Herbert W. Basser (born 1942) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

scholar of religion and a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

known for his work ''Studies in Exegesis: Christian Critiques of Jewish Law'' (Boston, 2000).

Biography

In 1963, he graduated from Yeshiva University with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in French literature. After several years as a mathematics teacher, he continued his studies at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Canada earning a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in 1979 and a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

in 1983. Basser has held the Harvard Starr Fellowship at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, taught at

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...

, the

, and the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

. He has been teaching religious studies at

Queen's University Queen's or Queens University may refer to: *Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario, Canada *Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK **Queen's University of Belfast (UK Parliament constituency) (1918–1950) **Queen's University of Belfast ...

in Canada since 1980.

Thought

Basser is perhaps best known for his view that scholars of early Christianity have not given sufficient study to rabbinic writings of the time, therefore resulting in a limited understanding how Christianity developed from the Jewish religious tradition.

Bibliography

* ''Annotations to James'' in ''The Jewish Annotated New Testament'', Oxford University Press 2011, 2017 * ''The Gospel of Matthew and Judaic Traditions: A relevance based commentary'', Leiden and Boston, Brill, 2015 (with Marsha B. Cohen). * ''The Mind behind the Gospels: A Commentary to Mathew 1 – 14'', Brighton: Academic Studies Press, 2009. * ''Studies in Exegesis: Christian Critiques of Jewish Law and Rabbinic Responses 70-300 C.E.'' Leiden, Boston: E. J. Brill, 2000. Reprint paper 2002. * ''Pseudo-Rabad; Commentary to Sifre Numbers'', Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1998. * ''Pseudo-Rabad: Commentary to Sifre Deuteronomy'', Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1994. * ''Approaches to Ancient Judaism V'' (Introduced and edited by H. Basser), Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1993. * ''The Mystical Study of Ruth: Midrash HaNe'elam of the Zohar to the Book of Ruth'', Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1993. (Lawrence Englander with Herbert Basser). * ''Moses Kimhi: Commentary on the Book of Job'', Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1992. (Herbert Basser and Barry Walfish). * ''In the Margins of the Midrash'', Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1990. * ''Midrashic Interpretations of the Song of Moses'', Berne and New York: Peter Lang, 1984.

References

External links

* https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009273587427 {{DEFAULTSORT:Basser, Herbert 1942 births Living people Yeshiva University alumni Harvard Fellows Academic staff of Queen's University at Kingston