KENNICOTT, BENJAMIN, D.D., one of the most eminent Biblical scholars, English or foreign, was born at Totness in Devonshire, April 4, 1718. His father was parish clerk, and master of a charity school, in which latter situation Benjamin succeeded him at an early period, continuing to discharge the duties of his humble office till 1744, when, having previously given proof of possessing superior talents, be was, through the kindness of several gentlemen in the neighbourhood, who opened a subscription for the purpose, enabled to enter the university of Oxford. He entered at Wadham College, and applied himself to the study of divinity and Hebrew with diligence and success. While an undergraduate, he published— Two Dissertations : On the Tree of Life in Paraa'ise, with some Observations on the Fall of Man • 2. OIL the Oblations of Cain and Abel, Sim, whic'h came to a second edition in 1747, and procured him the distinguished honour of a Bachelor's degree before the statutable time, and without the usual fees. Shortly afterwards he was elected Fellow of Exeter College, and in 175o toolc his degree of M.A. He was appointed librarian of Radcliffe Library, and made D.D. in 1767. He was also canon of Christ Church, and rector of Culham in Oxfordshire, and was subsequently presented to the living of Mynhenyote, in Cornwall, which, however, as he was unable to visit it, he resigned two years before his death. He continued to reside at Oxford till the last, and died of a lingering illness, Sept. IS, 1783.
No man has done more than Kennicott to advance the cause of Biblical science in the de partment of the O. T., upon which all his labours were concentrated. His great work, to be imme diately named, was preceded, and its way prepared, by his dissertations, entitled, The State of the l'rinted Hebrew Text of the O. T. Considered, Oxford 1753 ; 1759, 2 vols. 8vo. In these disser tations he evinces the necessity of the work upon IN hich he had set his heart, by refuting the popular notion of the absolute integrity' of the Hebrew text. The first contains a comparison of Chron. xi. with 2 Sam. v. and xxiii., and observations on seventy MSS., with an extract of mistakes and various readings.' The second vindicates the Samaritan Pentateuch, proves the printed copies of the Chaldee paraphm. se (the accordance of which with the text of the O. T. was boasted of as evincing the purity of the latter) to be corrupt ; ascertains the sentiments of the Jews on the Hebrew text ; gives an account of the Hebrew MSS. known to be extant, and furnishes a cata logue of one hundred Hebrew MSS. preserved in the public libraries at Oxford, Cambridge, and the British Museum. 'This work, as might reason ably be expected, was examined with great severity at home ancl abroad.' In 1760 Dr. K. issued his proposals for collating all the Hebrew MSS. made before the invention of printing, which could be discovered in the British Isles or in foreign countries. Liberal subscriptions were raised for defraying the expenses which such a work necessarily involved. The name of King George III. headed the list. Dr. Seeker, Bishop of Ox ford, afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury, was among his first subscribers. The subscriptions amounted in all to nearlyLro,oco. Dr. K., who published annually an account of the progress of collation, was assisted in his work by many learned men, especially by Professor Bruns, of the University of Helmstadt, who not only collated MSS. in Germany, but also travelled into Switzer land and Italy for the same purpose. More than 600 Hebrew MSS., and 16 MSS. of the Sammitan Pentateuch, were either wholly or partially collated. To the collation of MSS. was also added a colla tion of the most distinguished printed editions of the Hebrew Bible. Dr. K. also availed himself of quotations from the Hebrew Bible in the works of rabbinical writers, especially the Talmud. At length, sixteen years after the publication of his proposals, a.ppeared the first, and four years subse quently, the second, vol. of his magnificent edition of the Hebrew Bible : Venes Testamentum Hebrai cum cum variis .Lectionibus, Oxonii 1776, 17So, 2
vols. folio. The text is that of Van der Hoo,ght ; but as variations in the points were disregarded in the collation, the points were not added to the text.' The various readings are printed at the foot of the page. In the Pentateuch the deviations of the Samaritan text were printed in a column parallel to the Hebrew. To the second vol. Dr. K. an. nexed his Dissertatio Generalis (answering to Pro legomena in similar works, afterwards reprinted separately), containing an account of the MSS. and other authorities collated for this edition, and also a review of the Hebrew text, divided into periods, and beginning with the formatiorr of the Hebrew canon after the return of the Jews from the Babylonian captivity, 'a work of great interest to every Biblical scholar' (Horne's Bib. ; Marsh's Divinity Lectures, part 2 ; Encyc. Brit.; Davidson's Bib. Grit. ; Eng. Cyc.) The faults attaching to this great work of Kenni cott are thus summarised by Dr. Davidson :--` He neglected the Massorah as if it were wholly worth less. In specifying his sources, he is not always consistent or uniform in his method. Some MSS. are only partially examined. Neither was he very accurate in extracting various readings from his copies. Where several letters are wanting in MSS. there is no remark indicating whether the defect should be remedied, and how. The MSS. cor rected by a different hand are rejected without reason. Old synagog-ue MSS. are neglected, though they would have contributed to the value of the various readings. Van der Hooght's text is not accurately given, since the marginal Kris, the vowel points, and the accents, have been left out. The Samaritan text should have been given in Samaritan letters, that readers might see the origin of many of the various readings. The edition wants extracts from ancient versions, which is a serious defect. His principles, or rules, for judging Hebrew MSS., and determining the age, quality, or value, are defective. In applying his copious materials he often errs. He proceeds too much on the assumption that the Massoretic text is corrupt where it differs from the Samaritan Pentateuch and ancient versions, and therefore sets about re forming it where it is authentic and genuine' (Bth. Crit., 2c1 ed., p. 154-55). Yet Dr. D. asserts :— There can be no doubt that Kennicott was a most laborious editor. To him belongs the great merit of bringing together a large mass of critical ma terials ... The task of furnishing such an apparatus, drawn from so many sources, scattered through the libraries of many lands, was almost herculean ; and the learned author is entitled to all the praise for its accomplishment' (do.) It did not, however, realize the expectations which many had entertained respecting it ; for the majority of the various readings were found to be trifling, of little or no value to amend the sacred text. I3ut this was not the fault of the editor, but the praise of the Jewish transctibers, whose ac curacy preserved them from many serious blunder.; in the performance of their task ; but due specially to the influence of the Massorah, which has truly been a hedge' around the text of the sacred books.
To the preceding works of Dr. K. we add the following :—Critica Sacra, a short Introduction to Hebrew Criticism, London 1774, Svo ; Benjamini _Kennicotti Efistola ad 7oh. Dav. Michaelem de sura primi Toni Bibliorum Hebraicorum nnper editi, in Bibliotheca ejus Orientali, parte xi., Oxon. 1777, 8vo ; Editiouis Veteris Testament; Hebraici, Variis Lectionibus brevis Defensio contra meria'um Goetengensium Criminationes, Oxon. 1782, Svc) ; and a posthumous work entitled, Remarks 072 Select Passages in the Old Testament ; to wh2ch areadded Eight Sermons, Oxford 1787, Svo. More than one hundred pages uf th:s work are occupied with a translation of thirty-two psalms, and critical notes on the entire book. It is worthy of the author's reputation.—I. J.