Roy Kinneer Patteson, Jr.
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Roy Kinneer Patteson Jr. was an American scholar whose knowledge of Biblical
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 ...
,
Aramaic Aramaic (; ) is a Northwest Semitic language that originated in the ancient region of Syria and quickly spread to Mesopotamia, the southern Levant, Sinai, southeastern Anatolia, and Eastern Arabia, where it has been continually written a ...
, Syriac and
Hellenistic Greek Koine Greek (, ), also variously known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek, Septuagint Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-regional form of Greek spoken and written during the Hellenistic ...
enabled him to undertake an analysis of the text of the
Ben Sira Ben Sira or Joshua ben Sirach (; ) was a Hellenistic Jewish scribe, sage, and allegorist from Seleucid-controlled Jerusalem of the Second Temple period. He is the author of the Book of Sirach, also known as "Ecclesiasticus". Ben Sirach w ...
Scroll discovered at
Masada Masada ( ', 'fortress'; ) is a mountain-top fortress complex in the Judaean Desert, overlooking the western shore of the Dead Sea in southeastern Israel. The fort, built in the first century BCE, was constructed atop a natural plateau rising ov ...
in
Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...
in 1964. His research resulted in the establishment of a critical
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 ...
text for portions of the
Book of Sirach The Book of Sirach (), also known as The Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach, The Wisdom of Jesus son of Eleazar, or Ecclesiasticus (), is a Jewish literary work originally written in Biblical Hebrew. The longest extant wisdom book from antiqui ...
, which dates to the first century BC.


Early life

Roy Kinneer Patteson was born to Roy Kinneer Patteson Sr. and Mary Anderson Patteson, of English, Irish and French ancestry. He graduated from Midlothian High School in 1947.


Early career, higher education and noted scholarly contributions

After his first year at the
University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...
, Patteson served as a draftsman at Fort Scott in San Francisco and later at Camp Hood, Texas. He also served three years in the Virginia National Guard. In 1950, he and his wife, Pauline Cox Patteson, were married. Patteson entered the
University of Richmond The University of Richmond (UR or U of R) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Richmond, Virginia, United States. It is a primarily undergraduate, residential institution with approxim ...
, earning the BA degree in 1957. Thereafter he enrolled in
Union Theological Seminary Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York (shortened to UTS or Union) is a Private college, private ecumenical liberal Christian seminary in Morningside Heights, Manhattan, affiliated with Columbia University since 1928. Presently, Co ...
and earned the Bachelor of Divinity degree in 1961. He was ordained as a Minister in the
Presbyterian Church (USA) The Presbyterian Church (USA), abbreviated PCUSA, is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination, denomination in the Religion in the United States, United States. It is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the United States too. Its th ...
and served a local church in Greensboro, North Carolina, and later two churches in Chatham County, North Carolina. With the encouragement of his congregations he enrolled at
Duke Divinity School The Duke Divinity School at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, is one of ten graduate or professional schools within Duke University. It is also one of thirteen seminaries founded and supported by the United Methodist Church. It has 39 ...
for graduate study in Biblical Languages and Literature. He received the Master of Theology degree in 1964 and the Ph.D. degree in 1967. His major focus was on the transmission of ancient texts in
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 ...
,
Aramaic Aramaic (; ) is a Northwest Semitic language that originated in the ancient region of Syria and quickly spread to Mesopotamia, the southern Levant, Sinai, southeastern Anatolia, and Eastern Arabia, where it has been continually written a ...
, Syriac 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 ...
. During his doctoral studies, Patteson had developed an interest in the first-century BC book the Wisdom of Ben Sira. Prior to 1964, the only extant Hebrew text of this book was known from the
Cairo Geniza The Cairo Geniza, alternatively spelled the Cairo Genizah, is a collection of some 400,000 Judaism, Jewish manuscript fragments and Fatimid Caliphate, Fatimid administrative documents that were kept in the ''genizah'' or storeroom of the Ben Ezra ...
collection. Many scholars believed that the Cairo Geniza Hebrew text might be a retroversion text, taken from an earlier and more reliable text in Greek. What was needed was a means to evaluate the Cairo Geniza Hebrew readings and to help solve questions about the relationships between the Cairo Geniza Hebrew text and the newly discovered scroll, as well as that scroll's relationship to the versions in Greek, Syriac and Latin. On April 8, 1964, while archaeologists were excavating at
Masada Masada ( ', 'fortress'; ) is a mountain-top fortress complex in the Judaean Desert, overlooking the western shore of the Dead Sea in southeastern Israel. The fort, built in the first century BCE, was constructed atop a natural plateau rising ov ...
, Herod's palace, they unearthed a Hebrew manuscript, datable to about 100 BC, which could provide a means to evaluate the Cairo Geniza Hebrew text. Patteson contacted Dr. Patrick Shehan and Dr. Alexander Di Lella at Catholic University who provided him with hand-made transcriptions of the Masada fragments of the Ben Sirah scroll. The reception of these early inscriptions, six months prior to the publication of photographic images, greatly advanced Patteson's work. As a result of his research, Patteson concluded that there is no other Hebrew text standing between the Cairo Geniza text and the autograph. The basic integrity of the Cairo Giniza Greek text was also established. In most instances the marginal readings in the Cairo Geniza text could be explained. The relationship between the Syriac version was not clear and more study of that version would be required. Patteson's findings are detailed in his doctoral dissertation, "A Study of the Hebrew Text of Sirach 39:27 to 41:24", which is available for study in the Duke University Library. Patteson's other interests included the origin of the alphabet, the pronunciation of ancient Hebrew, Martin Luther's work as a translator of the Hebrew biblical text, and evidence of Aramaic originals underlying the Greek text of the four
gospels Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the second century AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message was reported. In this sen ...
. Patteson's work "The Siloam Inscription and Alphabetic Origins" was published by Case Western Press in 1970.Originally published as The Journal of Typographical Research


College administration

Patteson served at
Peace College William Peace University is a private college in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Affiliated with the Presbyterian Church, it offers undergraduate degrees in more than 30 majors and its School of Professional Studies (SPS) offers accelera ...
as head of the department of social studies and at
Davidson County Community College Davidson-Davie Community College (DDCC) is a Public college, public community college with campuses in Davidson County, North Carolina, Davidson County and Davie County, North Carolina. It awards certificates, diplomas, and associate degrees in ...
as an instructor in History and as the Academic Dean. These posts led Patteson to greater involvement in administrative matters. Thereafter he served as president at Southern Seminary (now
Southern Virginia University Southern Virginia University (SVU) is a private liberal arts college in Buena Vista, Virginia. The college, though not officially affiliated with a particular faith, embraces the values of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS C ...
) in Buena Vista, Virginia, then as vice president for Development at
Mary Baldwin College Mary Baldwin University (MBU, formerly Mary Baldwin College) is a private university in Staunton, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1842 as "Augusta Female Seminary". Today, Mary Baldwin University is home to the Mary Baldwin College fo ...
. In 1977, he became president at King College, serving in a transitional post until a new board of trustees assumed governance of the college. A major focus of Patteson's administrative duties was the development of financial resources to support current programs, financial aid for students, building projects, and securing permanent endowment funds.


Post-retirement

Patteson was granted the status of Honorable Retirement in 1991 by the Presbyterian Church (USA). He was cited for his faithfulness to his calling as a minister through his work in ministry, teaching, and administration. He and his wife have been avid artists whose paintings have won many awards. In 1998, 1999, and 2004, his paintings were selected for the Oil Painters of America's juried national exhibitions at Washington, D.C.; Scottsdale, Arizona; and Kirkland, Washington. He died on August 31, 2012, at the age of 83.


References


External links

*https://archive.org/stream/marybaldwin1975decem/marybaldwin1975decem_djvu.txt *http://magazine.richmond.edu/Fall_06/alumni_news/alumni_profiles.html *https://books.google.com/books?id=7dkgAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA860 *http://www.pittsboropres.org/modules/mastop_publish/?tac=44 {{DEFAULTSORT:Patteson, Roy Kinneer 2012 deaths 1928 births American biblical scholars Southern Virginia University faculty Union Presbyterian Seminary alumni Heads of universities and colleges in the United States Duke Divinity School alumni