THE REV WILLIAM McKANE was one of the foremost Old Testament scholars of his generation. He served with great distinction as Professor of Hebrew and Oriental Languages at St Andrews University from 1968 until 1990. His chief interest was in the exegesis of the Hebrew Bible, and his major publications established him as an international authority in the prophetic literature and the wisdom tradition.
In 1965, McKane placed Old Testament scholarship in his debt with the publication of Prophets and Wise Men. His commentary, Proverbs (1970), his two-volume A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Jeremiah (1986/1996), and his Micah: Introduction and Commentary (1998) explored the themes of wisdom and prophecy and confirmed their author as a scholar of international standing.
William McKane was born in Dundee in 1921 and left Stobswell School at the age of 15 to work as a clerk for H & A Scott, the jute manufacturer, intending to pursue a business career. But when he decided to enter the ministry of the Original Secession Church, the Church into which he had been born, he began to study for university entrance. When war came, he joined the RAF and served from 1941 to 1945. Near the end of the war, he passed the last hurdle, Higher Greek, at a special examination held in an RAF station in the Netherlands.
He entered St Andrews University in January 1946, graduating with honours in philosophy and English. During the three long vacations he studied for the ministry. In 1949 he was ordained in Kilwinning, near Irvine, where he met Agnes, his future wife. While minister at Kilwinning, preaching three times a week, he travelled into Glasgow daily to study Semitic languages and took a first-class honours degree in 1952, the year in which he was married. He joined to the Church of Scotland in 1956. Glasgow University offered him an assistantship in Hebrew in 1953, and he completed his PhD in 1956. He was promoted to lecturer and then senior lecturer at Glasgow, before he moved to the chair of Hebrew and Oriental Languages in St Andrews in 1968.
McKane published on almost all aspects of Old Testament study from I & II Samuel in 1966 and Studies in the Patriarchal Narratives in 1979 to his Selected Christian Hebraists in 1989. The last showed great breadth of learning, dealing with the scholarship of figures as far apart as Origen and Alexander Geddes.
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McKane was a translation panel member for the Revised English Bible, and was on the editorial board of the Zeitschrift für die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft. His deep interest in the ancient versions of the Old Testament is reflected in his being elected chairman of the Peshitta (Old Testament in Syriac) project of the International Organisation for the Study of the Old Testament.
Retirement, in 1990, meant more time for research, and he went on to publish reflections on philosophy and Old Testament theology, A Late Harvest (1995); the second volume of Jeremiah (1996) and his commentary on Micah (1998). He was working on a commentary on the book of Job when he died — having already submitted the manuscript of chapters 1-25.
His formidable intellect and his rigorous discipline made him very demanding. In particular, scholars who ignored textual problems fell in his estimation. Of one prominent British scholar he was heard to say: “He is very clever, but he doesn’t get his hands soiled in the complexities of the Masoretic Text”.
He always took book reviewing seriously, often producing a review article. Of one such review a notable scholar remarked that McKane’s review was much better than the book itself.
His academic achievements were recognised in the award of a DLitt (Glas); DDhc (Edin); fellowships of the British Academy and the Royal Society of Edinburgh; the Burkitt Medal (British Academy); the presidency of the Society for Old Testament Study; a Festschrift on his 65th birthday, a fellowship at the National Humanities Centre, North Carolina, and corresponding membership of the Göttingen Akademie der Wissenschaften.
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While in St Andrews, McKane served as dean of the faculty of divinity and principal of St Mary’s College. For more than 20 years, he led his Old Testament colleagues in a uniquely stable and harmonious department. He was much against the interference by the Government in the UK universities, arguing that no amount of window-dressing could hide the fact that academic standards had fallen drastically.
McKane’s interests and abilities were not confined to the academic sphere. He took a keen interest in the university chapel services. He preached only infrequently, but when he did it was with dignity, sensitivity and a rare perspicacity.
While an undergraduate McKane collected a blue for football, and played for the university staff cricket team into his 60s. He was a loyal supporter of the University 1st XV, a frequent visitor to Murrayfield, a member of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club and a keen hill walker. He maintained his interest in English literature and was a familiar figure at concerts in St Andrews.
McKane was not at home in large gatherings where small talk was the order of the day, but was more at ease in the company of a few friends. While he was pleased by the honours which came his way, he did not seek publicity. He had great integrity, was a man of principle and strong loyalties, and a valued member of his local congregation.
He was sustained in his academic work and in his home life by his strong and fulfilling marriage of more than 50 years.
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His family was extremely important to him and, though never boastful, there could be no doubt about the satisfaction and pride he took in each member of his family and all their achievements. He is survived by his wife, three sons and two daughters.
William McKane, Hebraist and Old Testament scholar, was born on February 21, 1921. He died on September 4, 2004, aged 83.