Maurice Benoit, also Pierre-Maurice and Maurice-Marie Benoit (3 August 1906 – 23 April 1987),Pierre Benoit (1906-1987)
at National Library of France: Reference information about authors, works and topics. Accessed 10 September 2020. better known as Father Pierre Benoit, was a French

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

priest,

exegete Exegesis ( ; from the Greek , from , "to lead out") is a critical explanation or interpretation of a text. The term is traditionally applied to the interpretation of Biblical works. In modern usage, exegesis can involve critical interpretation ...

, and

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 ...

who became an expert on the archaeology of Jerusalem.Father Pierre Benoit (1906-1987), exegete and theologian
- biography at the site of the Ecole biblique. Accessed 10 September 2020. Pierre Benoit impressed with his combination of both unswerving Christian faith, and skeptical and open-minded approach to biblical history typical for a scientist, the one side never impeding on the other.

Biography

A Dominican, Pierre Benoit studied 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 ...

at the

École Biblique École biblique et archéologique française de Jérusalem, commonly known as École Biblique, is a French academic establishment in Jerusalem specializing in archaeology and Biblical exegesis. It is housed by the Saint-Étienne priory. Associate ...

in Jerusalem where he arrived in 1933. He taught at the École until 1984 and directed the institute between 1966 and 1971 or 1964–1972, as well as its journal, the '' Revue biblique'', from 1953 to 1968. An expert on the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...

, he became a member of the

Pontifical Biblical Institute The Pontifical Biblical Institute (also known as Biblicum) is a research and postgraduate teaching institution specialised in biblical and ancient Near Eastern studies located in Rome. Founded in 1909 by Pope Pius X, it is an institution of the ...

and of the Pontifical Biblical Commission. His work was principally composed of the translation of biblical texts written in

Koine Greek Koine Greek (, ), also variously known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek, Septuagint Greek or New Testament Greek, was the koiné language, common supra-regional form of Greek language, Greek spoken and ...

, and the co-ordination of the translation of the Bible into French, resulting in ''La Bible de Jérusalem'' (1956), which preceded by a decade and informed the English-language ''

Jerusalem Bible ''The Jerusalem Bible'' (JB or TJB) is an English translation of the Bible published in 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd. As a Catholic Bible, it includes 73 books: the 39 books shared with the Hebrew Bible, along with the seven deuterocanonical ...

''. In particular, he was the author of the translation of the

Gospel of Matthew The Gospel of Matthew is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells the story of who the author believes is Israel's messiah (Christ (title), Christ), Jesus, resurrection of Jesus, his res ...

in this edition, as well as the

Epistles An epistle (; ) is a writing directed or sent to a person or group of people, usually an elegant and formal didactic letter. The epistle genre of letter-writing was common in ancient Egypt as part of the scribal-school writing curriculum. The ...

to the Philippians, Philemon, the Colossians, and the

Ephesians The Epistle to the Ephesians is the tenth book of the New Testament. Traditionally believed to have been written by the Apostle Paul around AD 62 during his imprisonment in Rome, the Epistle to the Ephesians closely resembles Colossians ...

. Pierre Benoit was also the author of a four-volume work entitled ''Exegesis and Theology'', published between 1961 and 1982 at Éditions du Cerf. In 1971 he became the publication director for the Qumran Manuscripts, acting as chairman of the international committee in charge of publishing a great part of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Pierre Benoit took a close interest in the historical

topography Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the landforms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps. Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary sci ...

of Jerusalem, making detailed visits to the excavations. In the 1970s he became more deeply involved in the

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

research of Christian sites in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

. One of his most extensive pieces of work in this field was the thorough and definitive assessment of previous excavations done by others at the site of the

Antonia Fortress The Antonia Fortress (Aramaic: קצטרא דאנטוניה) was a citadel built by Herod the Great and named for Herod's patron Mark Antony, as a fortress whose chief function was to protect the Second Temple. It was built in Jerusalem at the easte ...

, and the surrounding area.

Works

* ''The Holy Bible'' (a translation under the ordinances of the École Biblique), The French Book Club, Paris, 1955–1956 * ''How Does the Christian Confront the Old Testament'', Volume 30: ''Concilium'' Theology in the Age of Renewal (1968) *
The Breaking of Bread
', Volume 40: ''Concilium''; Theology in the Age of Renewal (1969) * ''The Jerusalem Bible: The Holy Bible'' (a French translation, under the ordinances of the École Biblique), New ed. revised and augmented, Éditions du Cerf, Paris, 1973 * ''The Jerusalem Bible'' (a translation under the ordinances of the École Biblique), New ed. reviewed and corrected, Éditions du Cerf, Paris, 1998 * Pierre Benoit, ''Exégèse et théologie'' (Exegesis and Theology), Éditions du Cerf, Paris, 4 vol. (1961-1982); for vol. IV * ''Un siècle d’archéologie à l’École biblique de Jérusalem 1890-1990'', Jérusalem, École biblique et archéologique française de Jérusalem, 1988 * ''Synopse des quatre évangiles en français'', Paris, Éd. du Cerf, 1990 * ''Passion et Resurrection du Seigneur'' (1966), Les Éditions du Cerf, Paris, 1966 ; English translation:
The Passion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ
'(1969), Herder & Herder ; Darton, Longman and Todd, New York, London. Italian: P. Gribaudi, Torino, 1967. Spanish: Fax, Madrid, 1971. *
Christmas: A Pictoral Pilgrimage
' (1970) Abingdon Press, Nashville, New York * ''Jesus and the Gospel'' (1973) Seabury Press, New York * ''Jesus and the Gospel, Volume 2: (A translation of selected articles from "Exegese et Théologie"''(1974) Herder & Herder ; Darton, Longman and Todd, New York, London

References

External links

Site of the Ecole biblique

Sacred works by Pierre Benoit
(Éditions du Cerf) {{DEFAULTSORT:Benoit, Pierre French Dominicans 20th-century French Catholic theologians French translation scholars French archaeologists French biblical scholars French expatriates in Israel Biblical archaeology Dead Sea Scrolls Academic staff of the Pontifical Biblical Institute 1906 births 1987 deaths Academic staff of École Biblique Roman Catholic biblical scholars

Biography

Works

See also

References

External links