Alexander Souter (14 August 1873 – 17 January 1949) was a Scottish

biblical scholar Biblical studies is the academic application of a set of diverse disciplines to the study of the Bible (the Old Testament and New Testament).''Introduction to Biblical Studies, Second Edition'' by Steve Moyise (Oct 27, 2004) pages 11–12 ...

and university professor

Biography

Souter was born in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, and studied at the

University of Aberdeen , mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , established = , type = Public research universityAncient university , endowment = £58.4 million (2021) , budget ...

and the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. He subsequently became a

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

assistant at Aberdeen. While at Cambridge he studied under J. E. B. Mayor, whom Souter would credit with influence on his later scholarship. In 1903 he was appointed professor of

New Testament 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

Exegesis 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 interpretation ...

Mansfield College, Oxford Mansfield College, Oxford is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. The college was founded in Birmingham in 1838 as a college for Nonconformist students. It moved to Oxford in 1886 and was renamed Man ...

. In 1911 he moved back to the University of Aberdeen, succeeding

William Ramsay Sir William Ramsay (; 2 October 1852 – 23 July 1916) was a Scottish chemist who discovered the noble gases and received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1904 "in recognition of his services in the discovery of the inert gaseous element ...

Regius Professor of Humanity The Regius Professorship of Humanity, formerly the Regius Professorship of Classics, is a Regius Chair in classics at the University of Aberdeen. List of Regius Professors of Humanity * 1886–1911: William Mitchell Ramsay * 1911–1937: Alexan ...

, in which position he remained until his retirement in 1937. Upon his retirement, Souter moved back to Oxford, where he became editor-in-chief of the proposed ''

Oxford Latin Dictionary The ''Oxford Latin Dictionary'' (or ''OLD'') is the standard English lexicon of Classical Latin, compiled from sources written before AD 200. Begun in 1933, it was published in fascicles between 1968 and 1982; a lightly revised second edition ...

''. The outbreak of World War II prevented its completion within his lifetime, but Souter did publish a smaller work borne of this endeavour, ''Glossary of Later Latin, A.D. 150–600''. Souter married Elizabeth Barr Anderson, daughter of Aberdeen Photographer William Blair Anderson. They had three daughters, Isabella Elsie Souter (who married Alfred Thomson Barclay Dickson) born in 1900, Elizabeth Barr Anderson Souter (who died suddenly at the age of 16) born in 1903 and Alexandra Margaret Souter (known as Peggy, who married Peter Jackson) born in 1908. His brother-in-law was

William Blair Anderson William Blair Anderson (28 July 1877 – 9 December 1959) was a Scottish classicist and academic. Having been born in Aberdeen, Scotland, he studied at the University of Aberdeen and then Trinity College, Cambridge. He taught classics at the Unive ...

, who was Kennedy Professor of Latin at Cambridge University and a leading Latin scholar of his day. A portrait of Souter by his brother John Bulloch Souter is held by Aberdeen University.

Scholarship

Souter's two main interests were in the text of 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 Chris ...

and in early Latin commentaries on the

Pauline epistles The Pauline epistles, also known as Epistles of Paul or Letters of Paul, are the thirteen books of the New Testament attributed to Paul the Apostle, although the authorship of some is in dispute. Among these epistles are some of the earliest ex ...

. He published an edition of the New Testament in 1910 (revised edition 1947) giving the Greek text on which the English

Revised Version The Revised Version (RV) or English Revised Version (ERV) of the Bible is a late 19th-century British revision of the King James Version. It was the first and remains the only officially authorised and recognised revision of the King James Versio ...

of 1881 was based, along with commentary on variants. His work on the Pauline epistles included proposed revisions to many accepted attributions, notably of

Ambrosiaster Ambrosiaster or Pseudo-Ambrose is the name given to the unknown author of a commentary on the epistles of Saint Paul, written some time between 366 and 384AD. This commentary was erroneously attributed for a long time to St. Ambrose, hence the na ...

, as well as numerous commentaries on and editions of other works. A public lecture is held annually in the University of Aberdeen in memory of this scholar.

Works

* * ''Tertullian’s Treatises Concerning Prayer, Concerning Baptism'', 1919, SPCK * * ''Hints on Translation from Latin into English'', SPCK, 1920 * ''Hints on the Study of Latin (AD 125–750)'', SPCK, 1920 * ''Tertullian against Praxeas'', SPCK, 1920 * ''Tertullian Concerning the Resurrection of the Flesh'', SPCK, 1922 * * ''A Glossary of Later Latin to 600 A.D.'', Oxford University Press, 1949

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Souter, Alexander 1873 births 1949 deaths Biblical studies Scottish classical scholars Writers from Perth, Scotland Alumni of the University of Aberdeen Academics of the University of Aberdeen Fellows of Mansfield College, Oxford Corresponding Fellows of the Medieval Academy of America