Dr. Benjamin Sommer

Dr. Benjamin D. Sommer is Professor of Bible and Ancient Semitic Languages at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. He has been a Fellow of the Hebrew University and the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem. Dr. Sommer's many publications include Revelation and Authority: Sinai in Jewish Scripture and Tradition; an extensive commentary on Psalms, published by JPS; and The Bodies of God and the World of Ancient Israel. Prof. Sommer explains how Ancient Near Eastern conceptions of deities are reflected and/or refuted in the Hebrew Bible, with striking implications for our understandings of "monotheism," worship, God's presence, and the later beliefs of Judaism and Christianity.