Samuel Bochart (30 May 1599 – 16 May 1667) was a French Protestant biblical scholar, a student of
Thomas Erpenius and the teacher of
Pierre Daniel Huet
P. D. Huetius
Pierre Daniel Huet (; ; 8 February 1630 – 26 January 1721) was a French churchman and scholar, editor of the Delphin Classics, founder of the Académie de Physique in Caen (1662–1672) and Bishop of Soissons from 1685 to 1689 ...
. His two-volume (
Caen
Caen (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune inland from the northwestern coast of France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Calvados (department), Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inha ...
1646) exerted a profound influence on seventeenth-century Biblical
exegesis
Exegesis ( ; from the Ancient Greek, Greek , from , "to lead out") is a critical explanation or interpretation (philosophy), interpretation of a text. The term is traditionally applied to the interpretation of Bible, Biblical works. In modern us ...
.
Bochart was one of the several generations of
antiquaries
An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artefacts, archaeological and historic sit ...
who expanded upon the basis
Renaissance humanists had laid down, complementing their revolutionary
hermeneutics
Hermeneutics () is the theory and methodology of interpretation, especially the interpretation of biblical texts, wisdom literature, and philosophical texts. As necessary, hermeneutics may include the art of understanding and communication.
...
by setting classical texts more firmly within the cultural contexts of Greek and Roman societies, without understanding of which they could never be fully understood. Thus Bochart stands at the beginning of a discipline of the
history of ideas
Intellectual history (also the history of ideas) is the study of the history of human thought and of intellectuals, people who conceptualize, discuss, write about, and concern themselves with ideas. The investigative premise of intellectual hist ...
that provides the modern context for all textual studies.
Life
Bochart was born in
Rouen
Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one ...
, in
Normandy
Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy.
Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...
. He studied philosophy at the Hugeunot
Academy of Sedan The Academy of Sedan ( Fr.: ''Académie de Sedan'') was a Huguenot academy in Sedan in the Principality of Sedan, founded in 1579 and suppressed in 1681. It was one of the main centres for the production of Reformed pastors in France for a hundred ...
and theology at the
Academy of Saumur
The Academy of Saumur () was a Huguenot university at Saumur in western France. It existed from 1593, when it was founded by Philippe de Mornay, until shortly after 1685, when Louis XIV decided on the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, ending t ...
, before becoming a pastor of a
Protestant
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
church at
Caen
Caen (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune inland from the northwestern coast of France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Calvados (department), Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inha ...
in 1628. He also studied at
Oxford
Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town.
The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
, where he was tutor to
Wentworth Dillon, later Earl of Roscommon. His portrait still hangs in the lower reading room of the
Bodleian Library
The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1602 by Sir Thomas Bodley, it is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second-largest library in ...
.
Bochart's ''Hierozoicon sive bipartitum opus de animalibus sacrae scripturae'' (2 vols., London 1663), a
zoological
Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...
treatise on the animals of the Bible was more than a Christianized
Pliny's Natural History
The ''Natural History'' () is a Latin work by Pliny the Elder. The largest single work to have survived from the Roman Empire to the modern day, the ''Natural History'' compiles information gleaned from other ancient authors. Despite the work' ...
nor just an expansion of Conrad Gesner's ''
Historiae animalium
("History of the Animals"), published in Zurich in 1551–1558 and 1587, is an encyclopedic "inventory of renaissance zoology" by Conrad Gessner (1516–1565). Gessner was a medical doctor and professor at the Carolinum in Zürich, the precurso ...
''. Bochart instanced the Arabic naturalists, like
al-Damîrî and
al-Qazwini, none of whose work had appeared in European print before. His
etymologies
Etymology ( ) is the study of the origin and evolution of words—including their constituent units of sound and meaning—across time. In the 21st century a subfield within linguistics, etymology has become a more rigorously scientific study. ...
follow the fanciful tradition inherited from
Classical Antiquity
Classical antiquity, also known as the classical era, classical period, classical age, or simply antiquity, is the period of cultural History of Europe, European history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD comprising the inter ...
and passed to medieval culture through
Isidore of Seville
Isidore of Seville (; 4 April 636) was a Spania, Hispano-Roman scholar, theologian and Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Seville, archbishop of Seville. He is widely regarded, in the words of the 19th-century historian Charles Forbes René de Montal ...
.
In 1652
invited him to
Stockholm
Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...
, where he studied the
Arabic
Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
manuscripts in the queen's possession. He was accompanied by
Pierre Daniel Huet
P. D. Huetius
Pierre Daniel Huet (; ; 8 February 1630 – 26 January 1721) was a French churchman and scholar, editor of the Delphin Classics, founder of the Académie de Physique in Caen (1662–1672) and Bishop of Soissons from 1685 to 1689 ...
, afterwards
Bishop of Avranches
The Diocese of Coutances (–Avranches) (Latin: ''Dioecesis Constantiensis (–Abrincensis)''; French: ''Diocèse de Coutances (–Avranches)'') is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church in France. Its mother church is the Cathedral of Coutanc ...
. On his return to Caen he was received into the academy of that city.
Bochart was a man of profound erudition; he possessed a thorough knowledge of the principal
Oriental language
Asia is home to hundreds of languages comprising several families and some unrelated isolates. The most spoken language families on the continent include Austroasiatic, Austronesian, Japonic, Dravidian, Indo-European, Afroasiatic, Turkic, Sin ...
s, including
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
,
Syriac, and
Arabic
Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
; and at an advanced age he wished to learn
Ethiopic. Bochart's examples and quotations provided challenges to London
typographers, who created typefaces to reproduce them. He was so absorbed in his favorite study, that he saw Phoenician origins even in
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
*Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Foot ...
words,
["Absurd curiosity (for we must call things by their right names) has been carried so far as to seek Hebrew and Chaldee derivations from certain Teutonic and Celtic words. This, Bochart never fails to do. It is astonishing with what confidence these men of genius have proved that expressions used on the banks of the Tiber were borrowed from the patois of the savages of Biscay." ]Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778), known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' Voltaire (, ; ), was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, philosopher (''philosophe''), satirist, and historian. Famous for his wit ...
, ''Philosophical Dictionary'', 1764: "Augury"
on-line
) and hence the number of chimerical
etymologies
Etymology ( ) is the study of the origin and evolution of words—including their constituent units of sound and meaning—across time. In the 21st century a subfield within linguistics, etymology has become a more rigorously scientific study. ...
which swarm in his works.
His correspondence on theological subjects, carried on with
Cappellus,
Salmasius and
Vossius was included in his posthumous collected works, and so achieved a wide distribution.
He died of
apoplexy
Apoplexy () refers to the rupture of an internal organ and the associated symptoms. Informally or metaphorically, the term ''apoplexy'' is associated with being furious, especially as "apoplectic". Historically, it described what is now known as a ...
, aged 67, in the academy of
Caen
Caen (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune inland from the northwestern coast of France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Calvados (department), Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inha ...
during an impassioned debate with
Huet
Helicopter Underwater Egress Training (also known as Helicopter Underwater Escape Training ); often abbreviated as HUET, pronounced ''hue-wet'', ''hue-way'' or ''you-way'') is training provided to helicopter flight crews, offshore drilling, offsho ...
on the translation of a passage of
Origen
Origen of Alexandria (), also known as Origen Adamantius, was an Early Christianity, early Christian scholar, Asceticism#Christianity, ascetic, and Christian theology, theologian who was born and spent the first half of his career in Early cent ...
related to
transubstantiation
Transubstantiation (; Greek language, Greek: μετουσίωσις ''metousiosis'') is, according to the teaching of the Catholic Church, "the change of the whole substance of sacramental bread, bread into the substance of the Body of Christ and ...
.
His major works
*a
dictionary
A dictionary is a listing of lexemes from the lexicon of one or more specific languages, often arranged Alphabetical order, alphabetically (or by Semitic root, consonantal root for Semitic languages or radical-and-stroke sorting, radical an ...
of Arabic
* (
Caen
Caen (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune inland from the northwestern coast of France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Calvados (department), Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inha ...
1646)
*''De consiliandis in religionis negotio protestantibus'', 1662
*''Hierozoïcon'', (London 1663)
Notes
References
*Miller, Peter N. "The "Antiquarianization" of Biblical Scholarship and the London Polyglot Bible (1653–57)" ''Journal of the History of Ideas'' 62.3(July 2001), pp. 463–482.
* Shalev, Zur. ''Sacred Words and Worlds: Geography, Religion, and Scholarship, 1550–1700'', Leiden
Brill 2012.
*
Thiollet, Jean-Pierre, ''Je m'appelle Byblos'' (pp. 234–243), H & D, Paris, 2005.
(Smitskamp, 2003) Samuel Bochart, ''Opera omnia''Bibliographic description.
*
External links
*
*
*
Samuelis Bocharti Hierozoicon: sive De animalibus S. Scripturae, Volume 21794 Latin, at Google books
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bochart, Samuel
1599 births
1667 deaths
Linguists from France
Writers from Rouen
French Calvinist and Reformed theologians
Calvinist pacifists
17th-century Calvinist and Reformed theologians
17th-century French theologians
17th-century biblical scholars
17th-century Christian biblical scholars
Phoenician and Punic studies
Clergy from Caen