Robert Henry (R. H.) Charles, (

Cookstown Cookstown ( ga, An Chorr Chríochach, IPA: �anˠˈxoːɾˠɾˠˈçɾʲiːxəx is a small town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is the fourth largest town in the county and had a population of 11,599 in the 2011 census. It, along with Maghe ...

, 6 August 1855–

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

, 1931) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

Anglican theologian,

biblical scholar Biblical studies is the academic application of a set of diverse disciplines to the study of the Bible (the Old Testament and New Testament).''Introduction to Biblical Studies, Second Edition'' by Steve Moyise (Oct 27, 2004) pages 11–12 Fo ...

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

, and

translator Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...

from

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. He is known particularly for his English translations of numerous

apocryphal Apocrypha are works, usually written, of unknown authorship or of doubtful origin. The word ''apocryphal'' (ἀπόκρυφος) was first applied to writings which were kept secret because they were the vehicles of esoteric knowledge considered ...

and

pseudepigraphal Pseudepigrapha (also anglicized as "pseudepigraph" or "pseudepigraphs") are falsely attributed works, texts whose claimed author is not the true author, or a work whose real author attributed it to a figure of the past.Bauckham, Richard; "Pseu ...

Ancient Hebrew writings The earliest known precursor to Hebrew, an inscription in the Paleo-Hebrew alphabet, is the Khirbet Qeiyafa Inscription (11th–10th century BCE), if it can be considered Hebrew at that early a stage. By far the most varied, extensive, and his ...

, including the ''

Book of Jubilees The Book of Jubilees, sometimes called Lesser Genesis (Leptogenesis), is an ancient Jewish religious work of 50 chapters (1,341 verses), considered canonical by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church as well as Beta Israel (Ethiopian Jews), where it is ...

'' (1895), the '' Apocalypse of Baruch'' (1896), the ''

Ascension of Isaiah The ''Ascension of Isaiah'' is a pseudepigraphical Judeo-Christian text. Harris, Stephen L., ''Understanding the Bible''. Palo Alto: Mayfield. 1985. Scholarly estimates regarding the date of the Ascension of Isaiah range from 70 AD to 175 AD.Hurtad ...

'' (1900), the '' Book of Enoch'' (1906), and the ''

Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs is a constituent of the apocryphal scriptures connected with the Bible. It is believed to be a pseudepigraphical work of the dying commands of the twelve sons of Jacob. It is part of the Oskan Armenian Ort ...

'' (1908), which have been widely used. He wrote the articles in the eleventh edition of ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' (1911) attributed to the initials "R. H. C." He was born in

County Tyrone County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six Counties of Northern Ireland, counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional Counties of Ireland, counties of Ireland. It is no longer used as an admini ...

, on 6 August 1855 and educated at the

Belfast Academy The Belfast Royal Academy (commonly shortened to ) is the oldest school in the city of Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is a co-educational, non-denominational voluntary grammar school in north Belfast. The Academy is one of 8 schools in Northern ...

Queen's College, Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

, and

Trinity College, Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

, with periods in

Imperial Germany The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

and

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. He gained a

D.D. A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ra ...

and became Professor of

Biblical Greek Koine Greek (; Koine el, ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, hē koinè diálektos, the common dialect; ), also known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-reg ...

at the Trinity College. In 1906, he was elected Fellow of the

British Academy The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars span ...

and four years later he was appointed Fellow of the

Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is one of the Colleges of Oxford University, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the ...

. He also became

Archdeacon of Westminster The Archdeacon of Westminster is a senior ecclesiastical officer within the Chapter of the Royal Peculiar of Westminster Abbey in London. The holder of the post oversees relationships with the twenty-four parishes of which the Dean and Chapter ar ...

in 1919, serving until his death in 1931. He is buried in

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

Source "Queens University Belfast Collections & Archives " R H Charles married, Mary Lilias 1886...having no children.

Select bibliography

* ''The Book of Enoch'', Oxford: Clarendon, 1893, reprinted in 1895. Republished by Boston, MA:

Samuel Weiser Weiser Antiquarian Books is the oldest occult bookstore in the United States. It specialises in books on Aleister Crowley and his circle, magic, mysticism, eastern religions and alternative spirituality. Its earlier New York incarnation, The Weiser ...

; 2003. * ''The Ethiopic Version of the Hebrew Book of Jubilees'', Oxford: Clarendon, 1895. * ''The Apocalypse of Baruch'', London: Black, 1896. * and W. R. Morfill, ''The Book of the Secrets of Enoch'', Oxford: Clarendon, 1896. Republished by Filiquarian Publishing, 2006. * ''The Assumption of Moses'', London: Black, 1897. * ''A Critical History of the Doctrine of a Future Life'', London: Black, 1899
1999 reprint of 2nd edition
* ''Ascension of Isaiah'', London: Black, 1900. * ''The Book of Jubilees or the Little Genesis'', London: Black, 1902. * ''Encyclopaedia Biblica'' (contributor), 1903 * ''The Ethiopic Version of Book of Enoch'', Oxford: Clarendon, 1906. * ''The Greek Versions of the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs'', Oxford: Clarendon, 1908. * trans. ''The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs''), London: Adam and Charles Black, 1908. * ''The Book of Enoch or 1 Enoch: Translated from the Editor's Ethiopic Text'', Oxford: Clarendon, 1912. * ''Fragments of a Zadokite Work. Translated from the Cambridge Hebrew Text and edited with Introduction, Notes, and Indexes'', Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1912. * ''Studies in the Apocalypse'', Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1913. * ''Eschatology: The Doctrine of a Future Life in Israel, Judaism and Christianity'', London: Black, 1913 (rpt. New York: Schocken 1963 with an introduction by G. W. Buchanan). * ed. ''The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament'', 2 vols.; Oxford: Clarendon, 1913. Republished in 1976. * '' Religious Development Between the Old and the New Testaments'', William and Norgate, 1914. Republished in 1925. * * ''Lectures on the Apocalypse'', Schweich Lecture for 1919. * ''A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Revelation of St. John'', 2 vols., Edinburgh: Clark, 1920. * ''The Teaching of the New Testament on Divorce'', London: Williams & Norgate, 1921 * ''A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Daniel'', Oxford: Clarendon, 1929.

References

* T. W. Manson, "Charles, Robert Henry," in The

Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

, 1931–40, ed. L. G. Wickham Legg, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1949, pp. 169–70. * "Concise Dictionary of National Biography"

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Charles, Robert Henry 1855 births 1931 deaths 19th-century British biblical scholars 20th-century British non-fiction writers 20th-century English theologians 20th-century Irish non-fiction writers Alumni of Queen's University Belfast Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Anglican biblical scholars Anglican priests from Northern Ireland Archdeacons of Westminster Bible commentators Canons of Westminster English Anglican theologians English Freemasons Fellows of the British Academy Ge'ez language Greek–English translators Irish Anglican theologians Irish biblical scholars Irish Freemasons People educated at the Belfast Royal Academy People from Cookstown People from Northern Ireland Translators of the Bible into English Fellows of Merton College, Oxford