At the EABS Annual Conference 2026, we organized a local session on Biblical Anthropology in Canonical Discourse as a first international kick-off of the project. Six papers explored questions of biblical anthropology from the perspectives of Jewish studies (Dalit Rom-Shiloni), Septuagint Studies (Bryan Beekman), Qumran Studies (George Brook), Old Testament Studies (Anne Katrine de Hemmer Gudme), and New Testament Studies (Dominika Kurek-Chomic) and the presentation of the project by Veronika Burz-Tropper, creating a forum for dialogue across disciplinary and textual boundaries. The session attracted a strong audience, and the lively discussions among presenters and participants demonstrated considerable interest in a dedicated forum for the study of conceptions of the human person in biblical and related literature. 

Two outcomes were particularly significant: First, the workshop confirmed the value of a pluralistic and interdisciplinary approach to biblical anthropology. Bringing different textual corpora and methodological perspectives into conversation generated insights that would have been difficult to achieve within the boundaries of individual disciplines. Participants particularly emphasised the benefits of engaging with approaches and materials beyond their own areas of specialisation. Second, the discussions highlighted the need to situate biblical anthropological concepts within their broader historical, literary, and cultural contexts. The exchange demonstrated the importance of extending the discussion to the Ancient Near East, Second Temple Judaism, and the Greco-Roman world. Biblical anthropology thus emerged as a field that particularly benefits from sustained dialogue across disciplinary and methodological boundaries.

The EABS session therefore provided an important international starting point for the project and laid the groundwork for continued interdisciplinary exchange and collaboration.