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William Smits

1704 – 1770

Flemish biblical scholar

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About William Smits

Lived 1704 – 1770 (aged 66). William Smits was a biblical scholar.

Willem Smits (1704 – 1 December 1770) was a Dutch Franciscan orientalist and exegete.

Biography Smits was born in Kevelaer in the Duchy of Guelders. He entered the Order of Friars Minor at the age of eighteen. As a religious, he devoted himself to the study of the Bible and biblical languages, eventually being appointed a lector.

From 1732 to 1744, he published, at Antwerp, several biblical theses dealing with questions of textual criticism and chronology. In one of these, , he argues that the Latin Vulgate is substantially a faithful translation of the original Hebrew; and in another, , that the Septuagint is preferable to the actual Hebrew text.

At the request of Thomas Philip Wallrad de Hénin-Liétard d'Alsace, then Archbishop of Mechelen, Smits undertook the translation of the entire Bible into Dutch. The title is: Of this series he lived to finish only thirteen books, which were published, in seventeen volumes, from 1744 to 1767. The work was continued by his collaborator and former pupil, Peter van Hove.

In 1765, Smits was appointed the first prefect of the "Musaeum philologico-sacrum", a Franciscan biblical institute in Antwerp.

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Important facts

Birth century
Occupation
Also known as
Willem Smits

Contemporaries

People whose lives overlapped William Smits's

Frequently asked questions

Who was William Smits?

Flemish biblical scholar

When was William Smits born?

William Smits was born on 27 January 1704.

When did William Smits die?

William Smits died on 1 December 1770.

What was William Smits's occupation?

William Smits was a biblical scholar.

Sources & further reading

· Wikipedia: William Smits

· Wikidata: Q8018568

· DBpedia: Willem Smits

Cite this page

APA: Biography.guide. (2026). William Smits. https://biography.guide/william-smits/

MLA: "William Smits." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/william-smits/.

Chicago: "William Smits." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/william-smits/.

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