# Edward Pococke

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English orientalist and biblical scholar (1604–1691)

Edward Pococke Born 8 November 1604 Oxford Died 10 September 1691 (aged 86) Oxford Occupation Orientalist, writer, biblical scholar, theologian Children Edward Pococke

**Edward Pococke** (baptised 8 November 1604 – 10 September 1691) was an English Orientalist and biblical scholar.[1]

## Early life

The son of Edward Pococke (died 1636),[2] vicar of [Chieveley](/source/Chieveley) in Berkshire, he was brought up at Chieveley and educated from a young age at [Lord Williams's School](/source/Lord_Williams's_School), [Thame](/source/Thame), Oxfordshire. He matriculated at [Magdalen Hall, Oxford](/source/Magdalen_Hall%2C_Oxford) in 1619, and later was admitted to [Corpus Christi College, Oxford](/source/Corpus_Christi_College%2C_Oxford) (scholar in 1620, fellow in 1628).[1] He was ordained a priest of the [Church of England](/source/Church_of_England) on 20 December 1629.

The first result of his studies was an edition from a [Bodleian Library](/source/Bodleian_Library) manuscript of the four [New Testament](/source/New_Testament) [epistles](/source/Epistle) (*2 Peter*, *2* and *3 John*, *Jude*) which were not in the old [Syriac](/source/Syriac_Catholic_Church) canon, and were not contained in European editions of the *[Peshita](/source/Peshitta)*. This was published at [Leiden](/source/Leiden) at the instigation of [Gerard Vossius](/source/Gerard_Vossius) in 1630, and in the same year Pococke sailed for [Aleppo](/source/Aleppo), Syria as chaplain to the English [factor](/source/Factor_(agent)).[1] At Aleppo he studied the [Arabic language](/source/Arabic_language) and collected manuscripts. He also studied and translated Arabic Islamic works. His *Philosophus Autodidacticus*, a translation of [Ibn Tufayl](/source/Ibn_Tufayl)'s *Life of Hayy Ibn Yaqzan*, may have influenced the political philosopher [John Locke](/source/John_Locke).[3]

At this time [William Laud](/source/William_Laud) was both [Bishop of London](/source/Bishop_of_London) and chancellor of the [University of Oxford](/source/University_of_Oxford), and Pococke was recognised as one who could help his schemes for enriching the university. Laud founded a [Chair of Arabic](/source/Laudian_Professor_of_Arabic) at Oxford, and invited Pococke to fill it.[1] He entered the post on 10 August 1636; but the next summer he sailed back to [Constantinople](/source/Constantinople) in the company of [John Greaves](/source/John_Greaves), later [Savilian Professor of Astronomy](/source/Savilian_Professor_of_Astronomy) at Oxford, to prosecute further studies and collect more books; he remained there for about three years.[1][4]

## Return to England

When he returned to England, Laud was in the [Tower of London](/source/Tower_of_London), but had taken the precaution to make the Arabic chair permanent. Pococke does not seem to have been an extreme churchman or to have been active in politics. His rare scholarship and personal qualities brought him influential friends, foremost among these being [John Selden](/source/John_Selden) and [John Owen](/source/John_Owen_(theologian)). Through their offices he obtained, in 1648, the chair of [Hebrew](/source/Hebrew_language) at the [University of Oxford](/source/University_of_Oxford) on the death of [John Morris](/source/John_Morris_(Hebraist)), though he lost the emoluments of the post soon after, and did not recover them until the [Restoration](/source/English_Restoration).[1]

These events hampered Pococke in his studies, or so he complained in the preface to his *[Eutychius](/source/Eutychius_of_Alexandria)*; he resented the attempts to remove him from his parish of [Childrey](/source/Childrey), a college living near [Wantage](/source/Wantage) in North Berkshire (now Oxfordshire) which he had accepted in 1643. In 1649, he published the *Specimen historiae arabum*, a short account of the origin and manners of the Arabs, taken from [Bar-Hebraeus](/source/Bar-Hebraeus) (Abulfaragius), with notes from a vast number of manuscript sources which are still valuable. This was followed in 1655 by the *Porta Mosis*, extracts from the Arabic commentary of [Maimonides](/source/Maimonides) on the *[Mishnah](/source/Mishnah)*, with translation and very learned notes; and in 1656 by the annals of Eutychius in Arabic and [Latin](/source/Latin_language). He also gave active assistance to [Brian Walton](/source/Brian_Walton_(bishop))'s polyglot bible, and the preface to the various readings of the *Arabic [Pentateuch](/source/Pentateuch)* is from his hand.[1]

## Post-Restoration

Bust of Pococke in [Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford](/source/Christ_Church_Cathedral%2C_Oxford)

After the Restoration, Pococke's political and financial troubles ended, but the reception of his *magnum opus*—a complete edition of the Arabic history of [Bar-Hebraeus](/source/Bar-Hebraeus) (*Greg. Abulfaragii historia compendiosa dynastiarum*), which he dedicated to the king in 1663—showed that the new order of things was not very favourable to scholarship. After this, his most important works were a *Lexicon heptaglotton* (1669) and English commentaries on *Micah* (1677), *Malachi* (1677), *Hosea* (1685) and *Joel* (1691). An Arabic translation of [Grotius](/source/Hugo_Grotius)'s *De veritate*, which appeared in 1660, may also be mentioned as a proof of Pococke's interest in the propagation of [Christianity](/source/Christianity) in the East,[1] as is his later Arabic translation of the *[Book of Common Prayer](/source/Book_of_Common_Prayer_(1662))* in 1674.[5] Pococke had a long-standing interest in the subject, which he had talked over with Grotius at Paris on his way back from Constantinople.[1]

## Personal life

Pococke married Mary Burdet in about 1646, and they had six sons and three daughters.[2] One son, Edward (1648–1727),[2] published several contributions from [Arabic literature](/source/Arabic_literature): a fragment of [Abd al-Latif al-Baghdadi](/source/Abd_al-Latif_al-Baghdadi_(medieval_writer))'s *Account of Egypt* and the *[Philosophus Autodidactus](/source/Hayy_ibn_Yaqdhan)* of [Ibn Tufayl](/source/Ibn_Tufayl) (Abubacer).[1][4]

Edward Pococke died on 10 September 1691 and was buried in the north aisle of [Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford](/source/Christ_Church_Cathedral%2C_Oxford). His monument, a bust erected by his widow, is now elsewhere in the cathedral.

## Legacy

His valuable collection of 420 oriental manuscripts was bought by the university in 1693 for 600l., and is in the Bodleian (catalogued in Bernard, Cat. Libr. MSS. pp. 274–278, and in later special catalogues), and some of his printed books were acquired by the Bodleian in 1822, by bequest from the Rev. C. Francis of Brasenose (Macray, Annals of the Bodl. Libr. p. 161).

Both [Edward Gibbon](/source/Edward_Gibbon)[6] and [Thomas Carlyle](/source/Thomas_Carlyle) exposed some "pious" lies in the missionary work by Grotius translated by Pococke, which were omitted from the Arabic text.

The theological works of Pococke were collected, in two volumes, in 1740, with a curious account of his life and writings by [Leonard Twells](/source/Leonard_Twells).[1][7]

The Pococke Garden of [Christ Church, Oxford](/source/Christ_Church%2C_Oxford) is named after him, and contains the Pococke Tree, an [Oriental Plane](/source/Platanus_orientalis) planted by him, possibly from seed he collected around 1636. This tree, with its circa nine metre girth, may be the inspiration for the Tumtum tree of Lewis Carol's poem [Jabberwocky](/source/Jabberwocky).[8][9]

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-EB1911_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-EB1911_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-EB1911_1-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-EB1911_1-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-EB1911_1-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-EB1911_1-5) [***g***](#cite_ref-EB1911_1-6) [***h***](#cite_ref-EB1911_1-7) [***i***](#cite_ref-EB1911_1-8) [***j***](#cite_ref-EB1911_1-9) [***k***](#cite_ref-EB1911_1-10) One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the [public domain](/source/Public_domain): [Chisholm, Hugh](/source/Hugh_Chisholm), ed. (1911). "[Pococke, Edward](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Pococke,_Edward)". *[Encyclopædia Britannica](/source/Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica_Eleventh_Edition)*. Vol. 21 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 873.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-DNB_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-DNB_2-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-DNB_2-2) Lane-Poole, Stanley (1896). ["Pococke, Edward"](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Dictionary_of_National_Biography,_1885-1900/Pococke,_Edward). In [Lee, Sidney](/source/Sidney_Lee) (ed.). *[Dictionary of National Biography](/source/Dictionary_of_National_Biography)*. Vol. 46. London: [Smith, Elder & Co](/source/Smith%2C_Elder_%26_Co).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-ds1_3-0)** Kalın, İbrahim (10 March 2018). ["'Hayy ibn Yaqdhan' and the European Enlightenment"](https://www.dailysabah.com/columns/ibrahim-kalin/2018/03/10/hayy-ibn-yaqdhan-and-the-european-enlightenment). *Daily Sabah*. Retrieved 19 June 2024.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-amazon.com_4-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-amazon.com_4-1) Avner Ben-Zaken, "Exploring the Self, Experimenting Nature", in [Reading Hayy Ibn-Yaqzan: A Cross-Cultural History of Autodidacticism (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2011)](https://www.amazon.com/Reading-Hayy-Ibn-Yaqzan-Cross-Cultural-Autodidacticism/dp/0801897394/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1343310784&sr=8-3&keywords=avner+ben-zaken), pp. 101-125.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["Library Spotlight: 1674 Book of Common Prayer in Arabic"](https://web.archive.org/web/20141209011539/http://www.salisburycathedral.org.uk/news/library-spotlight-1674-book-common-prayer-arabic). Salisbury Cathedral. Archived from [the original](http://www.salisburycathedral.org.uk/news/library-spotlight-1674-book-common-prayer-arabic) on 9 December 2014. Retrieved 7 December 2014.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Gibbon, Edward (1781). [*Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire*](http://ccel.org/g/gibbon/decline/volume2/nt500/154.htm). Vol II Ch. 50, n.154

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Twells, Leonard (1816). [*The Lives of Dr. Edward Pocock: the celebrated orientalist, Volume 1*](https://books.google.com/books?id=FvI7AAAAYAAJ). London: Printed for F.C. and J. Rivington, by R. and R. Gilbert.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** ["Pococke Garden"](https://www.chch.ox.ac.uk/pococke-garden). *Christ Church*. Retrieved 23 August 2022.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** ["Christ Church College's Hidden Gardens"](https://www.oxmag.co.uk/articles/christ-church-collegeandrsquos-hidden-gardens/). *OX Magazine*. Retrieved 23 August 2022.

- Avner Ben-Zaken, "Exploring the Self, Experimenting Nature", in *[Reading Hayy Ibn-Yaqzan: A Cross-Cultural History of Autodidacticism](https://www.amazon.com/Reading-Hayy-Ibn-Yaqzan-Cross-Cultural-Autodidacticism/dp/0801897394/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1343310784&sr=8-3&keywords=avner+ben-zaken)* (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2011), pp. 101–125. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0801897399](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0801897399)

## External links

- [P. M. Holt, article on Pococke](http://oxoniensia.org/volumes/1991/holt.pdf), [Oxoniensia](/source/Oxoniensia) vol. 56, 1991

- [Portraits of Edward Pococke](https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person.php?LinkID=mp39926) at the [National Portrait Gallery, London](/source/National_Portrait_Gallery%2C_London)

- [The Correspondence of Edward Pococke](http://emlo-portal.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/collections/?catalogue=edward-pococke), Early Modern Letters Online [EMLO], ed. [Howard Hotson](/source/Howard_Hotson) and Miranda Lewis

- [Liturgiæ Ecclesiae Anglicanae partes præcipuæ: sc. preces matutinæ et vespertinæ, ordo administrandi cænam Domini, et ordo baptismi publici; in Linguam Arabicam traductæ](https://books.google.com/books?id=FTA-AAAAcAAJ) 1674 translation

- [Liturgiæ Ecclesiae Anglicanae partes præcipuæ: sc. preces matutinæ et vespertinæ, ordo administrandi cænam Domini, et ordo baptismi publici; in Linguam Arabicam traductæ](http://mammana.org/bcp/arabic1826/) 1826 edition, digitized by Richard Mammana

- ['Hayy ibn Yaqdhan' and the European Enlightenment](https://www.dailysabah.com/columns/ibrahim-kalin/2018/03/10/hayy-ibn-yaqdhan-and-the-european-enlightenment)

v t e Laudian Professors of Arabic Chair established by William Laud Edward Pococke (1636) Thomas Hyde (1691) John Wallis (1703) Thomas Hunt (1738) Joseph White (1774) Thomas Winstanley (1814) Wyndham Knatchbull (1823) Stephen Reay (1840) Robert Gandell (1861) David Margoliouth (1889) Sir Hamilton Gibb (1937) Alfred Beeston (1955) Wilferd Madelung (1978) Geert Jan van Gelder (1998) Julia Bray (2012) Tahera Qutbuddin (2023) University of Oxford portal

v t e Regius Professors of Hebrew University of Oxford Thomas Harding Richard Bruerne Thomas Neale Thomas Kingsmill John Harding William Thorne Richard Kilby Edward Meetkerke John Morris Edward Pococke Roger Altham Thomas Hyde Robert Clavering Thomas Hunt Richard Brown George Jubb Benjamin Blayney Joseph White Richard Laurence Alexander Nicoll Edward Bouverie Pusey Samuel Rolles Driver G. A. Cooke Godfrey Rolles Driver Herbert Danby Cuthbert Simpson Sir Godfrey Rolles Driver William Duff McHardy James Barr Hugh G. M. Williamson Jan Joosten University of Cambridge Thomas Wakefeld Paul Fagius Immanuel Tremellius Antoine Rodolphe Chevallier Philippe Bignon Edward Lively Robert Spaldinge Geoffrey Kynge Andrew Byng Robert Metcalfe Ralph Cudworth Wolfram Stubbe James Talbot Henry Sike Philip Bouquett Thomas Harrison Charles Torriano William Disney William Collier John Porter Henry Lloyd Samuel Lee William Hodge Mill Thomas Jarrett Alexander Francis Kirkpatrick Robert Hatch Kennett Stanley Arthur Cook David Winton Thomas John Adney Emerton Robert P. Gordon Geoffrey Khan Aaron Koller

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Edward Pococke](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Pococke) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Pococke?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.