Guy Lefèvre de la Boderie

Who was Guy Lefèvre de la Boderie?

Guy Lefèvre de la Boderie was a French Orientalist, Bible scholar and poet.

At an early age he devoted himself to the study of Middle Eastern languages, particularly Hebrew and Syriac. After much travelling in different provinces of France he settled down to uninterrupted study under the guidance of the Orientalist Guillaume Postel, who was a professor in the Collège de France. Guy was convinced that study and knowledge were keys to religious faith, in particular in regard to Biblical work. He selected Syriac and Aramaic as his special department in the hope of coming nearer to the mind of Christ by the study of his vernacular. His first published work of importance was a Latin version of the Syriac New Testament published in 1560. This work attracted much attention, and in 1568 Guy was invited by Benito Arias Montano to assist in the production of the Antwerp Polyglot. Guy accepted the invitation and proceeded to Antwerp with his brother Nicolas who was also an Orientalist.

The work assigned to Guy by Arias Montano was the editing of the Syriac New Testament. He examined for this purpose a new manuscript of it which Postel had brought from the East.