February 16, 2007

rest in peace...

A great intellect has passed...

Princeton's Bruce Metzger, authority on biblical manuscripts, dies at 93

Home News Tribune Online 02/14/07

PRINCETON, N.J. (AP) … Bruce Manning Metzger, professor emeritus at Princeton Theological Seminary and an authority on Greek manuscripts of the Bible, has died at age 93.

Metzger, who was born in Middletown, Pa., died Tuesday of natural causes, according to The Mather-Hodge Funeral Home Princeton.

At the time of his death, he was the George L. Collord Professor Emeritus of New Testament Language and Literature at Princeton Theological Seminary.

The son of Maurice and Anna Metzger, he earned a bachelor's degree from Lebanon Valley College in 1935, a bachelor of theology degree from Princeton Seminary in 1938 and a doctorate in classics from Princeton University in 1942. He became an ordained minister with the Presbyterian Church in 1939.

Metzger began his teaching career at Princeton Theological Seminary in 1938, where he stayed in the New Testament department for 46 years. During his time at the seminary, Metzger developed 25 courses on the English and Greek texts of books in the New Testament.

He was also involved with committees in the production of three new editions of the Scriptures: the United Bible Societies' Greek New Testament (1966), the Reader's Digest condensed Bible (1982) and the New Revised Standard Version (1990).

In 1986, Metzger was elected to the American Philosophical Society in the class devoted to the Humanities and in 1994 he was awarded the F.C. Burkitt Medal by the British Academy for his contributions to biblical studies.

Metzger is survived by his wife of 62 years, Isobel Mackay Metzger, two sons and a sister. A memorial service is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 20, in Princeton.

Here is a list of some of his work:
* The Text Of The New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption, And Restoration (2005, with Bart D. Ehrman)
* New Testament: Its Background, Growth and Content (2003)
* The Oxford Essential Guide to Ideas and Issues of the Bible (2002 with Michael D. Coogan)
* The Oxford Guide to People & Places of the Bible (2001 with Michael D. Coogan)
* Greek New Testament (2000 with by B. Aland)
* Breaking the Code: Understanding the Book of Revelation : Leader's Guide (1999)
* Revelation 6-16 (Word Biblical Commentary 52b) (1998, with David E. Aune)
* Reminiscences of an Octogenarian (1997) ISBN 1-56563-264-8
* The Canon of the New Testament: Its Origin, Development, and Significance (1997)
* Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament (1994)
* The Oxford Companion to the Bible (1993)
* The Reader's Bible (1983)
* Lexical Aids for Students of New Testament Greek (1969)
* List of Words Occuring Frequently in the Coptic New Testament (Sahidic Dialect) (1961) available online - note: "occuring" is misspelled in the published title
* Introduction to the Apocrypha (1957)
* The Oxford Concise Concordance to the Revised Standard Version of the Holy Bible (with Isobel M. Metzger)

Posted by tripp at February 16, 2007 10:13 AM
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