M etzger, B ruce (1914–2007)

Abstract

Abstract An internationally distinguished textual critic, and scholar and translator of the Bible, Bruce Manning Metzger was born the son of Maurice and Anna Metzger in Middletown, Pennsylvania, 9 February 1914, and died of respiratory failure at the University Medical Center at Princeton, 13 February 2007. At the time of his death, he was New Testament professor emeritus at Princeton Theological Seminary. He earned a bachelor's degree in Greek and textual criticism from Lebanon Valley College in 1935. In 1938, he earned a bachelor's in theology from Princeton Theological Seminary. He was ordained in the United Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) in 1939. His 46 year career at Princeton began during the years 1938–1940, wherein he was teaching fellow in New Testament Greek at Princeton. He continued to teach and study, earning a Ph.D. in Greek and Latin classics from Princeton University in 1942. From 1940 to 1944, he was instructor in New Testament, and appointed assistant professor from 1944 to 1948, associate professor from 1948 to 1954, and professor from 1954 to 1984. In 1964, he was named the George L. Collord Professor of New Testament Language and Literature. Metzger received several honorary degrees in America and overseas. He was awarded the D.D. from St. Andrews, the D.Theol. from Muenster, Germany, and the D.Litt. from Potchefstroom, South Africa. He married Isobel Elizabeth, the eldest daughter of John Alexander Mackay, the third president of Princeton Theological Seminary.