Lewis Bayles Paton (June 27, 1864 − January 24, 1932) was an American

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 ...

, archaeologist and historian. He was a professor at the

Hartford Theological Seminary The Hartford International University for Religion and Peace (formerly Hartford Seminary) is a private theological university in Hartford, Connecticut. History Hartford Seminary's origins date back to 1833 when the Pastoral Union of Connectic ...

for many years, and a well known authority on

Old Testament The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...

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 ...

Biography

Lewis Bayles Paton was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

on June 27, 1864. He was the son of Robert L. S. and Henriette Bayles Paton. Paton received his bachelor's degree in 1884 from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

. He graduated from the

Princeton Theological Seminary Princeton Theological Seminary (PTSem), officially The Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, is a Private university, private seminary, school of theology in Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Establish ...

in 1890 and was ordained as a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

minister. He subsequently spent several years abroad to continue his studies at the

University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...

and the

University of Marburg The Philipps University of Marburg () is a public research university located in Marburg, Germany. It was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Prote ...

. In 1892 he changed to the

Congregational church Congregationalism (also Congregational Churches or Congregationalist Churches) is a Reformed Christian (Calvinist) tradition of Protestant Christianity in which churches practice congregational government. Each congregation independently a ...

. Paton was gained a master's degree from New York University in 1893. He later became an instructor at the

, where he was appointed Nettleton Professor in 1900. Between 1901 and 1904, Paton was editor-in-chief of the ''

Journal of Biblical Literature The ''Journal of Biblical Literature'' (''JBL'') is one of three academic journal An academic journal (or scholarly journal or scientific journal) is a periodical publication in which Scholarly method, scholarship relating to a particular academ ...

''. From 1903 to 1904, Paton was Director of the American School of Oriental Study and Research in Palestine. He received a

D. D. A Doctor of Divinity (DD or DDiv; ) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity (i.e., Christian theology and ministry or other theologies. The term is more common in the English-speaking world than elsewhere. In the United Kin ...

from New York University in 1906. At the Hartford Theological Seminary, Paton taught

and criticism. He was a well known authority on archaeology. Paton was the author of several works, including ''Early History of Syria and Palestine'', in the Semitic Series, ''Jerusalem in Bible Times'' and ''Early Religion of Israel''. Paton was married three times. His first wife, Miss Suvia Davison of Hartford, died in 1904, eight years after they were married. In 1915, Paton married Mrs. Loraine Seymour Brown Calhoun of Harford. She died in 1924. In 1925 Paton married Katherine Hazeltine. He died in

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

on January 24, 1932.

References

External links

Lewis B. Paton
at the

Online Books Page The Online Books Page is an index of e-text books available on the Internet. It is edited by John Mark Ockerbloom and is hosted by the library of the University of Pennsylvania. The Online Books Page lists over 2 million books and has several fe ...

1864 births 1932 deaths American archaeologists American biblical scholars American Congregationalist ministers American expatriates in Germany American academic journal editors American Presbyterian ministers Biblical archaeology Hartford Seminary faculty Humboldt University of Berlin alumni New York University alumni Old Testament scholars Educators from New York City Princeton Theological Seminary alumni University of Marburg alumni {{US-academic-bio-stub