The Hebrew Bible Program trains students for careers in teaching and research at the college, university, and seminary levels. To this end, the curriculum is formulated to provide students with exposure to all aspects of Hebrew Bible study. Courses address traditional textual, critical, and historical methods that have been formative for contemporary Hebrew Bible scholarship. These methods are integrated with newer interpretive approaches, including literary, rhetorical, linguistic, theological, and social analysis of texts. The curriculum is anchored by two required seminars: History of Interpretation (from inner biblical exegesis to the present) and Issues in Hebrew Bible Studies. Apart from these required courses, students create a plan of study in consultation with the program chair. Students are encouraged to pursue interdisciplinary interests, both within the context of the Graduate Division of Religion (e.g., work in New Testament or in sociology) and elsewhere in the Graduate School (e.g., the Program in Comparative Literature, Department of Middle Eastern Studies, and Program in Jewish Studies). Students may elect to complete the Hebrew Bible Program with a special concentration in Jewish Hermeneutics.

Knowledge of biblical Hebrew and Greek is required of all entering students. (Students must pass a Hebrew proficiency examination before taking the preliminary examinations.) During the course of study, students are expected to acquire a knowledge of Aramaic and at least one other Semitic language (normally, Akkadian or Ugaritic). Coursework is available in the following languages: Akkadian, Arabic, Aramaic, Egyptian, Greek, Hebrew (biblical and post-biblical), Persian, and Syriac. Students who elect the Jewish Hermeneutics concentration may substitute post-biblical Hebrew for the other Semitic language.

The two years of course-work provide the opportunity for focused work in both Hebrew Bible studies and in cognate fields. This period is designed to provide students with fundamental skills as teachers and scholars, to enable them to set the stage for their preliminary examinations, and to assist them in beginning to define an area for dissertation research.

The preliminary examinations consist of four written examinations, followed by an oral examination. All students take a Hebrew Bible literature examination and a Hebrew Bible critical methods examination. Students select one other area in Hebrew Bible Studies for a third written examination and choose one area outside the field of Hebrew Bible studies for the fourth written examination. The outside examination may derive from another discipline (e.g., New Testament, Jewish Studies, Islamic Studies, Theological Studies) or may reflect a methodological focus (e.g., literary theory, feminist criticism, historiography). Students electing a concentration in Jewish Hermeneutics take the two required Hebrew Bible examinations and two examinations in Jewish Hermeneutics.

Hebrew Bible Faculty

Martin J. Buss (Ph.D., Yale University, 1958) Professor. Hebrew Bible.

William Gilders (Ph.D., Brown University, 2001) Assistant Professor. Hebrew Bible and Jewish Studies.

John H. Hayes (Ph.D., Princeton Theological Seminary, 1964) Professor. Israelite history.

Carol A. Newsom (Ph.D., Harvard University, 1982) Professor. Ancient Israelite religion, Dead Sea Scrolls.

David L. Petersen (Ph.D., Yale University, 1972) Professor. Old Testament Studies.

Brent A. Strawn (Ph.D., Princeton Theological Seminary, 2001) Assistant Professor. Dead Sea Scrolls; the intersection of ancient Near Eastern iconography, Israelite Religion, and Old Testament Theology.