Horatio Balch Hackett (December 27, 1808 – November 2, 1875), American biblical scholar, was born in

Salisbury, Massachusetts Salisbury is a small coastal beach town and summer tourist destination in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The community is a popular summer resort beach town situated on the Atlantic Ocean, north of Boston on the New Hampshire borde ...

. His father, Richard Hackett, was a ship-builder who died when Horatio was only five years old. Hence, Horatio and his brothers were raised mostly by their mother, Martha née Balch. He was educated at

Phillips Academy Phillips Academy (also known as PA, Phillips Academy Andover, or simply Andover) is a Private school, private, Mixed-sex education, co-educational college-preparatory school for Boarding school, boarding and Day school, day students located in ...

and at

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zepha ...

, where he graduated as

valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the class rank, highest-performing student of a graduation, graduating class of an academic institution in the United States. The valedictorian is generally determined by an academic institution's grade poin ...

in 1830, and at

Andover Theological Seminary Andover Theological Seminary (1807–1965) was a Congregationalist seminary founded in 1807 and originally located in Andover, Massachusetts on the campus of Phillips Academy. From 1908 to 1931, it was located at Harvard University in Cambrid ...

, where he graduated in 1834. He was adjunct professor of

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

and

Greek Greek may refer to: 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 of all kno ...

Languages and Literature at

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

in 1835-1838 and professor of

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 ...

Literature there in 1838-1839. He was ordained to the Baptist ministry in 1839—he had become a Baptist at Andover as the result of preparing a paper on baptism in the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

and the Fathers—and in 1839-1868 he was professor of Biblical literature and interpretation in Newton Theological Institution where his most important work was the introduction of the modern German methods of

Biblical criticism Modern Biblical criticism (as opposed to pre-Modern criticism) is the use of critical analysis to understand and explain the Bible without appealing to the supernatural. During the eighteenth century, when it began as ''historical-biblical c ...

, which he had learned from

Moses Stuart Moses B. Stuart (March 26, 1780 – January 4, 1852) was an American biblical scholar. Life and career Moses Stuart was born in Wilton, Connecticut on March 26, 1780. He was brought up on a farm, then attended Yale University graduating with hig ...

at Andover and with which he made himself more familiar in Germany (especially under Tholuck at Halle) in 1841. He traveled in Egypt and Palestine in 1852, and then in 1857 published a book on his observations and experiences entitle
Illustrations of Scripture: A Tour Through the Holy Land
In 1858-1859 he traveled around Greece, becoming proficient in

modern Greek Modern Greek (, or , ), generally referred to by speakers simply as Greek (, ), refers collectively to the dialects of the Greek language spoken in the modern era, including the official standardized form of the language sometimes referred to ...

. From 1870 until his death in

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

, he was professor of Biblical literature and New Testament

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 ...

in the Rochester Theological Seminary. He was a great teacher but a greater critical and exegetical scholar.

Published work

*
Exercises in Hebrew Grammar And Selections from the Greek Scriptures to be Translated Into Hebrew, with Notes, Hebrew Phrases and References to Approved Works in Greek and Hebrew Philology
' (Andover: Allen, Morrill & Wardwell, 1847) *
Illustrations of Scripture: Suggested by a Tour Through the Holy Land
' (New York:T. Nelson and Sons, 1857) *
A Commentary on the Original Text of the Acts of the Apostles
' (Boston: Gould and Lincoln, 1858) *
Christian Memorials of the War: Or, Scenes and Incidents Illustrative of Religious Faith and Principle, Patriotism and Bravery in Our Army. With Historical Notes
' (Boston: Gould and Lincoln, 1864)

References

External links

*Cathcart, William
"Hackett, H.B,"
in ''The Baptist Encyclopedia'' (1881): 482–484 *Whittemore, George
Memorials of Horatio Balch Hackett
', (Rochester: E.R. Andrews, 1886) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hackett, Horatio Balch 1808 births 1875 deaths 19th-century Christian biblical scholars American biblical scholars Amherst College alumni Baptist biblical scholars People from Salisbury, Massachusetts Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School faculty 19th-century Baptists Andover Theological Seminary alumni Brown University faculty