Esther J. Hamori is Associate Professor of Hebrew Bible at Union Theological Seminary in New York. As a specialist in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament within its ancient Near Eastern context, her research spans the two millennia from the Old Babylonian period through the beginning of the Christian era, from the eastern Mediterranean coast and the Levant through northern and southern Mesopotamia. Her research focuses on Israelite concepts of divine-human contact and communication.

Dr. Hamori’s first book, “When Gods Were Men": The Embodied God in Biblical and Near Eastern Literature, was an examination of anthropomorphic divine appearances. She is currently writing a book, "Women’s Divination in Biblical Literature: Prophecy, Necromancy, and Other Arts of Knowledge," on how various biblical authors conceived of women’s direct access to divine knowledge.