Jacob Milgrom (February 1, 1923 – June 5, 2010) was a prominent American Jewish Bible scholar and Conservative rabbi. Milgrom's major contribution to biblical research was in the field of cult and worship. Although he accepted the documentary hypothesis, contrary to the classical bible critics, he traced a direct line of development from the Priestly Code (P), to the Holiness Code (H), to the cultic innovations of Ezekiel, to the cultic writings of the Dead Sea sect and finally to Jewish law (halacha) of the Mishnah and Talmud. Best known for his comprehensive Torah commentaries and work on the Dead Sea Scrolls, he also published extensively on the Book of Ezekiel.

Biography

Jacob Milgrom was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1923. He studied at Brooklyn College and the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York City. In 1948, he married Jo Berman, also a biblical scholar. They had four children.

Academic career

Jacob Milgrom spent most of his career at the University of California, Berkeley, where he headed the Department of Near Eastern Studies. He was known for his research on Biblical purity laws and on the book of Leviticus. After retiring in 1994, Milgrom and his wife Jo immigrated to Israel. He died in Jerusalem in June 2010.

Published works

Books

Articles