Prof. Marc Zvi Brettler

How to Read “The” Bible?

Nehama Leibowitz: A Pioneering Orthodox Scholar and Teacher

Through her public appearances and widely circulated gilyonot (study sheets), Nehama Leibowitz engaged thousands in the study of Torah, becoming a respected and beloved figure within the religious-Zionist community and beyond.

Jonah Leaves Us with Questions, So on Yom Kippur We End with Micah

Does God always accept repentance? Is God’s mercy a good quality? Does God really forgive Nineveh? By appending Micah 7:18–20 to the end of Jonah, it is as if Jonah is finally accepting the goodness of God’s mercy.

Why Should the Scientific Study of the Bible Matter to Us?

In a 1927 speech at the inauguration of the Hebrew University’s Institute for Jewish Studies, Dr. Rabbi Felix Perles called on Jewish scholars to be on the forefront of critical Bible study. He compares this effort to how Maimonides, even though he was accused of abrogating the Torah, incorporated philosophical study into Judaism.

The Decalogue: Ten Commandments or Ten Statements?

The Hebrew term for the Decalogue is עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים aseret hadevarim. The word דבר davar is one of the most common nouns in biblical Hebrew, and can mean “word,” “thing,” “statement,” and even “commandment.” What does it mean in this context?

A Nitpicking Lover in Song of Songs 1:7

The woman in Song of Songs wishes to know where her lover will be, asking: “Why should I be like an ʿōṭǝyâ (כְּעֹטְיָה).” Translators struggle with this phrase, and suggest meanings as disparate as “be veiled like a prostitute,” “be as a wanderer,” or even “pick at my nits.” How do scholars use ancient translation, cognate words, and content to translate a word in the Bible whose meaning is so obscure?

The Mask Mandate: A Biblical Polemic

“Gods of masekhah you shall not make for yourself,” Exodus 34:17 - When the northerners and southerners debated the legitimacy of masks.

I Have a Dream: Martin Luther King Jr.’s Biblical Prophetic Speech

Using biblical quotes, imagery, and rhetorical devices, Martin Luther King Jr. envisions the hopeful future of African American people in the United States in the voice of a biblical prophet.

Is Atonement Possible Without Blood? A Jewish-Christian Divide

Blood has a significant role in many biblical stories and rituals, most prominently in the atonement sacrifices of Leviticus. With the destruction of the Temple and the loss of sacrifices, Judaism and Christianity took very different paths to achieving atonement.

Psalm 116 – Is the Death of the Righteous Precious in the Eyes of YHWH?

Psalm 116:15 declares the death of the righteous to be yaqar, often translated as “precious,” to God. To avoid this message some scholars reinterpret the word yaqar to mean “difficult” or “grievous,” but a better solution is available.

From “Kosher Cop” to Academic Bible Scholar

Psalm 2: Is the Messiah the Son of God?

YHWH declares to the Davidic king, “You are my son; today I have begotten you” (Psalm 2:7). For the New Testament, this verse is a prooftext for Jesus’s divinity, but what did it mean in its original context, and how did Jewish interpreters understand it?

Louis Jacobs: We Have Reason to Believe

Rabbi Dr. Louis Jacobs, voted “the greatest British Jew,” is best-known for his 1957 book that denied traditional notions of Torah min HaShamayim, the divine origin of the Torah. The resulting controversy still reverberates today.

Praise YHWH All You Nations: Psalm 117

Short does not mean simple: Psalm 117 is one of the more difficult psalms. It is only two verses long and exhorts non-Israelites to praise YHWH. Why would such a psalm be written? A look at the worldview of the exilic prophet Deutero-Isaiah provides one answer, while reading this psalm together with the beginning of Psalm 118 provides another.

Encouraging Babylonian Jews to Return, Psalm 114 Tells a Unique Exodus Story

Psalm 114, a late psalm, is exceptional in its structure and content. These tightly structured eight verses, which reflect several non-Torah traditions, use Egypt symbolically, to encourage the exiles to return from Babylonia.

A Women’s Voice in the Psalter: A New Understanding of Psalm 113

The liturgical compilation Hallel (“praise”) opens with Psalm 113. Originally, this psalm was recited by women who gave birth after being barren, reminiscent of the song of Channah in 1 Samuel 2. A close look, however, suggests that its opening verses are a later supplement meant to introduce the larger Hallel collection.

Reciting Ready-Made Prayers in Biblical Times and Today

The haftarah (prophetic reading) for the first day of Rosh Hashanah features Channah's two prayers. In the second prayer, she thanks God for the birth of Samuel by reciting a ready made royal hymn about defeating one's enemies, hardly relevant to her situation. Why does the Bible choose such a prayer and how might this help us better understand prayer in the context of the contemporary Rosh Hashanah?

The Shema’s Second Paragraph: An Inner-Biblical Interpretation

The second paragraph of Shema (Deuteronomy 11:13-21) has significant overlaps with the first (Deuteronomy 6:4-9), including some identical phrases and core concepts. It was likely written as a later elaboration of the first, a process that may reflect the earliest stages of the Shema becoming a central text.

Enallage in the Bible

“Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, for your love is better than wine” (Song 1:2). The Song of Songs opens with this sudden shift in person, an ungrammatical syntactic substitution called enallage. How common is this literary device, and why is it used?

The Gender of God

What is the gender of the God of creation? Of YHWH in general?

Zichronot: Asking an Omniscient God to Remember

Do we really want God to remember all that we did?

Nahum M. Sarna

A Biography by Prof. Marc Zvi Brettler, and Eulogy (delivered at the funeral) by Prof. Lawrence Schiffman.

Who Was Samson’s Real Father?

Samson’s birth story deprecates Samson’s father, Manoah; this serves to highlight the identity of his real father: The angel of YHWH did more than announce Samson’s birth to Manoah’s wife.

Megillat Esther: Reversing the Legacy of King Saul

One of the main themes in the Book of Esther is the death of Haman, the descendent of Agag, last king of Amalek, at the hands of Mordecai and Esther, Benjaminites from the family of King Saul. Is this just a coincidence?

Is Israel’s Repentance a Foregone Conclusion?

Deuteronomy 28 imagines the possibility of Israel disappearing, and eventually assimilating into the nations where it is exiled. Deuteronomy 30:1-10, however, predicts Israel’s future repentance and consequent restoration.

Comparing Curses

Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 are often lumped together, as the two great curses, but their careful comparison reveals some fundamental and surprising differences.

The Building Blocks of Biblical Interpretations: Text, Lexicon, and Grammar

Illustrations From Parashat Ekev

Psalm 137:9 - A Verse to Criticize

A Historical-Critical Reading

Ten Insights about the Ten Commandments

Surprising misconceptions and ambiguities about God’s central and unmediated revelation

Source Criticism: It’s in the (Plague of) Blood

An inductive approach.

“All of Jacob’s Descendants Numbered Seventy-Five” – The Opening of Exodus in the Dead Sea Scrolls

The Book of Exodus begins with an accounting of the members of Jacob's family who went with him to Egypt. Our Torah, the Masoretic Text, lists 70 people. Dead Sea Scroll manuscript 4QExb, however, records 75 people. How do we account for this and other differences between the texts?

Reciting Psalm 30 on Chanukah: A Biblical Custom?

מזמור שיר חנכת הבית לדוד, “A song of the dedication of the Temple of David”

Rosh Hashanah Between Tanach and Mishna

The missing links

The Hakhel Ceremony

Who, What, When, and Where

God’s Coronation on Rosh Hashanah

What kind of king?

Some Biblical Perspectives on the Haggadah

Is the Torah a Pentateuch or Hexateuch?

Does the Torah end with Deuteronomy or Joshua? The answer depends on whether we view the Torah as a law collection or as a narrative about a promise fulfilled.

Differing Conceptions of the Divine Creator

The two creation stories of Genesis, chapters 1 and 2-3 (P and J) introduce two long narratives which continue throughout much of the Torah. Each is working with a different conception of the creator—a rather human-like God versus a majestic and distant deity.