Frederick Charles Cook

Frederic Charles Cook (1 December 1804– 22 June 1889) was an English churchman, known as a linguist and the editor of the Speaker's Commentary on the Bible.

Life Born at Millbrook, Hampshire, and later moved to Berkshire, he was admitted as a sizar of St John's College, Cambridge, 8 July 1824, graduated B.A. with a first class in the classical tripos in 1831, and M.A. in 1844. After leaving Cambridge he studied for a while under Barthold Georg Niebuhr at the University of Bonn. He was ordained by Charles James Blomfield in 1839, and a few years later was made her majesty's inspector of church schools.

In 1857 Cook was appointed chaplain-in-ordinary to the queen, in 1860 he became preacher at Lincoln's Inn, in 1864 canon-residentiary at Exeter Cathedral (replacing Harold Browne), and in 1869 chaplain to the bishop of London. (10 volumes), which became known as The Speaker's Commentary, was given to Cook, and it appeared 1871 to 1882.

The Apocrypha were treated separately under the editorship of Henry Wace in 1888. The Commentary came under attack: the portions by Harold Browne on the Pentateuch were criticised by Colenso, Abraham Kuenen, and others. 1871 The Pentateuch and Genesis by Edward Harold Browne, Exodus by Cook, (Egyptian Words by Charles Wycliffe Goodwin is given as one of two essays by Cook) I part II Leviticus-Deuteronomy Deuteronomy by Espin II Joshua-I Kings VI Ezekiel, Daniel and the minor prophets Daniel by Henry John Rose and John Mee Fuller, Hosea by E. Huxtable, Joel by Frederick Meyrick, Amos by Robert Gandell, Obadiah by Meyrick, Jonah by Huxtable, Micah by Samuel Clark, Nahum by Gandell, Habakkuk by Cook, Zephaniah by Gandell, Haggai by W. Drake, Zechariah by Drake New Testament I St Matthew-St Luke II St John. The Acts of the Apostles III Romans-Philemon IV Hebrews-The Revelation of St John

Cook himself was a critic of the revised New Testament, in The Revised Version of the First Three Gospels (1882). In The Origins of Religion and Language (1884), he upheld the original unity of speech. He is said to have been acquainted with 52 languages. but left no issue.

He was a brother-in-law to the Rev. Robert Montgomery and uncle to Jessie Montgomery.

Cook died at Exeter on the 22 June 1889.

His widow died at Exeter on 5 October 1889.