Levenson is a scholar of the
Hebrew Bible and
rabbinic midrashim, with an interest in the philosophical and theological issues involved in Hebrew Biblical studies. He specializes in the relationship between traditional modes of
biblical interpretation and modern
historical criticism, as well as the
relationship between
Judaism and
Christianity. Levenson's research foci include the theological traditions of
ancient Israel and biblical and
rabbinic periods; literary interpretation of the Hebrew Bible; midrash; history of Jewish biblical interpretation; modern
Jewish theology; and
Jewish–Christian relations. His 1987 essay
Why Jews Are Not Interested in Biblical Theology challenged the traditional methods of the fields of
historical criticism and
biblical theology and remains widely referenced. Levenson has been called "the most interesting and incisive
biblical exegete among contemporary
Jewish thinkers." Furthermore, his work has been described as "challenging the idea, part of
Greek philosophy and popular now, that
resurrection for Jews and the followers of
Jesus is simply the survival of an individual's soul in the
hereafter." In
Resurrection and the Restoration of Israel, Levenson argues that in
classical Christianity and
Judaism, "resurrection occurs for the whole person—body and soul. For early Christians and some Jews, resurrection meant being given back one's body or possibly
God creating a new similar body after death." Levenson is a member of the editorial board of the
Jewish Review of Books. In the late 1990s, his body of work, up to then, was reviewed by
Marvin A. Sweeney and put in the larger context of the field of biblical theology. In his
Jewish Book Annual review, Sweeney wrote: "A great deal of his work focuses on the seminal question of identifying the role that
Christian theological constructs have played in the reading of biblical literature, even when the reading is presented as historically based objective scholarship, and of developing reading strategies that can remove these constructs in order to let the biblical texts 'speak for themselves.' Work of this kind naturally paves the way for the development of Jewish biblical theology." ==Recognition==