James Alan Groves (December 17, 1952 – February 5, 2007) was a Hebrew Bible scholar,

theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

, and church elder. Born in

Springfield, Missouri Springfield is the List of cities in Missouri, third most populous city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County, Missouri, Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 censu ...

, he earned a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

and

Bachelor of Engineering A Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) or a Bachelor of Science in Engineering (BSE) is an undergraduate academic degree awarded to a college graduate majoring in an engineering discipline at a higher education institution. In the United Kingdom, a Ba ...

from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

in 1975, a Master of Arts in Religion and

Master of Theology Master of Theology (, abbreviated ThM, MTh or MTheol, or ''Sacrae Theologiae Magister''; abbreviated STM) is a post-graduate degree offered by universities, divinity schools, and seminaries. It can serve as a transition degree for entrance into a ...

from

Westminster Theological Seminary Westminster Theological Seminary (WTS) is a Protestantism, Protestant Christian theology, theological seminary in the Reformed theology, Reformed theological tradition in Glenside, Pennsylvania. It was founded by members of the faculty of Prince ...

. From 1976 to 1979, he served as pastor of the congregational church in West Fairlee, Vermont. In 1978, Groves married Elizabeth ("Libbie") Wendell Davis of

Springfield, Vermont Springfield is a New England town, town in Windsor County, Vermont, Windsor County, Vermont, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 9,062. History The land currently recognized as Springfield is the ...

. They had four children - Alasdair, Rebeckah, Éowyn, and Alden. Groves served in a number of capacities at

from 1982 until his death, including full professor of Old Testament and Academic Dean and Vice President of Academic Affairs (Academic Dean).

Computer technology and the study of the Hebrew Bible

Groves was a pioneer and leader in the application of computing and related technology to the study and teaching of the Hebrew Bible and language, a field in which he is acknowledged as one of the earliest visionaries and most influential scholars.
/sup> In 1986, Groves founded the Westminster Hebrew Institute — a center for the study of Biblical Hebrew linguistics through computing, which in December 2006 (shortly before his death) was renamed the J. Alan Groves Center for Advanced Biblical Research.
/sup> He was editor or co-editor of numerous electronic databases, including the Groves-Wheeler Westminster Electronic Hebrew Morphology of

Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia The Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, abbreviated as BHS or rarely BH4, is an edition of the Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible as preserved in the Leningrad Codex, and supplemented by masoretic and text-critical notes. It is the fourth edition in ...

, the Stuttgart Electronic Study Bible
/sup>, the Westminster-Claremont-Michigan Electronic Text of Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, and the

Biblia Hebraica Quinta The ''Biblia Hebraica Quinta Editione'', abbreviated as BHQ or rarely BH5, is the fifth edition of the '' Biblia Hebraica''. When completed, it will supersede the fourth edition, the '' Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia'' (BHS/ BH4). BHQ Edition P ...

. The Groves-Wheeler Morphology is incorporated into a majority of commercially available Bible software products that provide study of original language translation, including Accordance
/sup>, BART, BibleWindows
/sup>, BibleWorks
/sup>, Gramcord
/sup>, Logos Bible Software, Logos, and WordSearch
/sup>.

References

J. Alan Groves Center for Advanced Biblical Research
at Westminster Theological Seminary * * 2007 deaths American Calvinist and Reformed theologians American biblical scholars Westminster Theological Seminary alumni Westminster Theological Seminary faculty 1952 births 20th-century Calvinist and Reformed theologians Old Testament scholars People from Springfield, Missouri Dartmouth College alumni Presbyterian Church in America ministers 20th-century American clergy {{Christian-theologian-stub