Thomas Jefferson Conant (December 13, 1802 – April 30, 1891) was an American

Biblical 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) biblical languages ...

scholar A scholar is a person who is a researcher or has expertise in an academic discipline. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher at a university. An academic usually holds an advanced degree or a termina ...

Biography

Thomas Jefferson Conant was born in

Brandon, Vermont Brandon is a New England town, town in Rutland County, Vermont, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 4,129. History On October 20, 1761, the town of Neshobe was chartered to Capt. Josiah Powers. In ...

on December 13, 1802. Graduating from

Middlebury College Middlebury College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont, United States. Founded in 1800 by Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalists, Middlebury w ...

in 1823, he became tutor in the

Columbian University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a private federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by the United States Congress and is the first un ...

, Washington D.C. from 1825 to 1827, professor of

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 ...

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, and German at Waterville College (now

Colby College Colby College is a private liberal arts college in Waterville, Maine, United States. Founded in 1813 as the Maine Literary and Theological Institution, it was renamed Waterville College in 1821. The donations of Christian philanthropist Gardner ...

) from 1827 to 1833, professor of

Biblical Literature A biblical canon is a set of texts (also called "books") which a particular Jewish or Christian religious community regards as part of the Bible. The English word ''canon'' comes from the Greek , meaning ' rule' or ' measuring stick'. The use ...

and criticism in Hamilton Theological Institute (New York) from 1835 to 1851, and professor of

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 ...

and of Biblical exegesis in Rochester Theological Seminary from 1851 to 1857. From 1857 to 1875 he was employed by the American Bible Union on the revision of 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 ...

(1871). In the opinion of the author of his biography in the ''Encycloaedia Britannica'', (11th ed.) Conant was the foremost Hebrew scholar of his time in America. He died in Brooklyn, New York, in 1891.

Works

Conant's treatise, ''The Meaning and Use of Baptizing Philologically and Historically Investigated'' (1860), an appendix to the revised version of the Gospel by Matthew, is a valuable summary of the evidence for

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

doctrine. Conant translated and edited Gesenius's ''Hebrew Grammar'' (1839; 1877)—and criticized a competing translation by

Moses Stuart Moses B. Stuart (March 26, 1780 – January 4, 1852) was an American biblical scholar. Life and career Moses Stuart was born in Wilton, Connecticut on March 26, 1780. He was brought up on a farm, then attended Yale University graduating with hig ...

. He published revised versions with notes of ''Job'' (1856), ''Genesis'' (1868), ''Psalms'' (1871),'' Proverbs'' (1872), ''Isaiah'' i.xiii. 22 (1874), and ''Historical Books of the Old Testament, Joshua to II. Kings'' (1884).

Family

Conant married Hannah O'Brien Chaplin (1809–1865) in 1830, herself the author of ''The Earnest Man'', a biography of

Adoniram Judson Adoniram Judson (; August 9, 1788 – April 12, 1850) was an American Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalist and later Particular Baptist missionary who worked in Burma for almost 40 years. At the age of 25, Judson was ...

(1855), and ''The History of the English Bible'' (1859); besides being her husband's assistant she was an able assistant in his Hebrew studies.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Conant, Thomas Jefferson 1802 births 1891 deaths

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...

American biblical scholars Colby College faculty Middlebury College alumni People from Brandon, Vermont Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School faculty