Maurice Benoit, also Pierre-Maurice and Maurice-Marie Benoit (3 August 1906 – 23 April 1987),Pierre Benoit (1906-1987)
at National Library of France: Reference information about authors, works and topics. Accessed 10 September 2020. better known as Father Pierre Benoit, was a French

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

priest,

exegete Exegesis ( ; from the Greek , from , "to lead out") is a critical explanation or interpretation of a text. The term is traditionally applied to the interpretation of Biblical works. In modern usage, exegesis can involve critical interpretations ...

, and

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

who became an expert on the archaeology of Jerusalem.Father Pierre Benoit (1906-1987), exegete and theologian
- biography at the site of the Ecole biblique. Accessed 10 September 2020.Pierre Benoit, O.P. 1906–1987
- obituary by Hershel Shanks in the Biblical Archaeology Review 13:4, July/August 1987. Accessed 10 September 2020. Pierre Benoit impressed with his combination of both unswerving Christian faith, and skeptical and open-minded approach to biblical history typical for a scientist, the one side never impeding on the other.

Biography

A Dominican, Pierre Benoit studied the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

at the

École Biblique École biblique et archéologique française de Jérusalem, commonly known as École Biblique, is a French academic establishment in Jerusalem specializing in archaeology and Biblical exegesis. History Foundation The school was founded in 1890 ...

in Jerusalem where he arrived in 1933. He taught at the École until 1984 and directed the institute between 1966–1971 or 1964-1972, as well as its journal, the ''

Revue biblique ''Revue Biblique'' is an academic journal published by the École Biblique, an institute of a French community of Dominicans based in Jerusalem. The journal was established in 1892 by Pierre Batiffol and Marie-Joseph Lagrange Marie-Joseph Lagr ...

'', from 1953 to 1968. An expert on the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st Catholic ecumenical councils, ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions) ...

, he became a member of the

Pontifical Biblical Institute The Pontifical Biblical Institute (also known as Biblicum) is a research and postgraduate teaching institution specialised in biblical and ancient Near Eastern studies. It is an institution of the Holy See entrusted to the Society of Jesus. His ...

and of the

Pontifical Biblical Commission The Pontifical Biblical Commission () is a pontifical commission established within the Roman Curia to ensure the proper interpretation and defense of the Bible. Since 1988, it has been closely attached to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the ...

. His work was principally composed of the translation of biblical texts written in

Koine 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 ...

, and the co-ordination of the translation of the Bible into French, resulting in ''La Bible de Jérusalem'' (1956), which preceded by a decade and informed the English-language ''

Jerusalem Bible ''The Jerusalem Bible'' (JB or TJB) is an English translation of the Bible published in 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd. As a Catholic Bible, it includes 73 books: the 39 books shared with the Hebrew Bible, along with the seven deuterocanonical ...

''. In particular, he was the author of the translation of the

Gospel of Matthew The Gospel of Matthew), or simply Matthew. It is most commonly abbreviated as "Matt." is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells how Israel's Messiah, Jesus, comes to his people and for ...

in this edition, as well as the Epistles to the Philippians, Philemon, the Colossians, and the Ephesians. Pierre Benoit was also the author of a four-volume work entitled ''Exegesis and Theology'', published between 1961 and 1982 at

Éditions du Cerf ''Éditions du Cerf'' ( French: "Editions of the Deer") is a French publishing house specializing in religious books. It was founded in 1929, and operated by the Dominican Order. The name is a reference to Psalm 42 (41): As the hart pantet ...

. In 1971 he became the publication director for the Qumran Manuscripts, acting as chairman of the international committee in charge of publishing a great part of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Pierre Benoit took a close interest in the historical

topography Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the land forms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps. Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary sci ...

of Jerusalem, making detailed visits to the excavations. In the 1970s he became more deeply involved in the

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

research of Christian sites in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

. One of his most extensive pieces of work in this field was the thorough and definitive assessment of previous excavations done by others at the site of the

Antonia Fortress The Antonia Fortress (Aramaic: קצטרא דאנטוניה) was a citadel built by Herod the Great and named for Herod's patron Mark Antony, as a fortress whose chief function was to protect the Second Temple. It was built in Jerusalem at the ...

, and the surrounding area.

Works

* ''The Holy Bible'' (a translation under the ordinances of the École Biblique), The French Book Club, Paris, 1955–1956 * ''The Jerusalem Bible: The Holy Bible'' (a French translation, under the ordinances of the École Biblique), New ed. revised and augmented, Éditions du Cerf, Paris, 1973 * ''The Jerusalem Bible'' (a translation under the ordinances of the École Biblique), New ed. reviewed and corrected, Éditions du Cerf, Paris, 1998 * Pierre Benoit, ''Exégèse et théologie'' (Exegesis and Theology), Éditions du Cerf, Paris, 4 vol. (1961-1982); for vol. IV * ''Un siècle d’archéologie à l’École biblique de Jérusalem 1890-1990'', Jérusalem, École biblique et archéologique française de Jérusalem, 1988 * ''Synopse des quatre évangiles en français'', Paris, Éd. du Cerf, 1990

References

External links

Site of the Ecole biblique

Sacred works by Pierre Benoit
(Éditions du Cerf) {{DEFAULTSORT:Benoit, Pierre French Dominicans 20th-century French Catholic theologians French translation scholars French archaeologists Biblical archaeology Dead Sea Scrolls Academic staff of the Pontifical Biblical Institute 1906 births 1987 deaths École Biblique faculty

Biography

Works

See also

References

External links