Bruce Metzger, 1914-2007

The guild of biblical studies is mourning the death of Dr. Bruce Metzger. He died February 13th at the age of 93. Here are a few excerpts from an NCC press release:

"I don't think it is an exaggeration to say the RSV would not have happened had it not been for Bruce Metzger," said the Rev. Bob Edgar, NCC general secretary. "His leadership and scholarship were the reasons there is a translation of the Bible we call the New Revised Standard Version."

Metzger, a Presbyterian, was the George L. Collord Professor Emeritus of New Testament Language and Literature at Princeton Seminary. He earned a bachelor's degree from Lebanon Valley College in 1935, a bachelor of theology degree from Princeton Seminary in 1938 and a doctorate in classics from Princeton University in 1942. Metzger began his teaching career at Princeton in 1938, where he stayed in the New Testament department for 46 years.

I remember my amazement once back in seminary when my hall-mate, David Ball, a fellow seminarian, was trying to think of a topic for an essay in an NT class. David picked up the phone in his dorm room and dialed Bruce Metzger. I sat there and listened as Metzger graciously talked a topic through with my friend. There's not many world-class scholars who would have been that gracious. But, that was the way that Metzger was.