Sara Japhet

Sara Japhet (sometimes Sarah Yefet,; November 18, 1934 – March 27, 2024) was an Israeli biblical scholar. She was the Yehezkel Kaufmann Professor Emerita of Bible Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She is considered a leading authority on the books of Chronicles by Oxford University Press. Additionally, she is the recipient of the Israel Prize in 2004 for Biblical Studies.

Biography Japhet was born in Petah Tikva to parents who had immigrated to Palestine in the 1920s. She studied at the Hebrew Teachers College David Yellin in Jerusalem and became one of the first students involved in the academic teacher training program conducted with the Hebrew University. She earned her PhD from Hebrew University in 1973. She has held the positions of head of the Department of Bible and head of the Institute of Jewish Studies at the Hebrew University and has also been the director of the National and University Library between 1997 and 2001.

Japhet won the Israel Prize in 2004 for her contribution to Biblical studies focusing on the Second Temple period. Japhet has held the position of president of the World Union of Jewish Studies since 2006. Japhet, as a judge in the Adult Bible Quiz, greets Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Sara Japhet died on March 27, 2024, at the age of 89.

Her receipt of the Israel Prize From the judges' reasoning for awarding the Israel Prize to Sarah Japhet in 2004:

Works

n.b. other titles have been written in Hebrew.