Yair Zakovitch is the Father Takeji Otsuki Professor of Bible at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and one of the leading scholars in the literary analysis of the Bible. He received his education at the University of Haifa (B.A., Hebrew Literature, Hebrew Language, and Biblical Studies) and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (M.A., Ph.D., Bible), where he then remained on the faculty. Prof. Zakovitch served as Head of the Institute of Jewish Studies at the Hebrew University from 1995-1997, and as Dean of Humanities from 1997-2001. Prof. Zakovitch’s primary interests are the Bible as literature, the history of beliefs and ideas in the Bible, biblical historiography, and early Jewish and Christian interpretation of the Bible. Prof. Zakovitch has written numerous book and articles, including The Life of Samson (Judges 13-16). A Critical-Literary Analysis (Hebrew), commentaries on the books of Ruth and Song of Songs (Hebrew; translated into German); Introduction to Inner-biblical Interpretation (Hebrew); Through the Looking Glass: Reflection Stories in the Bible (Hebrew); and, most recently, David: From Shepherd to Messiah (Hebrew). Prof. Zakovitch has taught at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of California, Berkeley. He has been a visiting scholar at Harvard University, and has taught at the summer schools of the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York and the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. In Israel, Professor Zakovitch is a well-known lecturer, teaching regularly at teachers’ seminars, and the Yad Ben Zvi Institute. He has taught at the Institute for Holy Land Studies, a Christian institute on Mt. Zion, as well as at The Seminary of Judaic Studies, the rabbinic seminary of the conservative movement in Israel.