Elmer Bernard Smick (July 10, 1921 - December 7, 1994) was an Old Testament scholar, professor, and former president of the

Evangelical Theological Society The Evangelical Theological Society (ETS) is a professional society of Biblical scholars, educators, pastors, and students "devoted to the inerrancy and inspiration of the Scriptures and the gospel of Jesus Christ" and "dedicated to the oral exc ...

Background and education

Smick was born in Baltimore, Maryland and married childhood sweetheart Jane Harrison on August 19, 1944. He earned his

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four ye ...

(1944) from The Kings College, his

Th.B. The Bachelor of Theology degree (BTh, ThB, or BTheol) is a three- to five-year undergraduate degree in theological disciplines and is typically pursued by those seeking ordination for ministry in a church, denomination, or parachurch organizatio ...

(1947) and S.T.M (1948) from

Faith Theological Seminary Faith Theological Seminary is an unaccredited evangelical Christian seminary in Baltimore, Maryland. It was founded in 1937 in Wilmington, Delaware, moved to Philadelphia in 1952, and then moved to Maryland in 2004. History In response to the P ...

, and his

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

(1951) from the

Dropsie College for Hebrew and Cognate Learning Dropsie College for Hebrew and Cognate Learning or Dropsie University, at 2321–2335 N Broad St., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was America's first degree-granting institution for post-doctoral Jewish studies. Funded by the will of Moses Aaron Dr ...

. He also completed post-doctoral studies at

Brandeis University Brandeis University is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational institution sponsored by the Jews, Jewish community, Brandeis was established on t ...

(1958)

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, ...

(1967).

Academic career

Smick taught ancient history and Semitic studies at

Shelton College Shelton College was a private, Christian, liberal arts college that was located in Cape May, New Jersey. It was involved in a landmark case requiring religious schools to acquire a state license to grant academic degrees. The college motto was ' ...

while pastoring Bible Presbyterian Church in

Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the capital city, capital city (New Jersey), city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County, New Jersey, Mercer County. It was the capital of the United States from November 1 to December 24, 1784.

. From 1956 to 1971, he was professor of Old Testament language and literature at

Covenant Theological Seminary Covenant Theological Seminary, informally called Covenant Seminary, is the denominational seminary of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). Located in Creve Coeur, Missouri, it trains people to work as leaders in church positions and elsewher ...

. From 1971 to 1991, he was professor of Old Testament at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. In 1976, the

NIV Niv may refer to: * Niv, a personal name; for people with the name, see * Niv Art Movies, a film production company of India * Niv Art Centre, in New Delhi, India NIV may refer to: * The New International Version, a translation of the Bible into ...

Committee on Bible Translation invited Smick "to assist it in the final editorial review" of the first edition of the Old Testament. Smick served as president of the

in 1988, as well as on the advisory board of the

National Association of Professors of Hebrew The National Association of Professors of Hebrew (NAPH) is a professional organization for university professors of the Hebrew language Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is o ...

, and was a fellow of the

Institute for Biblical Research The Institute for Biblical Research established in 1973 is "an organization of evangelical Christian scholars with specialties in Old and New Testament and in ancillary disciplines". It describes its vision as "to foster excellence in the pursuit ...

Publications

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smick, Elmer 1921 births 1994 deaths Gordon–Conwell Theological Seminary faculty Covenant Theological Seminary faculty Old Testament scholars