Book signing

“All my life he has served me as mentor, professor, teacher, and friend. I am thankful he will be able to pass his knowledge on to the next generation — and continue to teach through the pages of this work.”

It was with these heartfelt words that President Paul Wendland introduced Professor Emeritus John C. Jeske at an event commemorating the publication of Jeske’s new book entitled “Treasures Old and New.” Students, faculty, family, and friends gathered in the dormitory commons for a book signing co-hosted by Northwestern Publishing House.

The book, 14 years in the making, began to take shape shortly after Jeske’s retirement from the seminary. Seeing a need for a gospel-centered book that encouraged daily work in the biblical languages, he began to pair readings from the Old and New Testament, along with short excerpts from the Confessions. A typewritten manuscript accompanied by carefully handwritten notes on the Greek and Hebrew emerged from this scholarship. In 2008, Pastor Tom Jeske, Prof. Jeske’s son, enlisted the aid of Dr. Glen Thompson, professor of history at Wisconsin Lutheran College, to help see the project through to publication.

Other members of our seminary family were also involved in the project. Jacob Behnken, a second year student, was instrumental in bringing the book to publication. According to Thompson, Behnken’s work as a research assistant was indispensable in completing the project. “His attention to detail and his careful work in overcoming the font problems were invaluable.”

While Behnken’s help was a blessing to the project, he also benefited from the experience. “It was a blessing not only to get to know Prof. Jeske during the course of this project, but also simply to have the opportunity to work with the biblical texts themselves. I am thankful that I was able to be a small part of making Prof. Jeske’s valuable work available to the church at large.”

Jeske taught and mentored an entire generation of seminary students during the 26 years he taught Old Testament on this hill. Thankfully, through this labor of love, his knowledge and love of God’s Word will be a blessing to generations more.