Joseph Bryant Rotherham (1828–1910) was an English biblical scholar and minister of the

Churches of Christ The Churches of Christ, also commonly known as the Church of Christ, is a loose association of autonomous Christian congregations located around the world. Typically, their distinguishing beliefs are that of the necessity of baptism for salvation ...

. He was a prolific writer whose best-known work was the

Emphasized Bible Joseph Bryant Rotherham's Emphasized Bible (abbreviated EBR to avoid confusion with the REB) is a translation of the Bible which uses various methods, such as "emphatic idiom" and special diacritical marks, to bring out nuances of the under ...

, a new translation that used "emphatic inversion" and a set of

diacritical marks A diacritic (also diacritical mark, diacritical point, diacritical sign, or accent) is a glyph added to a letter or to a basic glyph. The term derives from the Ancient Greek (, "distinguishing"), from (, "to distinguish"). The word ''diacrit ...

to bring out shades of meaning in the original text.

Life

Rotherham was born at

New Buckenham New Buckenham is a village and civil parish in the Counties of England, English county of Norfolk. The parish covers an area of and had a population of 468 in 197 households at the United Kingdom Census 2001, 2001 census, falling marginally t ...

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. His father was a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

preacher, and Rotherham followed in his footsteps, pastoring churches in

Woolwich Woolwich () is a town in South London, southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was mainta ...

Charlton Charlton may refer to: People * Charlton (surname) * Charlton (given name) Places Australia * Charlton, Queensland * Charlton, Victoria * Division of Charlton, an electoral district in the Australian House of Representatives, in New South Wales ...

and

Stockton-on-Tees Stockton-on-Tees is a market town in County Durham, England, with a population of 84,815 at the 2021 UK census. It gives its name to and is the largest settlement in the wider Borough of Stockton-on-Tees. It is part of Teesside and the Tees Val ...

. However he soon developed differences with Methodism regarding

infant baptism Infant baptism, also known as christening or paedobaptism, is a Christian sacramental practice of Baptism, baptizing infants and young children. Such practice is done in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches, va ...

and, at the same time, became interested in the writings of the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

preacher Alexander Campbell, one of the early leaders of the

Restoration Movement The Restoration Movement (also known as the American Restoration Movement or the Stone–Campbell Movement, and pejoratively as Campbellism) is a Christian movement that began on the American frontier during the Second Great Awakening (1790–1 ...

. Rotherham eventually joined the movement in 1854 and became a well-known

evangelist Evangelist(s) may refer to: Religion * Four Evangelists, the authors of the canonical Christian Gospels * Evangelism, publicly preaching the Gospel with the intention of spreading the teachings of Jesus Christ * Evangelist (Anglican Church), a ...

and

biblical scholar Biblical studies is the academic application of a set of diverse disciplines to the study of the Bible, with ''Bible'' referring to the books of the canonical Hebrew Bible in mainstream Jewish usage and the Christian Bible including the can ...

with the

. During the 1860s Rotherham began work on a translation of the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

in which he tried: This he proposed to do by giving "special heed to the Greek Article, to the Tenses, and to the Logical Idiom of the Original." In 1872 his ''New Testament Critically Emphasised'' was published, with the Old Testament appearing in 1902. During this interval great advances occurred in textual criticism culminating at the end of the 19th century with Brooke Foss Westcott's and Fenton John Anthony Hort's Greek text of the New Testament. This led Rotherham to revise his New Testament twice to stay abreast of scholarly developments. He based his Old Testament translation on the comprehensive Hebrew text of Dr. C. D Ginsburg, which anticipated readings now widely accepted. Rotherham became an editor with James Sangster and Co., London in 1868, and then a Press Corrector for 31 years beginning in 1874, principally working with religious books. Although this effectively ended his Evangelistic work, he continued preaching and publishing articles in such magazines as ''Christian Commonwealth'' and ''Public Opinion'', focusing particularly on scholarly issues such as the translation of the

Revised Version The Revised Version (RV) or English Revised Version (ERV) of the Bible is a late-19th-century British revision of the King James Version. It was the first (and remains the only) officially authorised and recognised revision of the King James Vers ...

. From 1885 to 1887 he was also editor of ''The Rainbow'', a monthly magazine of Christian literature. Rotherham was a friend of several prominent Christian leaders of his day, including

G. Campbell Morgan Reverend Doctor George Campbell Morgan D.D. (9 December 1863 – 16 May 1945) was a British evangelist, preacher, a leading Bible teacher, and a prolific author. A contemporary of Rodney "Gipsy" Smith, Morgan preached his first sermon a ...

and C.H. Spurgeon.

Death

Rotherham enjoyed good health virtually to the end of his life, giving his last sermon on December 19, 1909. However, on New Year's Day 1910 he caught a severe cold and experienced a rapid decline, dying only a few days later at the age of 81. His body was laid to rest in

Hither Green Cemetery Hither Green Cemetery, opened as Lee Cemetery in 1873,''The Times, History of London, New Edition'', edited by Hugh Clout p. Chapter 11 Monuments and cemeteries, map of London cemeteries locations with opening dates: Lee Cemetery opened 1873 is ...

on January 10, with an evening service, including an address given by the Old Testament scholar J. W. Thirtle.Hagger, Thomas.''HERALDS OF CHRISTIAN UNITY Being Brief Biographical Sketches of Some Pioneers of the Restoration Movement''. Melbourne 1938 p63

Works

* (1902) ''The

'' * (1906, revised 1922) ''Reminiscences Extending Over a Period of More Than Seventy Years, 1828-1906'' * (1906) ''Studies in the

Epistle to the Hebrews The Epistle to the Hebrews () is one of the books of the New Testament. The text does not mention the name of its author, but was traditionally attributed to Paul the Apostle; most of the Ancient Greek manuscripts, the Old Syriac Peshitto and ...

'' * ''

Christian Ministry Christian ministry is the vocational work of living and teaching about faith, in the hopes of increasing the population of God's people done by the church, church officials, congregational members, and Jesus followers. The '' Cyclopedia of Bib ...

After the Primitive Ideal'' * ''Our Sacred Books: Short Chapters on Inspiration, Transmission, and Translation'' * ''The Authority of the

: Shown by the Conclusive Argument Derived From Unity in Diversity'' * (1911) ''Studies in the

Psalms The Book of Psalms ( , ; ; ; ; , in Islam also called Zabur, ), also known as the Psalter, is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) called ('Writings'), and a book of the Old Testament. The book is an anthology of B ...

'' * (1911) ''Let Us Keep the Feast: Being Plain Chapters on

the Lord's Supper The Eucharist ( ; from , ), also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an ordinance in others. Christians believe that the rite was instituted by J ...

'' (Mr. Rotherham's last book)

References

External links

*Hagger, Thomas
Heralds of Christian Unity: Being Brief Biographical Sketches of Some Pioneers of the Restoration Movement
(Melbourne: Austral Printing and Publishing Company, 1938), 58–62. *Rotherham, Joseph George. Reminiscences extending over a period of more than seventy years (London: H. R. Allenson, ltd., 1922). *Rotherham, Joseph Bryant
Rotherham's Emphasized Bible
(Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 1994). {{DEFAULTSORT:Rotherham, Joseph Bryant 1828 births 1910 deaths 19th-century Protestants 19th-century British translators 20th-century Protestants English male non-fiction writers English members of the Churches of Christ Ministers of the Churches of Christ People from Breckland District Protestant writers Translators of the Bible into English