Cecil James Mullo Weir (4 December 1897 – 4 March 1995) was a Scottish academic and theologian, who was

Professor of Hebrew and Semitic Languages The Professor of Hebrew and Semitic Languages is a position at the University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name ...

at the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

from 1937 until 1968.

Life

Weir was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, Scotland on 4 December 1897. He was educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh, with his university studies at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

being interrupted by service with the British Expeditionary Force in the First World War between 1917 and 1919 in France, Belgium and in Germany. After the war, he returned to university and was awarded a first-class

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. ...

degree in classics 1923. He obtained a further first-class degree in

Semitic Languages The Semitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They are spoken by more than 330 million people across much of West Asia, the Horn of Africa, and latterly North Africa, Malta, West Africa, Chad, and in large immigrant a ...

in 1925. After obtaining a

Bachelor of Divinity In Western universities, a Bachelor of Divinity or Baccalaureate in Divinity (BD or BDiv; la, Baccalaureus Divinitatis) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded for a course taken in the study of divinity or related disciplines, such as theol ...

degree in 1926 from Edinburgh, he moved to

Jesus College, Oxford Jesus College (in full: Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship S ...

, obtaining his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' ...

in 1930. As well as Edinburgh and Oxford, he also studied at the universities of

Marburg Marburg ( or ) is a university town in the German federal state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district (''Landkreis''). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has a population of approx ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

and

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 ...

. He began his academic career teaching Hebrew at Edinburgh University. After a period as minister of Orwell in

Kinross-shire The County of Kinross or Kinross-shire is a historic county and registration county in eastern Scotland, administered as part of Perth and Kinross since 1930. Surrounding its largest settlement and county town of Kinross, the county borders ...

between 1932 and 1934, Weir moved to the

University of Liverpool , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

as Rankin Lecturer and head of the department of Hebrew and Ancient Semitic Languages. He was also a lecturer in the Institute of Archaeology, Liverpool. In 1937, he was appointed

at the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

, a post he held until 1968. He also served as Dean of the Faculty of Divinity from 1951 to 1954 and President of the Glasgow Archaeological Society from 1945 to 1948. He was awarded an honorary

Doctorate of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ra ...

by the University of Edinburgh in 1959. He died on 4 March 1995.

Works

Weir's publications included ''A Lexicon of Accadian Prayers in the Rituals of Expiation'' (1934). He also contributed to works such as ''A Companion to the Bible'' (1939), ''Documents from Old Testament Times'' (1958) and ''Archæology and Old Testament Study'' (1967). He was also editor of the ''Transactions of Glasgow University Oriental Society'', ''Studia Semitica et Orientalia'' and the ''Transactions of Glasgow Archæological Society'', and wrote various articles and book reviews.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weir, Cecil 1897 births 1995 deaths Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford University of Marburg alumni University of Paris alumni Leipzig University alumni Academics of the University of Edinburgh Academics of the University of Liverpool Academics of the University of Glasgow Scottish scholars and academics Scottish Christian theologians