James Barr was Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Hebrew Bible at Vanderbilt Divinity School, Nashville, where he taught for ten years. His illustrious teaching career has also included professorships at Edinburgh University, Princeton Theological Seminary, Manchester University, and Oxford University. He has held visiting professorships and delivered major lecture series in Europe, the United States, Africa, Israel, Australia, and New Zealand, and was longtime editor of the Journal of Semitic Studies.