Cheyne, Thomas Kelly

CHEYNE, THOMAS KELLY. - Protestant exegete, b. in London on 18 Sept. 1841, d. there on 16 Nov. 1915. Professor at Oxford from 1886 to 1908 and member of the British Academy. An indefatigable worker, he collected an immense body of documentation, which must however be used with the greatest caution because of the radical tendencies that were characteristic of C.

Attributing to northern Arabia a very great influence on the history and doctrine of the Hebrews, he distorted the sacred text in order to find in it a proof of his fanciful imaginings, claiming to see Jerahmeel and his descendants cited at every turn. He was co-editor of the Encyclopaedia biblica (London 1899-1903), which bears his name. His principal works concern Isaiah, the Psalms, and Hebrew criticism and history: The Prophecy of Isaia, A new translation and commentary (2 vols., 4th ed., ibid. 1886); The origin and religious contents of the Psalter (ibid. 1891); Founders of Old Testament criticism (ibid. 1894); The Book of Psalms translated from a revised text (2 vols., ibid. 1904); Critica biblica (4 parts, ibid. 1906 ff.); The veil of Hebrew history (ibid. 1913).

Giorgio Castellino