Rev Matthew Black (3 September 1908,

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

– 2 October 1994,

St Andrews St Andrews ( la, S. Andrea(s); sco, Saunt Aundraes; gd, Cill Rìmhinn) is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fou ...

) was a Scottish minister and biblical scholar. He was the first editor of the journal, ''

New Testament Studies ''New Testament Studies'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by Cambridge University Press under the auspices of the Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas. The scope of the journal are short studies and articles on issues pertaining to th ...

''.

Life

He was born in

the son of James Black. He attended

Kilmarnock Academy Kilmarnock Academy (Scottish Gaelic: ''Acadamaidh Chille Mheàrnaig''), formerly Kilmarnock Burgh School, is a state-funded secondary school in Kilmarnock, Scotland, currently located on Sutherland Drive in the New Farm Loch area of the town. The ...

. After earning an M.A. and B.D. in Old Testament at the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

, Black then studied at the

University of Bonn The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine U ...

and returned to the University of Glasgow for his D.Litt. From 1942 to 1947 he was minister of Dunbarney. From 1952 to 1954 he was Professor of Biblical Criticism and Antiquities at

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 1582 ...

and from 1954 to 1978 Professor of Divinity and Biblical Criticism at

St Andrews University (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

. In 1968 he was President of the Society of Old Testament Studies. He died in

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

New Testament work

Together with

Kurt Aland Kurt Aland (28 March 1915 – 13 April 1994) was a German theologian and biblical scholar who specialized in New Testament textual criticism. He founded the '' Institut für neutestamentliche Textforschung'' (Institute for New Testament Textua ...

Carlo Maria Martini Carlo Maria Martini (15 February 1927 – 31 August 2012) was an Italian Jesuit, cardinal of the Catholic Church and a Biblical scholar. He was Archbishop of Milan from 1980 to 2004 and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1983. A towering i ...

Bruce M. Metzger Bruce Manning Metzger (February 9, 1914 – February 13, 2007) was an American biblical scholar, Bible translator and textual critic who was a longtime professor at Princeton Theological Seminary and Bible editor who served on the board of the A ...

and

Allen Wikgren Allen Paul Wikgren (3 December 1906 – 7 May 1998) was an American New Testament scholar and professor at the University of Chicago. His work centered on the text of the New Testament and New Testament manuscripts, but also included Hellenistic ...

, Black served on the editorial committee that established the Greek text and

critical apparatus A critical apparatus ( la, apparatus criticus) in textual criticism of primary source material, is an organized system of notations to represent, in a single text, the complex history of that text in a concise form useful to diligent readers and ...

es in the standard hand editions of the Greek New Testament: the Nestle-Aland ''

Novum Testamentum Graece (''The New Testament in Greek'') is a critical edition of the New Testament in its original Koine Greek, forming the basis of most modern Bible translations and biblical criticism. It is also known as the Nestle–Aland edition after its mos ...

'' (26th edition, published by the

Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft The Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft ("German Bible Society") is a religious foundation regulated by public law. It is involved in publishing and in spreading the message of the Bible. The Society publishes the Bible in the original languages and in ...

first in 1979 and revised in 1983) and the United Bible Societies' ''The Greek New Testament'' (3rd edition, published by the

United Bible Societies The United Bible Societies (UBS) is a global fellowship of around 150 Bible Societies operating in more than 240 countries and territories. It has working hubs in England, Singapore, Nairobi and Miami. The headquarters are located in Swindon, Eng ...

in 1983).

Family

He married Ethel M. Hall in 1938.

Works

Books

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Edited by

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Black, Matthew 1908 births 1994 deaths People from Kilmarnock People educated at Kilmarnock Academy Alumni of the University of Glasgow University of Bonn alumni 20th-century Ministers of the Church of Scotland Academics of the University of Edinburgh Academics of the University of St Andrews Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellows of the British Academy Old Testament scholars New Testament scholars Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences British biblical scholars Presidents of the Society for Old Testament Study