Draft:Michael Segal (Biblical Studies professor)

Michael Segal
Michael Segal
מיכאל סיגל
	Michael Segal, December 2019
Born	February 21, 1972 (age 52); Princeton, New Jersey, U.S.
Nationality	American; Israeli
Citizenship	United States; Israel
Alma mater	Yeshiva University; Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Known for	Research on the Book of Jubilees, Book of Daniel and Dead Sea Scrolls, and Editor of Hebrew University Bible Project
Spouse	Aliza Segal
Children	4
	Scientific career
Fields	Biblical criticism
Institutions	Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Thesis	"The Book of Jubilees: Rewritten Bible, Redaction, Ideology and Theology" (2004)
Doctoral advisor	Menahem Kister and Israel Knohl
Doctoral students	Daniel Olariu; Avigail Aravna; Itai Kagan; Natan Evron; Iñaki Marro Sánchez; David Forward

Michael Segal (Hebrew: מיכאל סיגל; born February 21, 1972) is a scholar of Biblical studies, with particular emphasis on Jewish literature of the Second Temple period, and a Full Professor in the Bible Department of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Biography

Michael Segal was born on February 21, 1972, in Princeton, New Jersey, and grew up in Silver Spring, Maryland. In 1989, he began his bachelor's degree studies in mathematics at Yeshiva University. After graduating in 1993, Segal began a direct track to doctoral studies in mathematics. However, in the summer of 1994, Segal withdrew from this program to immigrate to Israel - and instead transferred to pursue a Master's degree studies in Biblical studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. After writing a thesis under the supervision of Emmanuel Tov, in 1998 Segal continued directly to doctoral studies, under the supervision of Menahem Kister and Israel Knohl. Upon receiving his doctoral degree in 2004, Segal embarked on postdoctoral studies at Yale University, under the supervision of John J. Collins.

Segal's research focuses on late biblical literature as well as post-biblical literature, with an emphasis on the Jewish apocrypha and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Segal's main methodological approach to these topics is based on philological research, through textual analysis both independently and based on comparative textual evidence. A significant topic in Segal's research, on which he wrote his doctorate and later expanded it into a complete book, is the Book of Jubilees. Segal contributed significantly to the development of research on it, with the hypothesis that the book is not uniform and is based on various sources along with a layer of an author-editor ("Composer", in his language). Another significant topic in Segal's research is the Book of Daniel, on which he also wrote a complete book and is currently working on a comprehensive commentary (in the Yale Anchor Bible series). Segal deepened the hypothesis that the intention of the book's various authors was to interpret earlier biblical books. Another of Segal's research specializations is in the criticism of the biblical text, including the Qumran biblical scrolls and the ancient translations (especially the Septuagint). Segal serves as the editor-in-chief of the "Bible Project", and in this framework he published the Twelve Prophets edition in 2024, and in the future editions of Joshua and Judges are expected to be published too.

In 2005, Segal began working as a lecturer in the Department of Bible Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Between 2016 and 2018, Segal headed the Institute of Jewish Studies at the Hebrew University, and from 2018 to 2021 he served as Dean of the Faculty of Humanities at the university. Over the years, Segal has published more than 50 scientific articles. As of 2024, Segal serves as the editor-in-chief of the journals "Textus" and "Tarbiz" and "Bible Project" and also as the chairman of the academic committee of the Orion Center for the Study of the Judean Desert Scrolls and the Literature Related to Them. All this, in addition to teaching as a Full Professor in the Department of Bible Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

He is married to Aliza Segal, a doctor of Education who serves as a Senior lecturer at the School of Education at Ben-Gurion University, and the couple have four sons and two grandchildren. On January 16 2024, he lost his nephew, Major (res.) Zechariah Haber, who was killed as part of the fighting in the Gaza Strip during the Israel–Hamas war.

Books

Michael Segal, The Book of Jubilees: Rewritten Bible, Redaction, Ideology and Theology (Jerusalem: Hebrew University Magnes Press, 2007) (in Hebrew)
Michael Segal, Dreams, Riddles, and Visions: Textual, Contextual, and Intertextual Approaches to the Book of Daniel (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2016)
Michael Segal & Shemaryahu Talmon, The Twelve Prophets: The Hebrew University Bible Project Edition, Jerusalem: Mandel, 2024

External links