History of Hebrew at VTS (1)

For fun, I've been reading the history of our seminary (VTS) in the evenings. I think Dean Horne has been wanting me to do this for a long time. After all, I've only taught here a decade! Naturally, the notes on the history of Old Testament and Hebrew instruction here are especially of interest to me. Hebrew Reading of the Old Testament was a priority, and required, here from the Seminary's beginnings in the period after the Revolutionary War. In 1824, for example, the Junior Class at VTS was studying eighteen chapters of Genesis in the original Hebrew and thirty Psalms in Hebrew. The Senior Class was studying twenty chapters of Isaiah in Hebrew. (Of what the Middler class was up to, we have no record that year!) The professor of sacred literature here at that time was Reuel Keith. Here is a portrait:



[For an update with more information and photos, click here. ---SLC]