Edward Pococke

Edward Pococke ( born November 8, 1604 Oxford; † September 10, 1691 in Oxford ) was a British Orientalist and theologian.

Life

Pococke first studied theology at Oxford before he devoted himself to the study of Arabic under the guidance of Matthias Pasor and William Bedwell. From 1630 to 1635 he was an Anglican chaplain to the Levant Company in Aleppo. In 1636 he became the first professor of Arabic at Oxford. The chair was donated by William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury. From 1637 to 1640 lived in Constantinople Pococke Opel. In 1648 he was also Professor of Hebrew. As an employee he supported from 1654 to 1657 Brian Walton, Bishop of Chester, in the creation of the London Polyglot, a multilingual translation of the Bible. The mission among Muslims, he set in 1660 the work of Hugo Grotius, De Veritate Christianae religionis, into Arabic.