William Lowth D.D. (1660–1732) was an English clergyman, known as a Biblical commentator.

Life

He was the son of William Lowth, an apothecary, who was burnt out in the Great Fire of London, and was born in the parish of

St Martin, Ludgate St Martin, Ludgate, also known as St Martin within Ludgate, is an Anglican church on Ludgate Hill in the ward of Farringdon, in the City of London. The church is of medieval origin, but the present building dates from 1677 to 1684 and was design ...

on 3 September 1660. He was educated by his grandfather, the Rev. Simon Lowth, rector of

Tilehurst Tilehurst is a suburb of the town of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. It lies to the west of the centre of Reading, and extends from the River Thames in the north to the A4 road in the south. The suburb is partly within the boundarie ...

, Berkshire, and was admitted to Merchant Taylors' School on 11 September 1672. He was elected scholar of St John's College, Oxford, on 11 June 1675, and in due course became Fellow. He graduated B.A. in 1679, M.A. 1683, and B.D. 1688. Early work brought him to the notice of

Peter Mews Peter Mews (25 March 1619 – 9 November 1706) was an English Royalist theologian and bishop. He was a captain captured at Naseby and he later had discussions in Scotland for the Royalist cause. Later made a Bishop he would report on non-confor ...

, Bishop of Winchester, who made him his chaplain, gave him a prebendal stall at Winchester on 8 October 1696, and presented him to the benefice of Buriton with Petersfield,

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

, in 1699, which he held until his death. He died at Buriton on 17 May 1732, and was buried there.

Works

His first published work was a ‘Vindication of the Divine Authority of the Old and New Testaments,’ London, 1692, a defence of the inspiration of holy scripture against the attacks of Jean Le Clerc. A second edition of the ‘Vindication,’ with a dissertation on the objections to the

Pentateuch The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the ...

then current, was published in 1699. In 1708 he brought out ‘Directions for the profitable Study of Holy Scripture,’ a shortwork which went through many editions. The work for which Lowth is best known is his ‘Commentary on the Prophets,’ originally published in separate portions between 1714 and 1725, and afterwards collected in a folio volume as a continuation of Bishop Simon Patrick's ‘Commentary on the Earlier Books of the Old Testament;’ it was frequently reprinted, together with the commentaries of

Daniel Whitby Daniel Whitby (1638–1726) was a controversial English theologian and biblical commentator. An Arminian priest in the Church of England, Whitby was known as strongly anti-Calvinistic and later gave evidence of Unitarian tendencies. Life The s ...

Richard Arnald Richard Arnald (1698 or 1700 Nichols, J., ''The history and antiquities of the county of Leicester'', Vol. 3, Part 2 (1804), pp. 1059, 1071 – 4 September 1756) was a distinguished English clergyman and biblical scholar. Life He was a native ...

, and

Moses Lowman Moses Lowman (1680–1752) was an English nonconformist minister, known as a Biblical commentator. Life Born in London, he became a student at the Middle Temple in 1697, but a year later abandoned law for divinity. On 17 September 1698 he entered ...

on the New Testament. Its tone is pious but cold; the exegesis is simple, direct, and brief. The commentary was praised by Bishop Richard Watson and by William Orme. The editions of

Clemens Alexandrinus Titus Flavius Clemens, also known as Clement of Alexandria ( grc , Κλήμης ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς; – ), was a Christian theologian and philosopher who taught at the Catechetical School of Alexandria. Among his pupils were Origen a ...

by John Potter, of Josephus by

John Hudson John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

, and of the early ecclesiastical historians by William Reading, were enriched with notes by Lowth, and other scholars received help from him. He was a correspondent of Edward Chandler during his controversy with Anthony Collins the deist.

Family

He married Margaret, daughter of Robert Pitt of

Blandford Blandford Forum ( ), commonly Blandford, is a market town in Dorset, England, sited by the River Stour about northwest of Poole. It was the administrative headquarters of North Dorset District until April 2019, when this was abolished and ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...

. They had two sons, of whom the younger was the grammarian

Robert Lowth Robert Lowth ( ; 27 November 1710 – 3 November 1787) was a Bishop of the Church of England, Oxford Professor of Poetry and the author of one of the most influential textbooks of English grammar. Life Lowth was born in Hampshire, England, G ...

, and three daughters.

References

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Lowth, William 1660 births 1732 deaths 17th-century English Anglican priests 18th-century English Anglican priests Bible commentators People from Buriton 17th-century biblical scholars 18th-century biblical scholars 17th-century Anglican theologians 18th-century Anglican theologians