YEFET, SARAH

YEFET, SARAH (1934– ), Israeli historian specializing in the biblical historiography of the Second Temple period and the Jewish interpretation of the Bible in the Middle Ages. Yefet was born in Petaḥ Tikvah. She received her Ph.D. in Bible studies from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1973, becoming a lecturer (1973) and professor (1987) in the Department of Bible Studies there. From 1984 to 1986 she was the head of the department. From 1990 to 1993 and in 1996 she served as professor in the Beit Midrash for Jewish Studies in Jerusalem. During these years she was a visiting professor in various universities in the United States and Britain, including Berkeley, Oxford, Harvard, and Cambridge. In 1996–97 she was the chairwoman of the academic committee of Magnes Press and in 1997–2001 she was the head of the National and University Library. Yefet published many articles and books, among them Rabbi Samuel ben Meir's Interpretation of Ecclesiastes (1985); Rabbi Samuel ben Meir's Interpretation of Job (2000); Studies in Bible (1986); and The Bible in the Light of Its Interpreters (1996). In 2004 she received the Israel Prize for Bible studies. (Shaked Gilboa (2nd ed.)