Willem Smits (1704 – 1 December 1770) was a Dutch
Franciscan orientalist and
exegete.
Biography
Smits was born at
Kevelaer in the
Duchy of Guelders. He entered the Order of Friars Minor at the age of eighteen. As a religious he applied himself to the study of Biblical languages and Sacred Scripture and was appointed lector.
From 1732 to 1744, he published, at
Antwerp
Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504, , several Biblical theses dealing with questions of textual criticism and
chronology. In one of these, "Isagoge Romano-Catholica ad textum hebraeum...", he shows that the
Latin Vulgate is substantially a faithful translation of the original Hebrew; and in another, "Isagoge Romano-Catholica ad textum graecum vulgo LXX. . .", he states the reasons why the
Septuagint is preferable to the actual Hebrew text.
At the request of
Cardinal d'Alsace, then
Archbishop of Mechelen, Smits undertook the translation of the entire Bible into
Dutch. The title is: "Biblia Sacra Vulgatae editionis, versione belgica, notis grammaticalibus, literalibus, criticis, ... elucidata per FF. Minores Recollectes musae philologico-sacri antwerpiensis." Of this series he lived to finish only thirteen Sacred books, which were published, in seventeen volumes, from 1744 to 1767. The work was continued by his collaborator and former pupil,
Peter van Hove
Peter van Hove (–1793) was a Flemish Friar Minor, lector in theology and exegete.
Biography
Peter was born at Retie, in the Campine region of Flanders (Belgium). He was a pupil of Willem Smits, O.F.M., founder and first prefect of the "Musæum ...
.
In 1765, Smits was appointed the first prefect of the "Musaeum philologico-sacrum", a Franciscan biblical institute at
Antwerp
Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504, .
References
;Attribution
* This source cites:
**DIRKS, ''Histoire litteraire et bibliographique des Freres Mineurs'' (Antwerp, 1885), 318 sqq.
**SCHOUTENS, ''Geschiedenis van het voormatlig Minderbroederklaster van Antwerpen'' (Antwerp, 1908), 169-99;
**HOLZAPFEL, Handbuch der Geschichte des Franziskanerordens (Freiburg, 1909), 565, 595.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smits, Willem
1704 births
1770 deaths
Flemish Friars Minor
Dutch biblical scholars
People from Kleve (district)