John Wesley Etheridge
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

John Wesley Etheridge (24 February 1804 – 24 May 1866) was an English
nonconformist Nonconformity or nonconformism may refer to: Culture and society * Insubordination, the act of willfully disobeying an order of one's superior *Dissent, a sentiment or philosophy of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or entity ** ...
minister and scholar. He was the first person to translate the four gospels from the
Syriac Peshitta The Peshitta ( syc, ܦܫܺܝܛܬܳܐ ''or'' ') is the standard version of the Bible for churches in the Syriac tradition, including the Maronite Church, the Chaldean Catholic Church, the Syriac Catholic Church, the Syriac Orthodox Church, the ...
into English (1846), shortly before the full New Testament was translated by James Murdock (1856).Janet M. Magiera Aramaic Peshitta New Testament Translation 0967961351- Page 8 - 2006 -"One was by James Murdock and the other by J. W. Etheridge. Murdock based his work on the western text and Etheridge on the eastern text. Both of them are still very useful in studying the Peshitta. In the 1930s, Dr. George Lamsa, a native speaker of Aramaic, completed a translation of the eastern manuscripts of the Peshitta and began to travel extensively in the United States, teaching about the value of studying Aramaic. From that time until the present, there has been a renewed ..."


Life

He was born near
Newport, Isle of Wight Newport is the county town of the Isle of Wight, an island county off the south coast of England. The town is slightly north of the centre of the island, and is in the civil parish of Newport and Carisbrooke. It has a quay at the head of the na ...
. He received most of his early education from his father. Though he never attended university he ultimately acquired a thorough knowledge of
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
,
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the 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 the power of the ...
,
Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
,
Syriac Syriac may refer to: *Syriac language, an ancient dialect of Middle Aramaic *Sureth, one of the modern dialects of Syriac spoken in the Nineveh Plains region * Syriac alphabet ** Syriac (Unicode block) ** Syriac Supplement * Neo-Aramaic languages a ...
, French and German. In 1824 he was placed on the
Wesleyan Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan– Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the ministry of the 18th-century evangelical reformer brothers John Wesley and Charle ...
Methodist plan as a local preacher. In 1826 his offer to enter the ministry was accepted, and after the usual probationary trial he was received into full connection at the conference of 1831. For two years after this he remained at Brighton, and in 1833 he removed to
Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
, being stationed successively at the
Truro Truro (; kw, Truru) is a cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its population was 18,766 in the 2011 census. People of Truro ...
and Falmouth circuits. From Falmouth he removed to
Darlaston Darlaston is an industrial town in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall in the West Midlands of England. It is located near Wednesbury and Willenhall. Topography Darlaston is situated between Wednesbury and Walsall in the valley of the Riv ...
, where in 1838 his health gave way. For a good many years he was a
supernumerary Supernumerary means "exceeding the usual number". Supernumerary may also refer to: * Supernumerary actor, a performer in a film, television show, or stage production who has no role or purpose other than to appear in the background, more commonl ...
, and lived for a while at Caen and Paris, where in the public libraries he found great facilities for prosecuting his favorite Oriental studies. His health having considerably improved, he became, in 1843, pastor of the Methodist church at
Boulogne-sur-Mer Boulogne-sur-Mer (; pcd, Boulonne-su-Mér; nl, Bonen; la, Gesoriacum or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department of Pas-de-Calais. Boulogne lies on the C ...
. He returned to England in 1847, and was appointed successively to the circuits of Islington, Bristol,
Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...
, Penzance, Penryn, Truro and St Austell in east Cornwall. Shortly after his return to England he received the degree of PhD from the
University of Heidelberg } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...
. He was a patient, modest, hard-working and accurate scholar. He died at Camborne on 24 May 1866.


Works

His principal works are: *
A Literal Translation Of The Four Gospels from the Peschito
' *''Horae Aramaicae'' (1843) *''History, Liturgies and Literature of the Syrian Churches'' (1847) *
The Apostolical Acts and Epistles, from the Peshito or Ancient Syriac; to which are added, the remaining Epistles, and the book of Revelation, after a later Syrian text
' (1849) *''Jerusalem and Tiberias, a Survey of the Religious and Scholastic Learning of the Jews'' (1856) *''The Life of the Rev. Adam Clarke, LL.D.'' (1858, 2nd Ed) *''The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan ben Uzziel'' (1st vol. in 1862, 2nd in 1865)


References

*''Memoir'', by Rev. Thornley Smith (1871). ;Attribution * {{DEFAULTSORT:Etheridge, John Wesley 1804 births 1866 deaths Christian Hebraists English Methodist ministers Translators of the Bible into English 19th-century translators 19th-century Methodists