Ritröð Guðfræðistofnunar - 01.09.1994, Qupperneq 14

Bruce M. Metzger
three days of sight-seeing in Iceland, staying at a University hall. I have
pleasant recollection of being entertained for aftemoon tea in the home of
the Jónssons, and of being shown around séra Jakob's chnrch, Hallgríms-
kirkja, which I was told was the tallest building in Reykjavík. More
significant is the name of the church, which commemorates Hallgrímur
Pétursson, the author of a remarkable work called Hymus of tlie Passion,
first published in Iceland in 1666. These are meditations on the Passion of
Christ and were destined to guide and mold the spirituality of Icelandic
Christianity for generations to come (see Jónsson's article, „Hallgrímur
Pétursson; Pious Poet who Inspired the Soul of a Nation,” lceland Review,
vol. 10, no. 3, 1972, pp. 1 ff.).
After my retum to Princeton Dr. Jónsson kindly sent me a copy of the
English translation of Pétursson's Hymns, prepared by Arthur Charles
Gook and published by Hallgríms Church in 1966. I have treasured this
gift from my friend, and have more than once tried to interest pubhshers in
North America to issue reprint of the volume. Unhappily, however, thus far
none has seen fit to do so.
My next contact, apart form occasionally renewing our acquaintance
when it happened that both of us were attending a General Meeting of
SNTS, came from my reading Jónsson's book on Irony and Humour in the
New Testament, a copy of which had come to the library of Princeton
Theological Seminary. The scholarly content of the book was impressive,
and later, in 1985, while I was planning the scope and contents of a
volume that the Oxford University Press had invited me to edit (Tlie
Oxford Companion to the Bible), it was altogether natural to invite Jónsson
to write the article for that volmne on „Irony and Humor in the Bible.” In
due time his article arrived, with an accompanying letter informing me
that he was writing „from a reconvalescent home east of Reykjavík,
following a minor-heart trouble, angina pectoris.” Unhappily his death on
17 June 1989 meant that he did not hve to see his article in print when
the volume was published in 1993.
The present writer cherishes his memory of Dr. Jakob Jónsson, a man
whose energy and insights have exerted an influence on all who know him.
He recognized that ,dor everything there is a season . . . a time to weep,
and a time to laugh” (Eccl. 3:1, 3).
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