| John Lightfoot |
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| 1602 births | |
| 1675 deaths | |
| english anglican priests | |
| people from stoke-on-trent | |
| christian hebraists | |
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He was born at Stoke-on-Trent , the son of Thomas Lightfoot, vicar of Uttoxeter , Staffordshire . He was educated at Morton Green near Congleton , Cheshire , and at Christ's College, Cambridge , where he was regarded as the best Orator among the undergraduates. After taking his degree he became assistant master at Repton in Derbyshire ; after taking orders, he was appointed curate of Norton-under-Hales in Shropshire . There he attracted the notice of Sir Rowland Cotton , an amateur Hebraist , who made him his domestic chaplain at Bellaport. Shortly after the removal of Sir Rowland to London , Lightfoot, abandoning an intention to go abroad, accepted a charge at Stone in Staffordshire, where he continued for about two years. From Stone he removed to Hornsey , near London, for the sake of reading in the library of Sion College . His first published work, entitled ''Erubhin'', or ''Miscellanies, Christian and Judaical'', written in his spare time and dedicated to Cotton, appeared in London in he was appointed to preach the sermon before the House Of Commons on occasion of the public fast of March 29 . It was published under the title of ''Elias Redivivus'', the text being Luke 1. 17; in it a parallel is drawn between the John The Baptist 's ministry and the work of reformation which in the preacher's judgment was incumbent on the parliament of his own day. Lightfoot was one of the original members of the Westminster Assembly ; his "Journal of the Proceedings of the Assembly of Divines from January 1, 1643 to December 31, 1644" is a valuable historical source for the brief period to which it relates. He was assiduous in his attendance, and, though frequently standing alone, especially in the Erastian Controversy , he exercised considerable influence on the outcome of the discussions of the Assembly. In , and the third, ''From the first Passover after our Saviour's Baptism to the second'', in 1650. On August 26 1645 he again preached before the House Of Commons on the day of their monthly fast. His text was Rev. xx. I, 2. Rejecting the doctrine of the millenarian sects, Lightfoot had various practical suggestions for the repression of current "blasphemies", for a thorough revision of the authorized version of the Scriptures, for the encouragement of a learned ministry, and for a speedy settlement of the church. ''A Commentary upon the Acts of the Apostles, ironical and critical; the Difficulties of the text explained, and the times of the Story cast into annals. From the beginning of the Book to the end of the Twelfth Chapter. With a brief survey of the contemporary Story of the Jews and Romans (down to the third year of Claudius)'' was published later that year. In 1647 came ''The Harmony, Chronicle, and Order of the Old Testament'', followed in 1655 by ''The Harmony, Chronicle, and Order of the New Testament'', inscribed to Cromwell . In 1654 Lightfoot had been chosen vice-chancellor of the University Of Cambridge , but continued to live at Munden, in the rectory of which, as well as in the mastership of Catharine Hall, he was confirmed at the Restoration . The remainder of his life was devoted to helping Brian Walton with the '' Polyglot Bible '' ( 1657 ) and to his own best-known work, the ''Horae Hebraicae et Talmudicae'', in which the volume relating to the Gospel Of Matthew appeared in 1658 , that relating to the Gospel Of Mark in 1663, and those relating to 1 Corinthians , John and Luke , in 1664 , 1671 and 1674 respectively. While travelling from Cambridge to Ely , where he had been collated in 1668 by Sir Orlando Bridgman to a Prebendal Stall , he caught a severe cold, and died at Ely. The ''Horae Hebraicae et Talmudicae impensae in Acta Apostolorum et in Ep. S. Pauli ad Romanos'' were published posthumously. The ''Works of Lightfoot'' were first edited, in 2 vols. fol., by G Bright and Strype in 1684; the ''Opera Omnia, cura Jo/i. Texetii'', appeared at Rotterdam in 1686 (2 vols. fol.), and again, edited by J Leusden, at Franeker in 1699 (3 vols. 101.). A volume of ''Remains'' was published at London in 1700. The ''Hor. Hebr. et Talm.'' were also edited in Latin by Carpzov (Leipzig, 1675-1679), and again, in English, by Gandell (Oxford, 1859). The most complete edition is that of the ''Whole Works'', in 13 vols. 8vo. edited, with a life, by R Pitman (London, 1822-1825). It includes, besides the works already noticed, numerous sermons, letters and miscellaneous writings; and also ''The Temple, especially as it stood in the Days of our Saviour'' (London, 1650). |
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