Roy Kinneer Patteson Jr.
Roy Kinneer Patteson Jr. | |
---|---|
Born | October 27, 1928 Richmond, Virginia, U.S. |
Died | August 31, 2012 Harrisonburg, Virginia, U.S. |
Academic background | |
Influences | Woodford B. Hackley, his Latin professor at Richmond |
Academic work | |
Era | Current / Modern |
Notable works | PhD dissertation on the Wisdom of Ben Sira (1967); Definitive work on the origin of the alphabet (1970) |
Roy Kinneer Patteson Jr. was an American scholar whose knowledge of Biblical
Early life
Roy Kinneer Patteson was born to Roy Kinneer Patteson Sr. and Mary Anderson Patteson, of English, Irish and French ancestry. He graduated from Midlothian High School in 1947.
Early career, higher education and noted scholarly contributions
After his first year at the University of Virginia, Patteson served as a draftsman at Fort Scott in San Francisco and later at Camp Hood, Texas. He also served three years in the Virginia National Guard. In 1950, he and his wife, Pauline Cox Patteson, were married.
Patteson entered the
.During his doctoral studies, Patteson had developed an interest in the first-century BC book the Wisdom of Ben Sira. Prior to 1964, the only extant Hebrew text of this book was known from the Cairo Geniza collection. Many scholars believed that the Cairo Geniza Hebrew text might be a retroversion text, taken from an earlier and more reliable text in Greek. What was needed was a means to evaluate the Cairo Geniza Hebrew readings and to help solve questions about the relationships between the Cairo Geniza Hebrew text and the newly discovered scroll, as well as that scroll's relationship to the versions in Greek, Syriac and Latin.
On April 8, 1964, while archaeologists were excavating at Masada, Herod's palace, they unearthed a Hebrew manuscript, datable to about 100 BC, which could provide a means to evaluate the Cairo Geniza Hebrew text. Patteson contacted Dr. Patrick Shehan and Dr. Alexander Di Lella at Catholic University who provided him with hand-made transcriptions of the Masada fragments of the Ben Sirah scroll. The reception of these early inscriptions, six months prior to the publication of photographic images, greatly advanced Patteson's work. As a result of his research, Patteson concluded that there is no other Hebrew text standing between the Cairo Geniza text and the autograph. The basic integrity of the Cairo Giniza Greek text was also established. In most instances the marginal readings in the Cairo Geniza text could be explained. The relationship between the Syriac version was not clear and more study of that version would be required. Patteson's findings are detailed in his doctoral dissertation, "A Study of the Hebrew Text of Sirach 39:27 to 41:24", which is available for study in the Duke University Library. Patteson's other interests included the origin of the alphabet, the pronunciation of ancient Hebrew, Martin Luther's work as a translator of the Hebrew biblical text, and evidence of Aramaic originals underlying the Greek text of the four
College administration
Patteson served at
Post-retirement
Patteson was granted the status of Honorable Retirement in 1991 by the Presbyterian Church (USA). He was cited for his faithfulness to his calling as a minister through his work in ministry, teaching, and administration. He and his wife have been avid artists whose paintings have won many awards. In 1998, 1999, and 2004, his paintings were selected for the Oil Painters of America's juried national exhibitions at Washington, D.C.; Scottsdale, Arizona; and Kirkland, Washington.[4] He died on August 31, 2012, at the age of 83.[5]
References
- ^ p.36
- ^ Patteson, R.K. (1970). "The Siloam Inscription and Alphabetic Origins". Visible Language. 4 (3).Originally published as The Journal of Typographical Research
- ^ "History of King College". King College.
- ^ "Roy Patteson". Rockbridgeartsguild.com. Retrieved 2014-07-24.
- ^ "Scoop | Dr. Roy Patteson, Former President of Southern Sem, Dies at 83". Scoop.svu.edu. 2012-10-02. Retrieved 2014-07-24.