He graduated in 1945 from Saint John Seminary College in Boston, and earned higher degrees in 1954 from Catholic University of America in Washington, District of Columbia, in 1957 from Pontifical Biblical Institute and 1959 from Pontifical Lateran University in Rome.
He held a professorship in biblical studies in the Department of Theology at Boston College from 1974 until his retirement in 2001. In 2006, the foundation created from the estate of Leon Levy established the King Professorship at Harvard University, to support a scholar who will use an interdisciplinary approach to advance the understanding of ancient civilizations in the Near East and the Mediterranean. King lives in Boston.
