Joshua Berman

Joshua Berman is a lecturer of Bible at Bar-Ilan University in Israel and an Associate Fellow at the Shalem Center. He is the author, most recently, of Created Equal: How the Bible Broke with Ancient Political Thought (Oxford University Press, 2008).  During the 2004-2006 academic years, he was awarded a research grant by the Shalem Center to write Created Equal as part of the Center's commitment to tracing the influence of Hebrew texts across the ages to the growth of political thought. In 2009, Created Equal was named a National Jewish Book Award Finalist in Scholarship.

In addition to exploring the political thought of ancient Israel, Dr. Berman's primary research interest has been in the field of biblical narrative, and he has published in such noted journals as The Journal of Biblical Literature, Vetus Testamentum and Catholic Biblical Quarterly. Dr. Berman is also an engaged scholar with a deep interest in sharing the fruits of scholarship with a broad audience. He has written on biblical theology and contemporary issues in Azure, Tradition, Midstream, and The Jerusalem Post.

Dr. Berman attended Princeton University, where he received a B.A. in Religion, and holds a doctorate in Bible from Bar-Ilan University. He is also an orthodox rabbi, and received his ordination from the Israeli Chief Rabbinate.

Dr. Berman, his wife and four children reside in Bet Shemesh, Israel.

Dr. Berman is the author of The Temple: Its Symbolism and Meaning Then and Now (Jason Aronson Publishers, 1995) which explores the theme of Temple across the Bible, and has drawn particular attention in Jewish and Mormon circles.

He is also the author of Narrative Analogy in the Hebrew Bible: Battle Stories and Their Equivalent Non-battle Narratives (Brill Publishers, 2004), which explores the rhetorical conventions of biblical battle scenes and their implications for the messages of those stories.

You can Visit Dr. Berman's website at www.createdequalthebook.com

Bibliography

Books

Created Equal: How the Bible Broke with Ancient Political Thought  (Oxford University Press 2008)
Click here to view a postcard for Created Equal along with details of 20% discount special offer

Narative Analogy in the Hebrew Bible: Battle Stories and their Equivalent Non-Battle Narratives (Leiden: Brill, 2004)

The Temple: Its Symbolism and Meaning Then and Now (Northvale, N.J.: Jason Aronson, 1995)

Select Publications

Umberto Cassuto,“The Documentary Hypothesis and the Composition of the Pentateuch,” introduction by Joashua Berman (Jerusalem: Shalem Press, 2006).

“Establishing Narrative Analogy in Biblical Literature: Methodological Considerations,” Bet Miqra 53:1 (2008) (Heb).

“The Narratological Purpose of Aramaic Prose in Ezra 4.8 – 6.18,” Aramaic Studies 7:2 (2007).

“Ancient Hermeneutics and the Legal Structure of the Book of Ruth,” Zeitschrift fur die Alttestementische Wissenschaft, 119:1 (2007).

“Constitution, Class and the Book of Deuteronomy,” Hebraic Political Studies 1:5 (Fall 2006).

“The Narratorial Voice of the Scribes of Samaria: Ezra iv 8 – vi 18 Reconsidered,” Vetus Testamentum 56:3 (2006).

“Identity Politics and the Burial of Jacob,” Catholic Biblical Quarterly 68:1 (2006).

“Medieval Monasticism and the Evolution of Jewish Interpretation to the Story of Jephthah's Daughter,” Jewish Quarterly Review 95:2 (2005).

“The Sword of Mouths (Jud 3:12; Ps. 149:6; Prov. 5:3): A Metaphor and Its Ancient Near Eastern Context,” Vetus Testamentum 52:3 (2002).

“Hadassah bat Abihail: From Object to Subject in the Character of Esther,” Journal of Biblical Literarure 120:4 (2001).

“Mourning for Sarah: A Psycho-Literary Study of the House of Abraham,” L'Eylah (September 1991). 

“Balancing the Bimah: The Diaspora Struggle of the Orthodox Feminist,” Midstream (September 1990).

“Mishneh Bereshit: The Form and Structure of Genesis 48,” Tradition (Winter 1990).

“The Underlying Basis of Jacob's Four Pillars,” Megadim 13 (5751) (Heb).

“Aggadah and Anti-Semitism: The Midrashim to Esther 3:8,” Judaism (1989).

“The Parallels Between Genesis 1 and 8,” Megadim 11 (5750) (Heb).