Following service in World War II in the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy where he was a pilot of torpedo bombers and took part in air-sea rescue missions,[4] he studied at Edinburgh University, obtaining a first-class honours degree (Scottish MA) in Classics (1948) and the BD with Distinction in Old Testament (1951). After ordination (1951) and service as minister in the Church of Scotland in Tiberias, Israel (1951–53), during which time he acquired fluency in modern Hebrew and Arabic, he was appointed Professor of New Testament in the Presbyterian College, Montreal (1953–55). Then he was appointed Professor of Old Testament Language, Literature & Theology in Edinburgh University (New College, 1955–61). He then moved to the US as Professor of Old Testament in Princeton Theological Seminary (1961–65),[5] followed by appointments in the University of Manchester (1965–76) as Professor Semitic Languages and Literatures, and in Oxford University, initially as Oriel Professor of the Interpretation of Holy Scripture (1976–78) and then as Regius Professor of Hebrew (1978–89). After his retirement from Oxford, he was appointed Professor of Hebrew Bible in Vanderbilt University (1989–98).[4]
His The Semantics of Biblical Language (1961), in which he criticised the tendency of many scholars to rely on linguistically flawed arguments, such as arguments from etymology or based upon misconceptions about the relation between Hebrew thought and language was very influential. Much of the critique was built upon the work of French linguist Ferdinand de Saussure. In turn, Barr's student Moisés Silva built on Barr's work in Biblical Words and Their Meaning (1983). In another important study, Comparative Philology and the Text of the Old Testament (1968), he criticised the tendency to ascribe meanings to difficult Hebrew words based on words in other Semitic languages (e.g., Ugaritic). This study has been described as having "put comparative Semitic philology on a new and firmer footing."[9] He edited Journal of Semitic Studies 1965–76, and served as editor of the Oxford Hebrew Dictionary project.
He was also an outspoken critic of conservativeevangelicalism, which he attacked in his 1977 book Fundamentalism. In particular he criticised evangelical scholars such as J. I. Packer for affirming the doctrine of scriptural inerrancy, the teaching that the Bible is without error. Barr's other works about fundamentalism include The Scope and Authority of the Bible (1980) and Escaping Fundamentalism (1984). He was often invited to appear in BBC religious programming.
Barr married Jane Hepburn in 1950 and had two sons and a daughter.[3] He was the grandson of the minister and politician James Barr. He died in Claremont, California, on 14 October 2006, aged 82.
1968: Comparative Philology and the Text of the Old Testament
1973: The Bible in the Modern World
1977: Fundamentalism
1980: The Scope and Authority of the Bible
1984: Escaping from Fundamentalism (titled Beyond Fundamentalism in the United States)
1989: The Variable Spellings of the Hebrew Bible (Schweich Lectures for 1986) Oxford: for the British Academy by the Oxford University Press ISBN0-19-726068-3
^"James Barr and Theological Lexicography", by Sean A. Adams, in Pillars in the History of Biblical Interpretation (Pickwick Publications, 2016) p.319 ("James Barr was born on March 20, 1924...")
^"James Barr". The Gifford Lectures. 15 August 2014. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
^Penchansky, David (2007). "Barr, James". In McKim, Donald K. (ed.). Dictionary of major biblical interpreters (2nd ed.). Downers Grove, Ill.: IVP Academic. p. 151. ISBN978-0-8308-2927-9.
