The Bible Department at Bar-Ilan University

The Department of Bible is the largest academic program of Hebrew Bible studies in the world. Our outstanding faculty covers the full breadth of Hebrew Bible studies, and its members are leading contributors to research in the field. Our students come from all over the world and from diverse faiths and backgrounds to study in a warm, welcoming, and intellectually invigorating environment in the land of the Bible. Students considering graduate work are invited to propose a project.

About the Department

The Bible Department is dedicated to the teaching and critical study of the plain meaning of the text of the Hebrew Bible. The department also imparts tools for the study of the entire tradition of interpretation and commentary – the ancient translations, Second Temple literature, talmudic writings, and medieval and early modern rabbinic commentators. Study in the department imparts tools for critical research in linguistic, historical, archaeological, literary, and theological approaches to the text.

Our B.A. and M.A. programs offer students the basic skills of scholarship and prepare them for higher level research. Graduates of our Ph.D. program are productive scholars in Israel and abroad. We encourage potential students to propose research projects and to join in the research efforts of the department's faculty. Tanakh study at Bar-Ilan also qualifies students to teach Tanakh in the elementary and secondary school systems in Israel. Students wishing to do so may take courses in Bar-Ilan's School of Education alongside courses in our department.