Carmen Imes

Departments	Division of Biblical and Theological Studies Talbot School of Theology
51�� Affiliations	Faculty
Phone	(562) 903-4814 (Talbot School of Theology)
Social Media

Documents

Degrees

Ph.D., Wheaton College
M.A., Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary
B.A., Multnomah University

Biography

Dr. Carmen Joy Imes is an associate professor of Old Testament at Talbot School of Theology, 51��, in Southern California. She is the author of Bearing God’s Name: Why Sinai Still Matters, Being God’s Image: Why Creation Still Matters, and Becoming God’s Family: Why the Church Still Matters. Her primary areas of expertise are Exodus and the Psalms. Carmen has a YouTube channel where she releases weekly Torah Tuesday videos, and you can find her writing on various websites, including Christianity Today, Substack, The Well, and The Politics of Scripture blog. Carmen has appeared on over 200 podcasts and radio outlets. She enjoys traveling to speak at churches, schools, conferences, and retreats. Carmen is passionate about equipping the church to engage the Old Testament well and to see its relevance for the Christian life.

Affiliations

Society of Biblical Literature
Evangelical Theological Society
Every Voice Kingdom Diversity Initiative
Institute for Biblical Research - Program Chair

Awards

Christianity Today Award of Merit in Theology (Popular) for Becoming God's Family - 2026
IVP Reader's Choice Award in Biblical Studies and Theology for Becoming God's Family - 2026
Provost Faculty Award for Excellence in Scholarship - 2025
51�� Provost Grants (2023, 2024, 2026)
51�� Research and Development Grant (2022)
Prairie College: Graeme Crouch Award for Excellence in Classroom Instruction (2018, 2019, 2020, 2021)
Prairie College: Award for Faculty member most supportive of student-athletes. March 2019.
Prairie College: Award for Excellence in Leadership. March 2019.
Center for Biblical Studies at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary: Finalist for the Biblical Foundations Book Award in OT studies for Bearing God’s Name. Jan 2020.
InterVarsity Press: Finalist for the 2019 Reader’s Choice Award for Bearing God’s Name. Jan 2020.
Canadian Society of Biblical Studies: R. B. Y. Scott Award for an outstanding book in Hebrew Bible for Bearing YHWH’s Name at Sinai. June 2019.
Pacific Northwest Region, Society of Biblical Literature: Nominated for the Regional Scholar Award. May 2017.

Publications

Publications

Being God's Image: Why Creation Still Matters, Imes, Carmen Joy, (IVP, 2023).
“Freedom Fighters of the Exodus.” 39-45 in The Biblical World of Gender: The Daily Lives of Ancient Women and Men. Edited by Celina Durgin and Dru Johnson. Wipf & Stock, 2022.
Portadores de su Nombre: La Importancia del Sinaí (Spanish Edition). Salem, OR: Publicaciones Kerigma, 2022
“Just Clothing?: The Function of Dress Metaphors in Imprecatory Psalms.” Dress Hermeneutics and the Hebrew Bible: “Let Your Garments Always be Bright,” edited by Antonios Finitsis (T&T Clark for LHB/OTS), 2022.
“Review Essay: Exodus in the New Testament.” In Exodus in the New Testament. Edited by Seth Ehorn. LNTS. New York: Bloomsbury, 2022.
“Name Theology, Christianity.” Columns 663-65 in Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception. Vol 20. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2022.
“The Lost World of the Exodus: Functional Ontology and the Creation of a Nation,” Imes, Carmen Joy, For Us, but Not to Us: Essays on Creation, Covenant, and Context in Honor of John H. Walton, (Pickwick 2020)
“Belonging to YHWH: Real and Imagined Inscribed Seals in Biblical Tradition,” Imes, Carmen Joy, Write That They May Read: Studies in Literacy and Textualization in the Ancient Near East and in the Hebrew Scriptures, (Pickwick 2020)
“Between Two Worlds: The Functional and Symbolic Significance of the High Priestly Regalia,” Imes, Carmen Joy, Dress and Clothing in the Hebrew Bible, (T&T Clark 2019)
“Metaphor at Sinai: Cognitive Linguistics in the Decalogue and Covenant Code,” Bulletin for Biblical Research. Vol 29, Issue 3, 2019
“Metaphor in Biblical Law,” Imes, Carmen Joy, Didaktikos. Vol 2, Issue 2, Sept 2018
“The Decalogue,” Imes, Carmen Joy, Discovering the Septuagint: A Guided Reader, (Kregel 2016)

Essays and Book Chapters

“Sinai and the Wilderness Narratives,” in Cambridge Companion to Biblical Narrative. Edited by Keith Bodner. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2025.
“Your Sons and Daughters Will Prophesy: Healing the Body of Christ by Restoring the Biblical Vision of Spirit-Empowerment,” Journal of Spiritual Formation and Soul Care, Fall 2024.
“Can I Get a Witness?: Miriam's Song in the Literary Design of Exodus.” Bulletin for Biblical Research 33:4 (2023) 426-40.
“Just Clothing?: The Function of Dress Metaphors in Imprecatory Psalms,” in Dress Hermeneutics and the Hebrew Bible: “Let Your Garments Always be Bright,” LHB/OTS edited by Antonios Finitsis (T&T Clark), 2022.
“The Lost World of the Exodus: Functional Ontology and the Creation of a Nation,” in For Us, but Not to Us: Essays on Creation, Covenant, and Context in Honor of John H. Walton (Pickwick 2020)
“Belonging to YHWH: Real and Imagined Inscribed Seals in Biblical Tradition,” in Write That They May Read: Studies in Literacy and Textualization in the Ancient Near East and in the Hebrew Scriptures (Pickwick 2020)
“Between Two Worlds: The Functional and Symbolic Significance of the High Priestly Regalia,” in Dress and Clothing in the Hebrew Bible (T&T Clark 2019)
“Metaphor at Sinai: Cognitive Linguistics in the Decalogue and Covenant Code,” Bulletin for Biblical Research. Vol 29, Issue 3, 2019