BIBLE HISTORY DAILY

Moshe Weinfeld (1925–2009)

Moshe Weinfeld

His scholarly interests varied widely—from social justice ideology in ancient Israel to the perception of the inheritance of the Land of Israel and from the social structure of the Qumran sect to ancient Jewish liturgy.

Perhaps his greatest influence, however, was on Deuteronomistic studies. His book Deuteronomy and the Deuteronomic School (1972), based on his doctoral dissertation, is now considered a classic reference work. In one of the several articles he wrote for BAR’s sister magazine Bible Review (of which he was also a member of the editorial advisory board), Weinfeld remarked that “Deuteronomy marks a turning point in Israelite religion. It is not too much to call it a theological revolution.”a

Weinfeld was born in Poland in 1925 and immigrated to Israel with his family in 1947. He completed his bachelor’s and master’s degrees, as well as his Ph.D., at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he then spent his career teaching.

Weinfeld was the founding editor of the Hebrew journal Shnaton: Annual for Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies until his retirement in 1993.

That same year he won the Ben Zvi Prize for the History of the Land of Israel for his book From Joshua to Josiah (Magnes Press, 1991), and in 1994 he was awarded the prestigious Israel Prize for Biblical Research.

Notes

Related Posts

May 24

Labib Sorial—A Forgotten Figure in Biblical Archaeology

By: Jeffrey R. Zorn

Mar 22

The Bible With and Without Jesus

By: Marc Zvi Brettler and Amy-Jill Levine

Jan 23

The “Gabriel Stone” on Display

By: James Tabor

Dec 13

Milestones: Michael Homan (1966–2022)

By: BAS Staff