Bruce M. Metzger (1914-2007)

Bruce was an American scholar, Bible translator and textual critic, He was for many years the professor of Princeton Theological Seminary(PTS). He served on the board of the American Bible Society and United Bible Societies.

At Princeton Theological Seminary he gained a ThB (1938), M.A. (1940), PhD (1942). His PhD. was for Studies in Greek Gospel Lectionary (Greg. 303)

On 11 th April 1939 he was ordained in the United Presbyterian Church of North America - now Presbyterian Church (USA)

In 1944 he married Isobel Elizabeth Mackay and he was promoted to Assistant Professor. 1948 Associate professor. 1954 Full Professor. 10 years later he was named George L. Collard Professor of New Testament Language and Literature.

In the 1970s he became president of a number of Societies.

In England he was the visiting fellow at Clare Hall, Cambridge(1974) and Wolfson College. Oxford (1979).

In 1978 he had been elected corresponding fellow of the British academy- the highest distinction for a non resident of the U.K…

An eminent authority on translating the New Testament from the original Greek he was best known for directing 30 scholars for over 10 years on the new Revised Standard Version (RSV) of the Bible. Archaic language was removed/eliminated. In 1990 this replaced RSV of 1952.

In 1984,aged 70, after 46 years teaching at PTS he retired as Professor Emeritus.
He continued to receive honorary doctorates after his retirement. He continued to write for many years, his last book was published in 2006.

Shortly after his 93rd birthday Bruce died - 13th February 2007. He died in Princeton, New Jersey.

Bruce was one of the most influential new testament scholars of the 20th century.

Sources
Theopedia
Princeton Alumni Weekly
wikipedia