Benjamin Davies (1814 – 19 July 1875) was a 19th-century Welsh

Hebraist A Hebraist is a specialist in Jewish, Hebrew and Hebraic studies. Specifically, British and German scholars of the 18th and 19th centuries who were involved in the study of Hebrew language and literature were commonly known by this designation, a ...

. He was son of Silvanus Davies, a

Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire ( cy, Sir Gaerfyrddin; or informally ') is a county in the south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. The county is known as ...

farmer. Having begun preaching at the age of 15, in 1830 he entered

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

Baptist College. He subsequently studied in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, and in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

where he obtained a Ph.D. degree, and developed friendships with a number of eminent German Hebraists. On his return in 1838, he was ordained in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, before taking up the post of Principle of

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

Training College for North American Missionaries (1838–44). In 1844 he was appointed President and Theological Tutor of Stepney Baptist College,

, where he stayed until becoming Professor of Semitics at McGill College,

in 1847. He returned to

in 1857, where he worked at the then Regent's Park Baptist College. His writings include, 'Student's Hebrew Grammar' and 'Student's Lexicon of the Hebrew Language', based on the German works of Roediger and Gesenius respectively, and an annotated edition of E. Robinson's 'Harmony of the Gospels'. He died at his son's house in

Frome Frome ( ) is a town and civil parish in eastern Somerset, England. The town is built on uneven high ground at the eastern end of the Mendip Hills, and centres on the River Frome. The town, about south of Bath, is the largest in the Mendip d ...

in July 1875.

Co-works

* ''Harmony of the Four Gospels in the words of the Authorized Version, Following the Harmony of the Gospels in Greek''

References

Welsh writers 19th-century Welsh clergy 1814 births 1875 deaths British Hebraists {{UK-Christian-clergy-stub