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Dr. Jonathan Ben-Dov
Department of Bible
University of Haifa
E-mail: [email protected]
Jonathan Ben-Dov (Ph.D., Hebrew University of
Jerusalem, 2005) is a senior lecturer in the Department of
Bible at the University of Haifa. He studies biblical
literature, the Dead Sea Scrolls and Jewish pseudepigrapha,
focusing on the nature of Jewish literature as part of the rich texture of the ancient world and on
comparing Israelite and early Jewish literature with the Cuneiform corpus from Mesopotamia as
well as with Greco-Roman literature. Ben-Dov has developed models for explaining the
interconnectedness of ancient cultures. Avoiding the outdated concept of 'influence', he sheds light
on models of hybridity and on the creation of national identity.
In recent years, Ben-Dov has dealt considerably with early Jewish attestations of natural science –
astronomy, astrology, calendars, medicine. He took part n the official publication of calendrical
scrolls from Qumran (Discoveries in the Judaean Desert XXI, Oxford 2001). Ben-Dov
demonstrated that the astronomy of the Book of Enoch and the Dead Sea Scrolls constitutes a
branch of cuneiform science, which continued to exert its influence throughout the Hellenistic
period. This discovery leads the way to a reevaluation of Jewish sciences, a millennium before the
emergence of other major exemplars in the Middle Ages. Ben-Dov studies Jewish calendars and
instruments of time measurement. He uses similar models to explain the emergence of Jewish
mythology, such as the myth of the Fallen Angels, in the Second Temple period in its ancient
context.
Ben-Dov also studies concepts of writing, the book and literacy in the Bible and Jewish literature.
He has tracked the growing importance of writing and literacy, from the days to Josiah until later
apocalyptic literature. Writing – taken together with the power of language as a medium –
constitutes a powerful means for conveying divine messages via prophecy, as well as for
recording the Divine Name. Ben-Dov has offered models, based on ancient book culture, for
explaining the development of the early text of the Torah. In addition, he has published articles on
biblical prophecy and psalmody.
Ben-Dov has been the recipient of the Michael Bruno award, presented by Yad Hanadiv (2010)
and of a research grant from the Israel Science Foundation for a study of "the Astronomical Book
of Enoch" (2008). He has been a research fellow at the Institute for the Study of the Ancient
World in New-York University (2010/11) and at the Institute of Advanced Study at Durham
University (2013). He directs the inter-university research program "Jewish Culture in the Ancient
World" (2010–2013) and serves on the editorial board of the Hebrew journal Megillot.
Select publications:
S. Talmon, J. Ben-Dov and U. Glessmer, Calendrical Texts. Qumran Cave 4 XVI (Discoveries in
the Judaean Desert XXI; Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2001).
J. Ben-Dov, Head of All Years: Astronomy and Calendars at Qumran in their Ancient Context
(Leiden: Brill, 2008).
J. Ben-Dov and S.L. Sanders (eds.), Ancient Jewish Sciences and the History of Knowledge in
Second Temple Literature (NYU Press, forthcoming).
“Writing as Oracle and as Law: New Contexts for the Book-Find of King Josiah”, Journal of
Biblical Literature 127 (2008), 123–139.
"Hebrew and Aramaic Writing in the Dead Sea Scrolls and Jewish Pseuepigrapha", Tarbiz 78
(2009) 27–60 (in Hebrew).
"Early Texts of the Torah: Reconsidering the Greek Scholarly Context", Journal of Ancient
Judaism 4 (2013) forthcoming