Richard Thomson, sometimes spelled Thompson, was a Dutch-born

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

theologian and translator. He was Fellow of

Clare Hall, Cambridge Clare Hall is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. Founded in 1966 by Clare College, Clare Hall is a college for advanced study, admitting only postgraduate students alongside postdoctoral researchers and fellows. It ...

and the translator of

Martial Marcus Valerius Martialis (known in English as Martial ; March, between 38 and 41 AD – between 102 and 104 AD) was a Roman poet from Hispania (modern Spain) best known for his twelve books of ''Epigrams'', published in Rome between AD 86 and ...

's epigrams and among the "First Westminster Company" charged by

James I of England James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and King of Ireland, Ireland as James I from the Union of the Crowns, union of the Scottish and Eng ...

with the translation of the first 12 books of the

King James Version of the Bible The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611, by sponsorship of K ...

. He was also known for his intemperance and his doctrinal belief in

Arminianism Arminianism is a branch of Protestantism based on the theological ideas of the Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Arminius (1560–1609) and his historic supporters known as Remonstrants. Dutch Arminianism was originally articulated in the ''Re ...

Life

Commonly called "Dutch Thomson", he was born in

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former province on the western coast of the Netherlands. From the 10th to the 16th c ...

of English parents, and received his education at Clare Hall, where he graduated B.A. in 1587 and was elected fellow. He commenced M.A. in 1591, and was incorporated in that degree at Oxford on 1 July 1596. Bishop Lancelot Andrewes presented him to the rectory of

Snailwell Snailwell is a small village and civil parish in East Cambridgeshire, England around north of Newmarket. History The parish of Snailwell covers an area of in the extension of eastern Cambridgeshire that surrounds the town of Newmarket in Suff ...

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...

. He was selected as one of the translators of the Bible, being one of the company to which the task was allotted of translating the Old Testament from Genesis to the second book of Kings inclusive. Thomas Farnaby states that Thomson lived for some time under the protection of Sir Robert Killigrew, and that he was a great interpreter of

Henry Hickman Henry Hickman (died 1692) was an English ejected minister and controversialist. Life A native of Worcestershire, he was educated at St Catharine Hall, Cambridge, where he proceeded B.A. in 1648. At the end of 1647, he entered Magdalen Hall, Ox ...

styles him ‘the grand propagator of

,’ and Prynne describes him as ‘a debosh'd drunken English Dutchman, who seldom went one night to bed sober;’ but on the other hand Richard Montagu, who knew him well, says that he was ‘a most admirable philologer,’ and that ‘he was better known in Italy, France, and Germany than at home.’ He was buried at St Edward's, Cambridge, on 8 January 1613.

Works

His works are: *''Elenchus Refutationis Pro … Episcopo Eliense adversus Martinum Becanum Jesuitam, authore Richardo Thomsonio Cantabrigiensi'', London, 1611, dedicated to Sir Thomas Jermyn. Against

Martinus Becanus Martinus Becanus (6 January 1563 – 24 January 1624) was a Dutch-born Jesuit priest, known as a theologian and controversialist. Life He was born ''Maarten Schellekens'' in Hilvarenbeek in North Brabant; Schellekens is a patronymic and he adop ...

and his attack on the ''Torturæ Torti'', of Lancelot Andrewes, itself a controversial work against Robert Bellarmine in the allegiance oath controversy. *''Diatriba de Amissione et Intercisione Gratiæ et Justificationis'', Leyden, 1616 and 1618. An ‘Animadversio brevis’ on this work was published in 1618 by Robert Abbot.

References

* * McClure, Alexander. (1858) ''The Translators Revived: A Biographical Memoir of the Authors of the English Version of the Holy Bible''. Mobile, Alabama: R. E. Publications (republished by the Marantha Bible Society, 1984 ASIN B0006YJPI8 ) * Nicolson, Adam. (2003) ''God's Secretaries: The Making of the King James Bible.'' New York: HarperCollins

External links

The Correspondence of Richard Thomson
i
EMLO
;Attribution 1613 deaths 16th-century births 16th-century English theologians 16th-century_Calvinist_and_Reformed_theologians Arminian theologians Translators of the King James Version Year of birth unknown {{bible-translator-stub 16th-century Anglican theologians 17th-century Anglican theologians