverbs 2:17,” Biblical Interpretation 33.1: 27–51.
  3. “Stillness and Salvation: Reading Psalm 46 in Its Context,” Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 48.3: 371–83.
  4. “Wisdom and the Fear of YHWH: Rethinking Their Relationship in Proverbs 1–9,” Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 47.1: 98–113.

Forthcoming. Craig G. Bartholomew, Benjamin T. Quinn, and Matthew A. O’Kelly (eds), Wisdom in Scripture, Theology, and the Contemporary World (T&T Clark). [Title to be finalized. MS due Dec 2028.] Forthcoming. Social Memory and the Book of Proverbs: Wisdom and the Instruction of Torah in Post-Exilic Social Discourse, Vetus Testamentum, Supplements (Brill). Forthcoming. “Proverbs and Its Social Background,” in Proverbs, edited by John Goldingay and Chloe Sun, Themes and Issues in Biblical Studies (Sheffield Equinox). Forthcoming. “Openness, Context, and Meaning in Proverbs: An Approach to the Sayings in Proverbs 10–22,” Journal of Theological Studies.