Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
Prof. Dr. Menahem Kister, Emeritus
J. L. Magnes Professor of Bible, Emeritus
Department of Bible / Department of Talmud and Halakha
Official University Profile: University of Jerusalem – Menahem Kister
Expertise: Dead Sea Scrolls; Second Temple Judaism; Rabbinic Literature; Biblical Exegesis; Jewish and Christian Textual Traditions.
Member of Editorial Board of European Hebrew Journal
CURRICULUM VITAE
Academic Profile
Prof. Dr. Menahem Kister is J. L. Magnes Professor of Bible, Emeritus, at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Throughout his academic career he has held appointments in both the Department of Bible and the Department of Talmud and Halakha, where his research has bridged biblical studies, Second Temple Judaism, rabbinic literature, and early Christianity.
He is internationally recognized as one of the leading scholars of the Dead Sea Scrolls, early biblical interpretation, Jewish literature of the Second Temple period, Midrash, and the relationship between Judaism and Christianity in Late Antiquity. His work combines philology, textual criticism, historical analysis, and comparative religious studies to illuminate the development of Jewish thought and literature.
Prof. Kister has also served as editor of the leading Hebrew journals Tarbiz and Megillot and is a member of the Academy of the Hebrew Language.
ACADEMIC POSITIONS AND APPOINTMENTS
J. L. Magnes Professor of Bible, Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Professor, Department of Bible.
Professor, Department of Talmud and Halakha.
Professor Emeritus, Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Editor of Tarbiz.
Editor of Megillot.
Member of the Academy of the Hebrew Language.
Leader of the international research group From Creation to Sinai: Genesis and Exodus in Antiquity – Jewish, Christian, and Early Muslim Traditions in Interaction at the Israel Institute for Advanced Studies.
RESEARCH
Prof. Kister’s research focuses on Jewish literature of the Second Temple period, including the Apocrypha, Pseudepigrapha, and the Dead Sea Scrolls. He investigates the development of early biblical interpretation, Midrash, rabbinic literature, and the theological ideas that emerged during the Second Temple and rabbinic periods.
Another major area of his scholarship examines the relationship between Judaism and early Christianity through comparative textual analysis. His publications explore biblical exegesis, Hebrew lexicography, Aramaic traditions, and the transmission of Jewish literary and religious traditions in antiquity.
His interdisciplinary approach combines biblical studies, philology, history of religions, Jewish studies, and early Christian literature.
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Dead Sea Scrolls
Second Temple Judaism
Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha
Rabbinic Literature
Midrash and Aggadah
Ancient Biblical Interpretation
Biblical Exegesis
Hebrew Lexicography
Aramaic Targumim
Judaism and Early Christianity
History of Jewish Religious Thought
Philology
History of Religions
ACADEMIC LEADERSHIP AND MEMBERSHIPS
Member of the Academy of the Hebrew Language.
Editor, Tarbiz.
Editor, Megillot.
Research Fellow, Israel Institute for Advanced Studies.
PUBLICATIONS
Selected Publications
Studies in Avot de-Rabbi Nathan: Text, Redaction and Interpretation.
“Ancient Material in Pirqe de-Rabbi Eli’ezer: Basilides, Qumran, the Book of Jubilees.” In Go Out and Study the Land, Brill, 2012.
“The Tree of Life and the Turning Sword: Jewish Biblical Interpretation, Symbols, and Their Christian Counterparts.” 2010.
“First Adam and Second Adam in 1 Corinthians 15:45–49 in the Light of Midrashic Exegesis and Hebrew Usage.” 2010.
“Romans 5:12–21 against the Background of Torah Theology and Hebrew Usage.” Harvard Theological Review, 2007.
“The New Testament and Rabbinic Hebrew.” (with Jan Joosten), 2010.
“Parables and Proverbs in the Jesus Tradition and Rabbinic Literature.” 2018.
“Islām – Midrashic Perspectives on a Quranic Term.” Journal of Semitic Studies, 2018.
“The Fate of the Canaanites and the Despoilation of the Egyptians.” 2014.
“A Common Heritage: Biblical Interpretation at Qumran and Its Implications.”