PRINCETON, N.J. (ABP) — Bruce Metzger, who was perhaps the 20th century's preeminent New Testament Greek scholar, has died at age 93.
The retired seminary professor reportedly died of natural causes in Princeton, N.J., Feb. 13.
Metzger helped translate both the Revised Standard Version and the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible. He served as general editor for the latter, which is the English Bible translation used for academic study of Scripture in all but the most conservative Protestant colleges, seminaries and divinity schools.
“Dr. Metzger was a towering presence on the campus of Princeton Theological Seminary during my days there as a student,” recalled Michael Livingston, president of the National Council of Churches, according to an NCC press release. “Students used to say that Dr. Metzger 'wrote the Bible.' The comment reflected the high regard in which this gentleman scholar was held.”
Both the RSV and NRSV translations were done under the NCC's aegis. The group's general secretary likewise praised Metzger's life and work.
“I don't think it is an exaggeration to say the RSV would not have happened had it not been for Bruce Metzger,” said Bob Edgar. “His leadership and scholarship were the reasons there is a translation of the Bible we call the New Revised Standard Version.”
Metzger, an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA), earned a bachelor's degree from Lebanon Valley College in 1935, a bachelor of theology degree from Princeton Seminary in 1938 and his doctorate in classics from Princeton University in 1942.
He taught at Princeton for 46 years, beginning in 1938.
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