Maurice Benoit, also Pierre-Maurice and Maurice-Marie Benoit (3 August 1906 – 23 April 1987),[1] better known as Father Pierre Benoit, was a French Catholic priest, exegete, and theologian who became an expert on the archaeology of Jerusalem.[2] [3] Pierre Benoit impressed with his combination of both unswerving Christian faith, and skeptical and open-minded approach to biblical history typical for a scientist, the one side never impeding on the other.[3]
A Dominican,[1] Pierre Benoit studied the New Testament at the École Biblique in Jerusalem where he arrived in 1933.[2] He taught at the École until 1984[1] and directed the institute between 1966 and 1971[2] or 1964–1972,[1] as well as its journal, the Revue biblique, from 1953 to 1968.[2] An expert on the Second Vatican Council, he became a member of the Pontifical Biblical Institute and of the Pontifical Biblical Commission.[1]
His work was principally composed of the translation of biblical texts written in Koine Greek, and the co-ordination of the translation of the Bible into French, resulting in La Bible de Jérusalem (1956), which preceded by a decade and informed the English-language Jerusalem Bible. In particular, he was the author of the translation of the Gospel of Matthew in this edition, as well as the Epistles to the Philippians, Philemon, the Colossians, and the Ephesians.
Pierre Benoit was also the author of a four-volume work entitled Exegesis and Theology, published between 1961 and 1982 at Éditions du Cerf.
In 1971 he became the publication director for the Qumran Manuscripts,[2] acting as chairman of the international committee in charge of publishing a great part of the Dead Sea Scrolls.[3]
Pierre Benoit took a close interest in the historical topography of Jerusalem, making detailed visits to the excavations.[2] In the 1970s he became more deeply involved in the archaeological research of Christian sites in Jerusalem. One of his most extensive pieces of work in this field was the thorough and definitive assessment of previous excavations done by others at the site of the Antonia Fortress, and the surrounding area.