Hancock Professor of Hebrew
The Hancock Chair of Hebrew and Other Oriental Languages is an endowed chair at Harvard University in the US. The execution of the will of Thomas Hancock (merchant), uncle to John Hancock, in 1764 at a salary of £1000 established the chair.[1] Unlike prior endowed chairs, the money for the endowed professorship came from a merchant born in the American colonies.[2] It is the third oldest endowed chair in the United States and the first professorship dedicated to study of Semitic languages like Hebrew and Arabic. The Hancock Chair is the third oldest endowed professorship at Harvard University.[3]
Duties[edit]
In 1880, the Hancock Chair of Hebrew and Other Oriental Languages advanced the linguistic curricula by introducing further Semitic languages beyond Hebrew including Aramaic, Arabic, and Ethiopic to be taught at Harvard.[4] The chair historically required the professor be a Protestant, have at least a Master of Arts degree, and instruct students in the Ancient Near Eastern languages, especially Hebrew and Biblical Aramaic ('Chaldee'). The professor was required to provide public lectures in the chapel once per week as well as offer private instruction two to three hours per week to pupils.[5]
Chairholders and denomination[edit]
- Stephen Sewall (orientalist) (June 19, 1765 – 1785);[6] Congregationalist
- Eliphalet Pearson (1786–1806);[7]
- Sidney Willard (1807–1831);[8]
- George R. Noyes (1840–1868); Unitarian[9]
- Crawford Toy (1880–1909);[10][11] Southern Baptist[12]
- David Gordon Lyon (1910[13]–1922[14]);[15] Baptist
- William Rosenzweig Arnold (1922–1929);[16] Wesleyan
- Robert H. Pfeiffer (1953–1958);[17] Methodist
- Frank Moore Cross, Jr. (1958–1992);[18] Baptist[19]
- Peter Machinist (1992– );[20] Jewish[21]
References[edit]
- ^ Gilman, Arthur (June 1863). "The Hancock House and Its Founder". The Atlantic. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
- ^ "Professorships Perpetuate Memory of Founders Two Hundred Years Ago". The Harvard Crimson. 1 Nov 1926. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
- ^ Robert P. (17 March 1953). "Pfeiffer Named To Hancock Chair". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
- ^ Sanders, S. Craig (2016). "Making a Heretic: Crawford Toy's Tragic Path from Star Student to False Teacher". Towers. 14 (7). Retrieved 11 December 2023.
- ^ Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East. "Hancock Professorship of Hebrew and Other Oriental Languages Established". Harvard. Harvard University. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
- ^ Sewall, Stephen. "Papers of Stephen Sewall". Harvard University Archives. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
- ^ Pearson, Eliphalet. "Papers of Eliphalet Pearson". Harvard University Archives. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
- ^ Harvard Divinity School. "General Catalogue of the Divinity School of Harvard University. 1920". Hathi Trust. Harvard University. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
- ^ Thuesen, Peter J. (1999). "Noyes, George Rapall". American National Biography. New York: Oxford University Press. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
- ^ Hurt, Billy Grey. "Crawford Howell Toy". Archives and Special Collections at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Southern Seminary. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
- ^ "Resignation of Prof. Toy". The Harvard Crimson. 4 January 1909. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
- ^ Wills, Gregory (2009). Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 1859–2009. New York, New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 132–33. ISBN 9780199703784. Retrieved December 11, 2023.
- ^ "The History of the Divinity School". Harvard Alumni Bulletin. 1916. pp. 114–18. Retrieved 24 December 2010.
- ^ "Prof. Lyon to retire: He becomes professor emeritus after 40 years' service at Harvard" (PDF). The New York Times. 26 November 1921. Retrieved 24 December 2010.
- ^ "Dr. David Gordon Lyon to Retire". The Harvard Crimson. 26 Nov 1921. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
- ^ "W.R. Arnold Dies of Heart Attack". The Harvard Crimson. 12 Dec 1929. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
- ^ Robert P. (17 March 1953). "Pfeiffer Named To Hancock Chair". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
- ^ "Frank Moore Cross, Biblical Scholar, Dies at 91". New York Times. 19 October 2012. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
- ^ "Theology: Life in a Defatalized World". Time. 2 April 1965. Archived from the original on May 10, 2008. Retrieved 27 December 2010.
- ^ "Peter Machinist Hancock Professor of Hebrew and Other Oriental Languages, Emeritus". Harvard Divinity School. Harvard Divinity School. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
- ^ Harvard Divinity School (February 24, 2016). "Peter Machinist on Retirement, Biblical Studies, and Jewish Identity". Harvard Divinity School News. Retrieved 11 December 2023.