Research
Read about some of my personal research projects
Narrative Art in Chronicles
The book of Chronicles has received a great deal of scholarly attention in the past decades, but not many have been interested in its stylistic features and literary artistry, and the ways these are used to promote the rhetorical message of the book.
In my work I focus on these aspects and use my expertise in literary analysis to uncover the beauty of the Chronicler's artistry.
Related Publications:
A study of Judah's military sizes in Chronicles, published in the Journal of Hebrew Scriptures.
A forthcoming article on the holiday of shavu'ot in Asa's time (Hebrew), to be published in a collection on shavu'ot (see Publications).
An article on the 'name' (שֵׁם) motif in the account of David in Chronicles (to be submitted soon).
Biblical Genealogies as Literature
Biblical genealogies are usually viewed as boring lists of names, but in fact they were carefully edited to fit their literary context and its messages.
Concentrating on the genealogies in the book of Chronicles, my study reveals their meticulously crafted literary design, as well as the messages behind them.
Matt Brown, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
An Eighteenth-Century Commentary on Chronicles
I am currently preparing a critical edition of an autograph of an unfinished commentary on the book of Chronicles from 18th century London, which has a very unusual back story. I have been able to reveal the author's identity, his motivation for writing the commentary and the historical background behind it. More details will be added here as the research progresses.
Related Publications:
Besides the critical edition which will be published as a book, I am revising a final draft of an introductory article sent to Shnaton: An Annual for Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies.
The Biblical Commentaries of Rabbi Shmuel Laniado
Rabbi Shmuel Laniado was a rabbi in Aleppo, Syria in the second half of the 16th century. His extensive commentaries on the majority of the Bible are well-known but have been mostly neglected in academic scholarship. My research surveys his commentaries both in print and in manuscripts: their dates of composition and printing, names, and general structure. I've also identified several manuscripts as autographs, which has implications for their dates of composition and for determining Rabbi Laniado’s year of death.
Related Publications:
An article in JSIJ (2021).
The Aleppo Codex in the Cairo Genizah
The Aleppo Codex (הכתר='the Crown'), the most important Hebrew Bible manuscript, was kept for almost three centuries in the Palestinian synagogue in Fustat (old Cairo) – the same synagogue where the famous Cairo Genizah was found – before being transferred to Aleppo, Syria. Considering this, it is no wonder that this codex is mentioned in several Genizah fragments from the period in question. However, these references have not yet been sufficiently discussed in scholarship. My study analyzes several documents mentioning the codex. They confirm that the name by which the codex was known in Egypt was at-taj ('the Crown'), and they also shed light on the nature of the codex’s usage, and its importance to the Jewish communities in Fustat and other Egyptian cities.
Related Publications:
An article in Ginzei Qedem: Genizah Research Annual (see Publications).
LIterary Patterns in the Book of Kings' Chronology
The Book of Kings contains many chronological details, especially the numbers of regnal years of each king of Judah or Israel. These data is commonly seen as reliable historical information, but in a series of studies I would like to show that some of these numbers were reworked in patterns that fit into the literary design and messages of the entire book.
