{{Short description|American rabbi, biblical scholar, and professor (b. 1964)}} {{about|the Bible scholar|the scriptwriter|Josh Berman}} '''Joshua Berman''' ({{langx|he|יהושע ברמן}}; born February 29, 1964) is an Orthodox rabbi and professor of bible at Bar-Ilan University. He is known for his views on the history of Jewish belief, and on biblical source criticism, arguing that "knowledge of the cultural context of the ancient Near East" is required in understanding the scriptures.<ref>[https://www.timesofisrael.com/orthodoxy-can-withstand-an-unflinching-academic-look-at-the-bible-says-scholar/ Orthodoxy can withstand an unflinching, academic look at the Bible, says scholar], Times of Israel, May 2020.</ref>

Berman earned his A.B. at Princeton University in 1987 and his PhD at Bar-Ilan University in 2002.<ref name="BermanFacultyPage">{{cite news|title=Joshua Berman|url=http://bible.biu.ac.il/en/node/674|accessdate=10 July 2017|publisher=Bar-Ilan University}}</ref> He studied at Yeshivat Har Etzion for eight years. Before completing his PhD, Berman taught Bible at the Nishmat Midrasha for several years.

Berman is a frequent contributor to ''Mosaic Magazine'', a magazine for Jewish ideas, religion, politics, and culture, and has written there on a variety of topics including most commonly the Israelite exodus out of Egypt and the current state of biblical studies, where he has drawn both agreement and disagreement from other scholars.<ref>[https://mosaicmagazine.com/author/joshua-berman/ Joshua Berman Mosaic Profile]</ref>

Berman began as a strong proponent of the documentary hypothesis and late Persian authorship, but became convinced of the reliability of the Hebrew Bible after years of research.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Berman |first1=Joshua |title=Ani maamin: biblical criticism, historical truth, and the thirteen principles of faith |date=2020 |location=Jerusalem |isbn=978-1592645381 }}</ref>

==Publications== *'' Created Equal: How the Bible Broke with Ancient Political Thought'', Oxford University Press <ref name="Morrow (book review)">{{cite journal |last1=Morrow |first1=William S. |title=Joshua A Berman, . Created Equal: How the Bible Broke with Ancient Political Thought. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008. xiv+249 pp. $39.95 (cloth) |journal=The Journal of Religion |date=January 2010 |volume=90 |issue=1 |pages=63–65 |doi=10.1086/649970 }}</ref><ref name="Weisbard (book review)">{{cite journal |last1=Weisband |first1=Howard M. |title=Creatively Presented |journal=Jewish Political Studies Review |date=2009 |volume=21 |issue=3/4 |pages=236–240 |jstor=25834868 }}</ref><ref name="Levinson (book review)">{{cite journal |last1=Levinson |first1=Bernard M. |title=The Bible's Break with Ancient Political Thought to Promote Equality—' It Ain't Necessarily so' |journal=The Journal of Theological Studies |date=2010 |volume=61 |issue=2 |pages=685–694 |doi=10.1093/jts/flq048 |jstor=43665339 |ssrn=1836685 }}</ref><ref name=Benjamin>{{cite journal |last1=Benjamin |first1=Don C. |title=Review of Created Equal: How the Bible Broke with Ancient Political Thought |journal=The Catholic Biblical Quarterly |date=2010 |volume=72 |issue=2 |pages=333–334 |jstor=43727646 }}</ref> *''The Temple: Its Symbolism and Meaning Then and Now'', (2010) Wipf & Stock Publishers, {{ISBN|978-1608997763}} *''Narrative Analogy in the Hebrew Bible: Battle Stories and their Equivalent Non-battle Narratives'', Brill *''Inconsistency in the Torah: Ancient Literary Convention and the Limits of Source Criticism'', (2017) Oxford University Press *''Ani Maamin: Biblical Criticism, Historical Truth, and the Thirteen Principles of Faith'', 2020, {{ISBN|978-1592645381}} * {{cite book|title=The Documentary Hypothesis and the Composition of the Pentateuch|author=Umberto Cassuto|author-link=Umberto Cassuto|editor=Joshua Berman|translator=Israel Abrahams|publisher=Shalem Press|date=2006|isbn=978-965-7052-35-8}}

==References== {{reflist}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Berman, Joshua}} Category:Living people Category:Old Testament scholars Category:Princeton University alumni Category:Academic staff of Bar-Ilan University Category:Bar-Ilan University alumni Category:Orthodox rabbis Category:1964 births Category:Yeshivat Har Etzion alumni