Robert Payne Smith
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Robert Payne Smith (7 November 1818 – 31 March 1895) was Regius Professor of Divinity at the
University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...
and Canon of Christ Church from 1865 until 1870, when he was appointed
Dean of Canterbury The Dean of Canterbury is the head of the Chapter of the Cathedral of Christ Church, Canterbury, England. The current office of Dean originated after the English Reformation, although Deans had also existed before this time; its immediate precur ...
by
Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...
on the advice of
William Ewart Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-conse ...
.


Early life and education

Payne Smith was born in
Chipping Campden Chipping Campden is a market town in the Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, England. It is notable for its terraced High Street, dating from the 14th century to the 17th century. ("Chipping" is from Old English ''cēping'', 'market', 'market- ...
,
Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...
, on 7 November 1818, the only son and second of four children of Robert Smith, a land agent, and his wife, Esther Argles Payne, of Leggsheath, Surrey. He attended Chipping Campden Grammar School and was taught Hebrew by his eldest sister, Esther. In 1837 he obtained an exhibition at Pembroke College, Oxford to study classics. In 1841 he graduated with second-class honours. Payne Smith won the
Boden Sanskrit scholarship The Boden Scholarship at the University of Oxford was established in 1833 to support students learning Sanskrit. History and scholars Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Boden, after whom the scholarship is named, served in the Bombay Native Infantry of the ...
in 1840 and the Pusey and Ellerton Hebrew scholarship in 1843.


Career

In 1843, he became a fellow of Pembroke College and was ordained a
deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...
, and became a
priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...
a year later. He gave to 1869
Bampton Lectures The Bampton Lectures at the University of Oxford, England, were founded by a bequest of John Bampton. They have taken place since 1780. They were a series of annual lectures; since the turn of the 20th century they have typically been biennial ...
at
Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
and from 1870 until 1885 he was a member of the Old Testament Revision Committee (the whole duration of the committee's existence). He provided the chapter on Genesis in Charles Ellicott's ''Commentary for Modern Readers'' and the chapter on Zechariah in ''The Bible Educator''; and published the ''Thesaurus Syriacus'' (1868–1901, supplement added 1927), later abridged and translated into English by his daughter Jessie Margoliouth as ''A Compendious Syriac Dictionary'' (1903). He preached a series of sermons at Oxford beginning in 1858 which he later compiled into a commentary on Isaiah titled "The Authenticity and Messianic Interpretation of the Prophecies of Isaiah,"
He died at his deanery on 31 March 1895 and was buried on 3 April in St Martin's churchyard,
Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...
.


References


Further reading

* Simpson, R. S. (2005)
Smith, Robert Payne (1818–1895)
, ''
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
'',
Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
, 2005.


External links


Dukhrana online searchable version of Payne Smith's ''Thesaurus Syriacus''
* 1818 births 1895 deaths Alumni of Pembroke College, Oxford Syriacists Linguists from the United Kingdom Deans of Canterbury People from Chipping Campden Regius Professors of Divinity (University of Oxford) {{UK-linguist-stub