Frank Moore Cross Jr. was Hancock Professor of Hebrew and Other Oriental Languages at Harvard University and curator of the Harvard Semitic Museum when this was written. He studied at Johns Hopkins under William F. Albright. He has received grants and fellowships with the American School of Oriental Research, Jerusalem Hebrew College, the Institute for Advanced Studies, and the Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has served as an editor of the Biblical Archaeologist and Harvard Theological Review. His work on the tabernacle in ancient Israel is considered a definitive advance over traditional understanding. His contributions to the technical analysis of the Hebrew language are world-renowned. He is considered one of the most authoritative voices in contemporary interpretation of the Dead Sea Scrolls. He has written and lectured extensively on the literature and culture of the biblical world. He is at home in both archaeological and linguistic studies.