Naphtali Meshel studies the Hebrew Bible in its ancient Near Eastern contexts, and its early interpreters.
He has written on Biblical and early Jewish systems of ritual sacrifice, pollution, and holiness; on the Priestly literature and on “grammars” of ritual; on mechanisms of double entendre in Biblical narrative and in Wisdom Literature; on prophecy; and on the translations of the Hebrew Bible.
Within the broader study of religion, he has a special interest in Sanskrit literature, in particular within the collaborative framework of “Thinking Rite: Towards a New and Ancient Science of Ritual.”
Before joining the Department of Bible and the Department of Comparative Religion at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (2016) he served as Assistant Professor in the Department of Religion and in the Program in Judaic Studies at Princeton University (2009–2016), and as a member at the Institute for Advanced Study (2013–14).