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Biography
American

Diana Edelman

American biblical scholar specialising in the history of ancient Israel, the formation of the Hebrew Bible, and the origins of the Second Temple period. Her scholarly works — including The Origins of the 'Second' Temple and studies of Israelite prophecy — contribute to the critical understanding of how biblical texts were composed, edited, and transmitted. She has held academic positions in Europe and the United States.

Past sales0
PeriodContemporary
NationalityAmerican
1. Biography

A short life of the author

Diana Edelman is an American biblical scholar whose research focuses on the history and archaeology of ancient Israel and Judah, the composition and editing of biblical texts, and the social and political conditions of the Persian and Hellenistic periods that shaped the Hebrew Bible as we have it.

Major Works

The Origins of the ‘Second’ Temple: Persian Imperial Policy and the Rebuilding of Jerusalem (2005, Equinox) examines the political and economic context of the rebuilding of the Jerusalem Temple after the Babylonian exile, challenging traditional assumptions about Persian sponsorship of the project.

Production of Prophecy — a study of how prophetic texts were composed, collected, and redacted, contributing to scholarly understanding of the Hebrew Bible as a literary and historical artefact.

Collecting Edelman

Edelman’s books are academic publications issued by scholarly presses (Equinox, Sheffield Academic Press, T&T Clark). They are collected by biblical scholars and historians of the ancient Near East. Print runs are small, making first editions modestly scarce, though demand is limited to specialists.