Tributes paid to The Rev’d Dr Andrew Macintosh, ‘a remarkable man and priest’

An internationally-renowned Hebrew and Bible scholar once described as 'the best preacher in England', has died.

The Rev’d Dr Andrew Macintosh, a Life Fellow at St John’s, and former Chaplain, Tutor, Dean of Chapel and President, died on Thursday 5 December 2024.

An ordained priest of the Church of England, Dr Macintosh had a long and distinguished academic career. In the 1970s he was asked to help create The Cambridge Liturgical Psalter, a major new translation of the Psalms from Hebrew into quality modern English. A revised edition was published in September with Dr Macintosh’s new introduction.

Heather Hancock, Master of St John’s College, said: “Andrew Macintosh was a much loved and widely admired member of St John’s for close on 70 years.  A ‘born’ Johnian, Andrew has been a constant and commanding presence in the Chapel and the College, extending to all a warm embrace and an invigorating call to action. He was an inspiring teacher and a learned Hebrew scholar.

“Andrew’s last sermon in the Chapel, delivered at our 2024 Commemoration of Benefactors service with his customary passion and direction, stands in testament to a remarkable man and priest. He will be deeply and long missed by generations of Johnians.”

Widely known for being a foster carer of more than 100 children over the years with his wife, Mary, Dr Macintosh was born in Eastbourne, Sussex on 14 December 1936. His father was a Church of England priest and his mother a teacher. Educated at Eastbourne College, he majored in Latin, Greek and Ancient History before coming up to St John’s College in 1956 to read Theology and Religious Studies, displaying a flair for Hebrew studies.

After graduating in 1959, he did a specialist course in Hebrew and the Old Testament and was elected Wyndham Deedes Scholar to Jerusalem. Dr Macintosh was ordained deacon and then priest in Lincoln Cathedral and was later given a lectureship at St David’s College, University of Wales, to teach Greek, Hebrew and the Old Testament. He returned to Cambridge in 1967 after being appointed chaplain of St John’s and became a Fellow in 1969.

Once described as ‘the best preacher in England’ by a Minister of the Crown, Dr Macintosh was Dean of Chapel and Director of Studies in Theology at St John’s from 1979 until his retirement in 2002. He was College President from 1995, serving the customary four years in post, and was awarded a Doctor of Divinity degree in 1997.

“Andrew had a generous heart and an independent and inquisitive mind”

The Rev’d Dr Victoria Johnson, Dean of Chapel at St John’s College, said: “Andrew was a faithful priest, teacher, scholar, and friend to students, Fellows and staff at the College over many decades. He had a generous heart and an independent and inquisitive mind. He was much loved by the whole College community and his presence here will be greatly missed. We pray that after a life of love and service, he may now rest in peace and rise in glory.” 

For some 40 years Dr Macintosh lectured on Hebrew language and literature in the Faculties of Divinity and of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Cambridge.

He co-produced The Cambridge Liturgical Psalter (1976) with David L Frost and John Emerton, which was the Church of England’s Alternative Service Book in 1980 and has been used widely for worship. The translation required knowledge of the original Hebrew of the Psalms and its transmission through Greek, Latin and 15th-century English. He was also a reviser of the New English Bible (1970), which became the Revised English Bible (1989).

Dr Macintosh’s other publications include a monograph, Isaiah xxi: A palimpsest (Cambridge University Press, 1980), and Hosea: A Critical and Exegetical Commentary (International Critical Commentary series, T&T Clark, 1997).

His passionate interest in Hebrew as a Biblical language and its links with its sister language Arabic also saw Dr Macintosh pen many articles in learned journals. His research included the work of the 10th-century Jewish scholar, Rabbi Jonah ibn Janah, who wrote a dictionary of Hebrew in his native Arabic.

In 2013, Dr Macintosh was recognised by former students and colleagues with the book, Leshon Limmudim: Essays on the Language and Literature of the Hebrew Bible in Honour of AA Macintosh, edited by RP Gordon and DA Baer (Bloomsbury). The following year (with Dr CL Engle) he produced the acclaimed T&T Clark Hebrew Primer, which was designed to restore the knowledge of Hebrew to those who once knew the language.

“He was an inspiring teacher who never lost the sense of how challenging learning a new language can be” 

St John’s Fellow Professor Nathan MacDonald, Professor of the Interpretation of the Old Testament, and College Director of Studies in Theology, Religion, and Philosophy of Religion, said: “As well as being Dean of St John’s, Andrew taught elementary Hebrew to generations of Cambridge students, including myself.

"He was an inspiring teacher who never lost the sense of how challenging learning a new language can be. His classes were peppered with rhymes to help students learn grammar and with ‘gossip’, little details about the Bible that could only be understood with a knowledge of Hebrew.

“But he was not just a teacher, he was also an accomplished scholar. His magnum opus was an outstanding commentary on the book of Hosea, a book with extremely difficult Hebrew. The commentary draws on Andrew’s interest in the Jewish interpretive tradition as well as his knowledge of Arabic.” 

Away from his academic work, Dr Macintosh travelled extensively on world tours with The Choir of St John’s College, and for around 20 years he was guest speaker on the Bible on expeditions to the Sinai desert. A supporter of the College’s Lady Margaret Boat Club, he rowed in the Fellows’ Boat of 1973 (LMBC 11), which won its oars, and in the following year he coached the Sixth Boat.

Friend and colleague Dr George Reid, a Fellow of St John’s and former Senior Bursar, added: “Scholar, teacher, tutor, colleague, friend: Andrew’s life and ministry touched the lives of so many Johnians across the decades. Throughout that time he unstintingly promoted love of the brethren and all sound learning and I shall ever remember him with fondness, gratitude and respect.”

As well as a large foster family, Dr Macintosh leaves his wife Mary and their four children and grandchildren.

• A Funeral Mass, to which all are welcome, will be held on Wednesday 15 January 2025 at 1.30pm in the Chapel of St John's College.

Published: 6/12/2024

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