Dr. Gili Kugler

Gili Kugler (PhD, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem) is a Senior Lecturer of Biblical Studies at the University of Haifa. Kugler's research deals with biblical traditions and theology, and consists of topics such as: contradictory and hidden narratives in the Pentateuch; religion and politics in the Psalms; the formation of the notion of chosenness; biblical mythology in light of modern psychology. She is the author of When God Wanted to Destroy the Chosen People: Biblical Traditions and Theology on the Move (De Gruyter, 2019).

Since June 2023 Gili is a Humboldt experienced researcher fellow, working on the theme of Chosenness in biblical theology. Her recent publications on this theme and others:


  • “'And you became mine' (Ezek 16:8): Good and Evil in a Narcissistic God,” Religions 10 (2022), 1–14
  • “Hesed in Ruth: A Frail Moral Tool in an Inflexible Social Structure,” Religions 14 (2023), 1–13 (with O. Magori)
  • “Incest as a rhetorical device: the shock effect of the allegory in Ezekiel 16,” Scottish Journal of Theology (2023), 1–14
  • “God is not a Mother – a Study of the Family Imagery in Second and Third Isaiah,” Beit Mikra 68 (2023), 213–237 (Hebrew)
  • “Divine Vassal: ANE attributes in the father-son imagery of Hosea 11,” Harvard Theological Review (forthcoming)