Bruce John Malina (9 October 1933 – 17 August 2017) was an American biblical scholar, noted for his application of social scientific approaches to the Bible.
[2] He completed his PhD in 1967 from Institutum Biblicum Franciscanum, Jerusalem, with his dissertation published the next year as The Palestinian Manna Tradition (1968).
It was also during this time that he retired from the priesthood and married Diane Jacobs in 1972.
[2] Malina was associated with the Context Group and was known for his application of social scientific approaches to the Bible, and was at the forefront of bringing in insights from anthropology and sociology to bear on understanding ancient religious and social concepts found in the Bible.
Malina stands as one of the primary initiators of and major contributors to the deployment of terms such as "honor," "shame," "benefactor," "patronage," and "social boundaries" in analyzing the Bible.