Cause of death Heart attack Name Raymond Dillard | Occupation Old Testament scholar Nationality American | |
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Born January 7, 1944 ( 1944-01-07 ) Louisville, Kentucky, USA Alma mater Bob Jones University (B.A., 1966); Westminster Theological Seminary (B.D., 1969); Dropsie University (Ph.D., 1975) Notable work 2 Chronicles (commentary);
An Introduction to the Old Testament Died 1993, Zionsville, Pennsylvania, United States Organization Evangelical Theological Society, Society of Biblical Literature, Institute for Biblical Research Books An introduction to the Old, Faith in the Face of Apostasy, 2 Chronicles, A Quick Introduction to the Old, Biblical Hebrew vocabular | ||
Denomination Orthodox Presbyterian | ||
Raymond Bryan Dillard (January 7, 1944 – October 1, 1993) was a professor of Old Testament language and literature at Westminster Theological Seminary.
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Life
Dillard was born on 7 January 1944 in Louisville, Kentucky, the son of Raymond and Ruth Dillard. After graduating from High School in Fayetteville, North Carolina in 1962, he went to study at Bob Jones University (B.A. 1966), Westminster Theological Seminary (B.D. 1969), and Dropsie University (Ph.D. 1975). He did postdoctoral research at Temple University, the University of Pennsylvania, and Tel Aviv University. He taught at Westminster Theological Seminary as professor of Old Testament language and literature from 1971 until his death in 1993.
Dillard was a member of the Society of Biblical Literature, where he worked in the Chronicles-Ezra-Nehemia section. He also held memberships in the Evangelical Theological Society and in the Institute for Biblical Research.
Among his major academic publications were an extensive commentary on 2 Chronicles published as part of the Word Biblical Commentary (Dillard 1988), a commentary on the Book of Joel (Dillard 1992), and his magnum opus, An Introduction to the Old Testament, which he wrote together with Tremper Longman and which was published posthumously, three months after his death (Dillard & Longman 1994).
To his students and colleagues, he was known as a "master of classroom drama" who "captivated mind and hearts".
Raymond Bryan Dillard died of a heart attack on October 1, 1993, in the woods near Zionsville, Pennsylvania. He was survived by his parents, his wife Ann, and his three sons Joel, Jonathan, and Joshua.