David Pearson Wright (born 1953) is an American theologian and the professor of Bible and the Ancient Near East at Brandeis University.
He is a scholar in the field of the Hebrew Bible, especially the composition of the Pentateuch and inner-biblical exegesis, as well as Near Eastern and biblical ritual and law in comparative perspective.
Wright was born in Salt Lake City, Utah and was raised as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
He served a two-year mission for the church in Oregon, graduated from the University of Utah magna cum laude in Middle East Studies.
After the publication of New Approaches to the Book of Mormon: Explorations in Critical Methodology in 1994 Metcalfe was fired from BYU and ultimately excommunicated by the church.