Jan Willem van Henten is Professor of Religion at the University of Amsterdam and Extra-Ordinary Professor of Old and New Testament at the University of Stellenbosch (South-Africa). He studied History and Theology at Leiden University, specializing in Ancient History, Judaism in the Second Temple Period and New Testament. His PhD (Leiden 1986) concerns martyrdom and the construction of Jewish identity in 2 and 4 Maccabees. He taught Judaism and New Testament at the Universities of Amsterdam, Leiden and Utrecht. He is full professor of Religion (Early Judaism and Christianity) at the University of Amsterdam since 1993. His courses concern the introduction to and interpretation of the Bible, the history, religion and literature of Judaism as well as New Testament and Christian origins. He contributes to the Amsterdam MA-programmes in Religious Studies and Ancient Studies & Classics. His research projects concern Jewish literature from antiquity, especially 2 and 4 Maccabees and the Jewish Antiquities by the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus (preparation of a commentary for the Brill Josephus project), martyrdom among Jews and Christians, as well as the reception of the Bible in contemporary culture.