Maurice (Pierre in religion), Benoît, o.p. (MB)

Person

Maurice (Pierre in religion), Benoît, o.p. (MB)

• Father Pierre

1906-1987

Born on August 3, 1906 in Nancy, Maurice Benoît came from a family of local notables: his grandfather, Charles Benoît, a member of the first class of the French School of Athens, was dean of the Faculty of Arts in Nancy; his father, Auguste Benoît, a doctor of law, was a lawyer by profession; two of his uncles, François Geny and Georges Renard, were law professors; one of his brothers, Jacques Benoît, a biologist, was a professor at the Collège de France.

Like his elder brother Paul Benoît, he was destined for Benedictine religious life. He then took the first name of Pierre; he was ordained a priest in 1930. After studying theology at the Dominican College of Saulchoir in Kain, near Tournai (Belgium) from 1924 to 1932, then biblical studies at the Ecole Biblique est archéologique française in Jerusalem, he obtained his degree in Sacred Scripture on 22 November 1934.
At the request of Fr. Lagrange, he settled permanently at the Convent of St. Stephen in Jerusalem and became a professor at the French Biblical and Archaeological School, first of all in New Testament exegesis, then in Biblical Greek, in textual criticism of the Bible, Epistles and Gospels; at the end of his life, he was also in charge of Jerusalem's topography courses, as well as the organization of the School's archaeological excursions and trips.

Within the French Biblical and Archaeological School, his responsibilities led him to be Director of the Biblical Review from 1953 to 1968 and to take over from Fr. de Vaux as Director of the School from 1965 to 1972. He coordinates the publication of the Jerusalem Bible, in particular the New Testament, for which he is responsible, the Gospel according to Saint Matthew, the Epistles of captivity, the introductions and the key notes. He also closely follows the translations of the Jerusalem Bible into foreign languages. In 1967, he published the memories of his mentor, Le P. Lagrange. In the service of the Bible. Personal memories.
A recognized specialist in biblical exegesis, he was successively appointed member of the Preparatory Commission of the Churches of the East for the Second Vatican Council on 24 August 1960, expert at the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council on 27 April 1964, member of the Pontifical Commission for Neo-Vulgate on 1 June 1967, and member of the Pontifical Biblical Commission in 1972.

An active member of several learned societies, including the Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas and the French Catholic Association for the Study of the Bible, he participates in numerous international conferences and gives numerous lectures throughout the world, both in the field of Christian theology and biblical archaeology. He was also administrator of the Palestinian Archaeological Museum (Rockefeller Museum) until 1967. Maintaining close relations with Western academics, he obtained an honorary doctorate from the University of Munich in 1972 and Durham in 1977.

Author, among others of Passion and Resurrection of the Lord (1966) and Synopsis of the Four Gospels (1965), he chose to gather most of his scattered articles in a four-volume publication Exegesis and Theology, from 1961 to 1982.
Knight of the Legion of Honour by decree of 29 April 1959, he was promoted to officer of the Legion of Honour by decree of 12 July 1974.

He had been suffering from cancer for several years and died on April 23, 1987.

ISAAR (CPF), 2nd Edition, 2004.

March 2014; February 2017; November 2018.

MURPHY-O’CONNOR Jérôme o.p., Le Nouveau Testament. Cent ans d’exégèse à l’Ecole biblique, chapitre III : « Pierre Benoît, o.p. », Paris : Gabalda, 1990, coll. Cahiers de la Revue biblique, n° 27, p. 39-83.
MURPHY-O’CONNOR Jérôme o.p., « Père Pierre (Maurice) Benoît », dans Lettre de Jérusalem aux Anciens et aux Amis de l’Ecole biblique et archéologique française, n° 64, mars 1988, p. 1-11.

Author(s) : Vincent Boully, conservateur du patrimoine stagiaire