Academic Bio
David is a Ph.D. student in the Bible and the ancient Near East joint program between NELC and the Divinity School. He completed his B.A. in Near Eastern Studies at Johns Hopkins University, and his M.A. in Near Eastern & Judaic Studies at Brandeis. He is undertaking coursework and research in Semitic philology and linguistics as well as a broad interest in the Hebrew Bible and the history of its composition. David is pursuing a broad interest in Semitic philology, with a particular focus on Hebrew and the other Northwest Semitic languages. His current research involves various aspects of the Hebrew verbal system, including the particularities of Late Biblical Hebrew, and the semantics of certain rare Biblical Hebrew stems. Within the Hebrew Bible, David is interested in the formation of the Pentateuch, and the implications of the practice of textual criticism and historical linguistics for a source-critical analysis of Pentateuchal (and other) texts. In addition, David is interested in conceptions of law, religion, ritual, and magic in Israel and the surrounding regions.