David Noel Freedman, May 12, 1922 - April 8, 2008

It is sad to report the death of David Noel Freedman, eminent biblical scholar, editor of the Anchor Bible series, and past president of the SBL. I last saw him in the book display at the SBL in San Diego this past November, looking very frail. There is a good press release at the UC San Diego Web News Center (click here). Freedman was classmates with Frank Cross at Johns Hopkins, where they worked on their joint dissertations together under W. F. Albright. Among his many scholarly contributions, he is widely known for his work on the psalms and Hebrew poetry. But he is equally known as a supporter of others' work, and many Anchor Bible commentaries are full of notes and comments that he generously shared with the writers.