The concentration in Hebrew Bible prepares students for the critical study of the Hebrew Bible, its languages, texts, and contexts. The curriculum encompasses 1) the study of Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic, as well as offerings in relevant ancient languages; 2) a wide range of interpretive courses, both textual and thematic; 3) courses in the ancient Near Eastern and Mediterranean context and in the history of interpretation. Students frequently make use of the rich resources at Yale in the departments of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Religious Studies, Classics, Comparative Literature, Art History, and Anthropology, as well as the holdings of Yale’s many collections. The concentration requires eighteen credit hours of Hebrew and Hebrew-based courses, six credit hours of Greek, the foundation courses in Old and New Testament Interpretation, and six credit hours of exegetical, thematic, or historical courses. Many students in this concentration advance to do doctoral work in Hebrew Bible and related areas.
Faculty Coordinator:
Associated Faculty:
Upcoming Events
- 11/7: lecture by Anathea Portier-Young, Duke University
Recent faculty publications
Joel Baden
Eric Reymond
Jacqueline Vayntrub
- “Gehört Heschel auch zu den Philologen? Heschel, die hebräischen Propheten und philologischer Präsentismus,” Zeitschrift für christlich-jüdische Begegnung im Kontext 2023
- “Transmission and Mortal Anxiety in the Tale of Aqhat” SAOC 73. “Like ‘Ilu Are You Wise”: Studies in Northwest Semitic Languages and Literatures in Honor of Dennis G. Pardee
- “Hearing the Voice of Biblical Poetry.” Svensk Exegetisk Årsbok 86 (2021): 20-38
Molly Zahn
- Genres of Rewriting in Second Temple Judaism
- “The Utopian Vision of the Temple Scroll”
- “Towards a New Map of Second Temple Literature: Revelation, Rewriting, and Genre Before the Bible”
Student Placements
In the last five years, our masters students have gone on to doctoral work at many of the finest programs, including Yale, University of Chicago, NYU, Brown, UCLA, UNC-Chapel Hill, and University of Toronto.