The Life and Career
of W. Edward Glenny

William Edward Glenny was born April 28, 1949, the first of three children to William and Geraldine Glenny. His parents reared him and his younger siblings, Richard and Margaret, on their rural farm near Winnebago, Illinois, west of Rockford. His middle name, Edward, came to distinguish him from his father. From childhood he and his siblings regularly attended church at First Baptist Church of Rockford.

Ed attended and graduated from Pecatonica High School where he excelled in football. Pecatonica lies west of Winnebago, with a population of about 1,500 when Ed was born and increased to about 1,700 by 1967 when he left home for college at the University of Washington where he had received a full scholarship to play football. During his first year he became too ill to play. He completed the academic year and returned the next fall, but once again he became so ill that he returned home to Illinois to recuperate. While Ed lay in his sick-bed his teammates of the Washington Huskies traveled to play the Badgers of the University of Wisconsin. He was too ill to make the trip to watch the game, so his parents made the journey to attend the game in Madison, Wisconsin, without him.

Ed completed his second year at the University of Washington. After seeking medical advice concerning his physical condition, the physician assured Ed that there was no physical ailment troubling him but that he was fighting a battle in his mind. Ed knew that the battle he was engaging was a fight against the Lord’s call upon him. He made the decision to discontinue attending and playing football for the University of Washington. Difficult as the decision was, he knew that it was the proper choice.

Ed enrolled and transferred to a much smaller institution, Pillsbury Baptist Bible College in the small town of Owatonna, Minnesota. There, he began biblical studies and Koine Greek, which marked a considerable change in the direction of his life. With his health restored, he played football for the Pillsbury Comets until he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1972. It was at Pillsbury that Ed also met his future wife, Jackie Anderson from Westbrook, Minnesota, a small town north of Worthington. They dated on and off for two or three years until Ed graduated. This relationship took a prolonged hiatus, however, while Ed attended Central Baptist Theological Seminary in Minneapolis. As a young seminarian Ed added service as a youth pastor (1973–1975) to his short-term missionary experience in France. In the meantime, Jackie graduated and became a high school teacher in Minneapolis.

During his senior year of his studies toward the Master of Divinity degree, Ed renewed contact with Jackie. He did not know how to contact her but knew where she was teaching in Minneapolis, so he arrived early one Tuesday morning at her classroom door to meet her when she arrived to teach. That evening they went on a date and then again on Thursday evening of the same week. It was on that date that Ed said, “I suppose you’re wondering why I’ve asked you out.” Jackie was prepared to say, “Let’s date or go our separate ways,” when Ed reached into his pocket to retrieve a diamond ring as he proposed marriage. They were married within a few weeks in 1975.

Upon receiving the MDiv, Ed began to teach at his alma mater, Pillsbury College. While teaching Bible, Greek, and Christian Education courses, he also studied at Central Seminary toward the Master of Theology degree besides serving as an assistant coach of the college’s football team. In April 1979, Brittany was born to Ed and Jackie. Two years later, in July 1981, the young professor and his wife welcomed Courtney. When Ed completed the ThM in 1982, the young family moved to Dallas, Texas, where Ed began studying toward the Doctor of Theology (ThD) degree at Dallas Theological Seminary. He focused his research on how the New Testament uses the Old with Darrell Bock as his advisor. His dissertation—“The Hermeneutics of the Use of the Old Testament in 1 Peter”—set Ed on a path of study that has often returned to feature 1 Peter in his academic presentations, publications, and sermons.

Ed completed the ThD in 1987 while teaching at Central Seminary after accepting a faculty appointment in 1984. There he served as Associate Professor of New Testament and Bible Exposition until 1988 when he received a promotion to Professor of New Testament. During his tenure at Central Seminary, Ed also taught courses at the campus extension in Arad, Romania. He also served as interim pastor at Parker’s Lake Baptist Church (1986–1987), Rockford Baptist Church (1987), First Baptist Church of River Falls, Wisconsin (1991–1992), and as interim preacher at Chisago Lakes Baptist Church (1997–1998) and at Twin Cities Chinese Christian Church (1998–1999).

Among those within the biblical scholarship guilds—Evangelical Theological Society (ETS), Institute for Biblical Research (IBR), and Society of Biblical Literature (SBL)—two scholars made others aware of Central Baptist Theological Seminary, Ed Glenny and his Old Testament colleague and friend, Michael Grisanti, who now serves on the faculty of The Master’s Theological Seminary in California. Since receiving his faculty appointment at Central Seminary in 1984, Ed has regularly attended and presented at the annual national meetings of the ETS and frequently at the annual regional meetings of the same. He also makes frequent academic presentations at both the national and Upper Midwest regional meetings of the SBL. More recently Ed has become an active presenter and panelist at the meetings of the International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies.

Partly because of Jackie Glenny’s teaching presence at Northwestern College since 1993, but also because of our knowledge of Ed through his publications and presentations, we members of the Biblical & Theological Studies Department at Northwestern were delighted to invite him to travel with us to attend the annual meetings of the ETS in Jackson, Mississippi, and then travel on to New Orleans to attend the meetings of the IBR and SBL in late November 1996. Besides being a memorable trip in its own right, traveling together provided an occasion to become more familiar with Ed because some of us had an eye on him with a view to inviting him to join the faculty of the B&TS Department at Northwestern.

That year winter arrived early and with a vengeance. Our Northwest Airlines jet scheduled to fly to Memphis, Tennessee, where Ed and his Northwestern friends would catch a connecting flight to Jackson, Mississippi, waited in line on the tarmac for deicing at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport for more than three hours. Of course, we patient flyers found ourselves stranded in the Memphis airport past midnight after missing the flight to Jackson. All agreed to continue traveling. So, we intrepid voyagers rented a van to drive to Jackson where we arrived at 5:00 a.m., in time for the beginning of the conference but hardly prepared to listen to academic presentations capable of inducing sleep for even caffeine-laden folks.

Once the ETS conference ended the survivors of the harrowing first leg of our travels set out for New Orleans, which should have been a three-hour drive. As David K. Johnson, Chair of the B&TS Department, drove the van, without warning it began to lurch with the engine sputtering. Suddenly, the vehicle stalled. There we sat, stranded on the narrow shoulder of a heavily traveled interstate highway in the middle of bayou country, sandwiched between vehicles racing by within inches on the left and a concrete barrier on the right side, which some surmised was there to prevent alligators from climbing out of the swamp and onto the roadway.

Much to the surprise of all, unexpectedly an angel who was piloting an empty charter bus heading to New Orleans stopped to assist. His urgent expressions concerning how dangerous the situation was and his eagerness to transport the stalled travelers directly to the door of our hotel in New Orleans sufficed to convince all that he was heaven-sent. Rescued, everyone turned to humor, reflecting on our traveling woes. The adventure of November 1996 became remembered as the B&TS Department’s version of the Steve Martin & John Candy movie, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. Little did Ed Glenny realize that his understated, jovial, and calm response to the unwelcomed events did not go unnoticed. It was evident that a man of such character, given what was already known of him, should be vigorously pursued to join the faculty of the B&TS Department.

In July 1997, Ed’s colleague and close friend, Michael Grisanti, left Central Seminary to begin teaching at The Master’s Seminary in Sun Valley, California. His colleague’s absence at the seminary and his wife’s presence at Northwestern doubtless influenced Ed to pursue a faculty position and accept an appointment at Northwestern in 1999. Students welcomed Ed’s presence in the classroom. His colleagues appreciated his reliable contribution to the strengthening of the curriculum for both the Biblical & Theological Studies Major as well as the General Bible curriculum, which serves the entire student body at Northwestern. With Ed’s addition to the faculty, the B&TS Department developed the Ancient Classical Languages Minor, featuring yearly instruction in Koine Greek, biennial teaching of Ancient Hebrew and Latin, and the occasional teaching of Egyptian Hieroglyphics. Since his arrival at Northwestern, the Book of Revelation and Biblical Theology have been Ed’s signature courses.

After joining the faculty at Northwestern, Ed became prolific with both professional presentations and publications even as he pursued a second doctoral degree, a PhD in Classics at the University of Minnesota, which he completed in 2007. Presentations at the annual meetings of the ETS and SBL elevated his profile and prompted various scholars with common interests to extend invitations to Ed to contribute essays to thematic anthologies, to Festschriften, and to commentary series. Given his continued exegetical work in 1 Peter since writing his dissertation, he accepted a contract to write a commentary on 1 Peter for the Evangelical Exegetical Commentary Series published by Lexham Press. This commentary has become a multi-year writing project given Ed’s commitment to a multi-volume project of writing commentaries on the Minor Prophets in the Septuagint Commentary Series for the prestigious academic publisher, Brill, which is part of a major project edited by Stanley Porter, PhD, Principal of McMaster Divinity College, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. This commitment has opened fresh horizons for Ed, with invitations to make presentations at the meetings of the International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies (IOSCS). To date, Ed has published four books on the LXX-Minor Prophets: a monograph on translation technique in Amos (2009), and commentaries on Amos (2013), Hosea (2013), and Micah (2015). These commentaries feature both the translation techniques and the theological interpretation of those who translated the prophets from Hebrew to Greek.

Blessed by being awarded the J. Edwin Hartill Endowed Professorship for two sequential terms (2011–2012 & 2013–2015), which reduced by half the number of courses he taught during those years with a sabbatical semester of study at Tyndale House, Cambridge (UK), sandwiched between, Ed was able to devote concentrated periods of research and writing that he has presented at recent triennial international meetings of the IOSCS. Such uncommon opportunity for a professor at a small Christian university was matched with uncommon productivity as Ed’s industriousness brought to completion three commentaries for Brill during this period.

During the UNW honors and awards event on May 11, 2018, President Alan S. Cureton presented Ed Glenny with the Faculty Excellence in Scholarship Award for his outstanding scholarly achievements. Each year members of the faculty at Northwestern can nominate their colleagues for this award bestowed by the faculty. With the following words of commendation Randy W. Nelson, Chair of the B&TS Department, nominated Ed Glenny who has distinguished himself as a scholar both at Northwestern and in the biblical and theological guilds.

Few university professors are as consistent and prolific in their publications as Dr. Glenny. His commitment to scholarship can be seen in scholarly books and articles published in peer-review journals…. Dr. Glenny has a wide range of scholarly interests in the field of Biblical Studies, both Old Testament and New Testament. His early research was in the area of hermeneutics, especially typology. Since earning his second doctorate in 2007, Dr. Glenny’s greatest contributions have been on the study of the Septuagint (LXX), the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible…. Based upon his ambitious proposal for a rigorous writing plan, Dr. Glenny was awarded the J. Edwin Hartill Professor, 2011–2012. This award was the result of voting by B&TS faculty and the recommendation of an outside reviewer. Because he completed his writing projects and had many more in the works, Dr. Glenny was again awarded the J. Edwin Hartill Professor, 2013–2015…. Dr. Glenny is well respected by his colleagues in the Department of Biblical & Theological Studies and in other academic departments at Northwestern…. He was also awarded Visiting Scholar, Faculty of Divinity, Cambridge University (spring 2013).

Amidst his busy schedule of teaching courses at the University of Northwestern–St. Paul and his several publishing contracts that call for research and writing, Ed has always maintained a close connection with the ministry of the church. His love for the Scriptures as God’s Word is evident in his teaching and writing but also in his regular preaching in local churches. Throughout his career Ed has served many churches in the greater metropolitan area of the Twin Cities as an interim pastor. Prior to Ed’s becoming my faculty colleague at Northwestern and while Ed was serving as interim pastor at Chisago Lakes Baptist Church (Chisago City, Minnesota) my father, Herbert V. Caneday who was a member of the church, passed away January 30, 1998. At my urging, the family requested that Ed have a role in officiating in my father’s funeral service which he did admirably. Throughout the past twenty years Ed has served no fewer than nine churches as interim pastor, including Chisago Lakes Baptist Church a second time in 2008–2009.

My own exposure to Ed’s friendship, teaching, and preaching confirms why he is well received among students at Northwestern. On my invitation, Ed joined me with two other ministers who taught and preached the Scriptures throughout South India for three weeks in July–August 2004. I had the privilege of hearing him teach God’s Word to Indian pastors in retreat centers and to congregations in church buildings constructed from mud and thatching. His ministration of the Scriptures was heartily welcomed by all. At Northwestern, Ed’s pastoral qualities are also evident in his initiation and leadership of the Bread of Life chapel sessions conducted in the beautiful Nazareth Chapel and hosted by the B&TS Department several times each semester. These alternative chapel sessions are available for students who desire deeper exposition of Scripture on featured themes.

To all who know him well, Ed Glenny is (1) a scholar who advances biblical knowledge and understanding first for himself and for all who read his writings or hear him lecture, (2) a churchman for whom all knowledge of the Scriptures is acquired in vain unless it is implemented in the transformation of character, and (3) a gentleman who is of the highest Christian character. Doug Huffman, former chair of the B&TS Department at the University of Northwestern–St. Paul and now Professor & Associate Dean of Biblical & Theological Studies at Biola University, aptly observes, “Ed’s balance of professional effectiveness is truly admirable: world-renowned scholarship (particularly in Septuagint and New Testament studies), praise-worthy teaching (for decades now, including 20 years at Northwestern!), and persistent service to his institution and to the local church (whew!).” All who know Ed Glenny acknowledge him to be godly, humble, kind, gentle, approachable, friendly, and encouraging.