POCOCK, EDWARD, was born at Oxford, in the year 1604. Having studied at Magdalen Hall, and Corpus Christi College, in the university of his native city, he became B.A. in 1622 ; M.A., 1626 ; B.D., 1636; and D.D., 1660. In the year 1628 he was admitted Probationer Fellow of C. C. Col lege, and shortly afterwards was admitted into holy orders, for which he had qualified himself by a careful study of theology in all its branches. His favourite pursuits were the Oriental languages, especially Arabic and Hebrew, in the critical know ledge of which he obtained a world-wide repu tation, the splendour of which has not yet faded. Having laid the foundation of these attainments at home, and having given proof of the solidity of his early studies by publishing the 2d Ep. of St. Peter, 2d and 3d Epp. of St. John, and the Ep. of St. Jude in their hitherto unpublished Syriac version, with an original Latin translation, he proceeded to the East, in the capacity of chap lain to the English merchants at Aleppo, after being ordained priest by Corbet, Bishop of Oxford, in 1629. During his six years' residence in the East, he found opportunity not only to improve his Syriac, Hebrew, and Arabic learning, but to collect Greek coins and accumulate MSS., both Oriental and Greek, such as would be valuable for the library of his university. In these researches he acted under the instructions of his munificent patron, Archbishop Laud ; and on his return home, in 1636, he was appointed the first Laudian Pro fessor of Arabic in the chair which the archbishop had just founded. To satisfy his intense desire to become perfectly qualified for his professorial duties, he again visited the East, and remained at Constan tinople and its neighbourhood no less than four years, enjoying the assistance of the best instructors and the society of celebrated men, among whom should be mentioned Cyril Lucar, patriarch of Constantinople, to whom we owe the valuable Greek MS. the Codex Alexandrinus. In Pocock was presented by his college to the living of Childrey, in Berkshire, and five years afterwards was appointed Regius Professor of Hebrew at Ox ford, and Canon of Christ Church. The troubles of the times, however, bore heavily on our learned professor, who was a very steadfast, though not ostentatious, adherent of the royal cause. In November 165o he was ejected from his canonry, and it was proposed to deprive him of his professor ships. He was saved from the latter loss by the strong remonstrance of the authorities of the uni versity, who were adherents of the existing govern ment. Meanwhile nothing had sufficed to check either his pious care of his parish or his pursuit of sacred and Oriental learning. In Arabic and He. brew learning he was allowed to be second to none of his age. From the first he made his Oriental attainments subservient to Biblical illustration ; and his contributions, directly and indirectly, to Biblical learning were numerous and extremely valuable. [I.] Of his connection with Walton's Polyglott, his biographer says : ' From the begin ning scarce a step was taken in that work [not ex cepting even the Prolegomena] till communicated to Mr. Pocock, and without whose assistance it
must have wanted much of its perfection ;' he col lated the Arabic Pentateuch, with two copies of Saadias' translation ; drew up an account of the Arabic versions of that part of the Bible which is to be found in the Appendix to the Polyglott, and lent some of his own rich store of MSS. to the con ductors of the work, viz., a Syriac MS. of the entire O. T., an Ethiopic MS. of the Psalms, two Syriac MSS. of the Psalms, and a Persian MS. of of the Gospels. [II.] His Porte Mo.cis, or Moses Maimonides' Dissertations prefixed to his commen taries on the Mishna, with the original Arabic text [in Hebrew characters], and a Latin translation. Pocock made this work the more useful to Biblical students by his copious Appendix Notarum Mis cellanea, where he discusses many points of interest to Biblibal scholars. Pocock reaped golden opinions on the publication of this now neglected though still very valuable work. For some time he entertained thoughts of publishing Rabbi Tan chum's expositions [written in Arabic] on the O. T. Although he did not carryout his intention, probably from want of means, he contrived to reproduce much of what is valuable from this Rabbinical author in his own subsequent commentaries on some of the prophets. [III.] Of these commentaries (which seem to have been suggested by Bishop Fell, as a part of a complete exposition of the O. T., to be contributed by vari ous learned writers), the first published was that on Micah, in 1677, followed in the same year by that on Malachi; in 1685 by that on Hosea ; and in 1691 by that on noel. In these commentaries, which are all in English, Pocock's skill in his favourite subject of Biblical Hebrew is very apparent. The notes, no doubt, are too diffuse, but they exhibit much profound learning in Rabbi nical as well as sacred Hebrew. In his critical principles he warmly defends the general purity of the Masoretic text against the aspersions of Isaac Vossius and the theory of Capellus ; but although his Masoretic predilections are excessive, he did not depreciate the Septuagint. His scheme ever was to reconcile by learned explanations the sacred original, and the most venerable of its versions. This great and good man laboured on, harassed by enemies and neglected by friends, but respected for his purity of life, and admired for his matchless learn ing, in his professional and pastoral pursuits, to the very end of his life of S7 years—his only distemper being extreme old age, which yet hindered him not even the night before he died from his invariable custom of praying from the Liturgy with his family. His death took place on the toth of September 1691. His theological works, comprising the Porta Mosis and the Commentaries, with his life, by Leonard Twells, M.A., form two folio volumes. — P. H.