Harrell F. Beck

President of the New England section of the Society of Biblical Literature, Harrell also served as the President of the Massachusetts Bible Society Board of Trustees, and, at the time of his death, was serving on the Hymnal Revision committee for the United Methodist Hymnal, where several of his translations and contributions can be found. He was the author of many articles in various theological and religious journals, and at least one Bible study guide for church use, “Our Biblical Heritage,” published in 1964. He was also a contributor to the Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible (1962) and the Interpreter's One Volume Commentary on the Bible (1971).

Harrell F. Beck (March 2, 1922 – December 10, 1987) was an American preacher, professor, and academic who taught Hebrew Scripture for 33 years at Boston University School of Theology and travelled North America, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Australasia teaching and speaking. Walter George Muelder, Dean Emeritus of the School of Theology, wrote, “Harrell Beck’s contribution to the School of Theology and the wider church was enormous.” He generated high esteem as “professor, friend, preacher, prophet, and lecturer...”.

Harrell Frederick Beck was born in Lyons, Nebraska, on March 2, 1922, and went to Wayne State Normal School after high school. In May 1945, Beck graduated with a Ph.D from Boston University School of Theology with highest honors as a Jacob Sleeper Fellow. After being ordained in the Nebraska Annual Conference of what was then called simply the Methodist Church, he moved to Egypt for nine years where he became fluent in Arabic and was a faculty member and dean of the School of Oriental Studies at the American University in Cairo (1945 -1954). There he met and married Leila Atallah. Harrell and Leila had two sons, David and Daniel. Harrell died on December 10, 1987, soon after retiring from Boston University.