Porter, Josias Leslie

PORTER, JOSIAS LESLIE: English Presbyterian; b. at Burt, County Donegal, Ireland, Oct. 4, 1823; d. at Belfast Mar. 16, 1889. He graduated at Glasgow (B.A., 1841; M.A., 1842); was ordained, 1846; studied theology at the Free Church College and University, both Edinburgh, 1842–44; pastor at Newcastle-on-Tyne, 1846–49; missionary of the Presbyterian Church of Ireland in Damascus, 1849–59; professor of Biblical criticism in the Presbyterian College, Belfast, Ireland, 1860–77. He was especially prominent by reason of his connection with Irish educational institutions and interests. He was the author of Five Years in Damascus (2 vols., London, 1855; 2d ed., 1870); Hand-book for Syria and Palestine (2 vols., 1858; 3d ed., 1875); The Pentateuch and the Gospels (1864); The Giant Cities of Bashan, and Holy Places of Syria (1865); The Life and Times of Henry Cooke, D.D., LL.D. (London, 1871); The Pew and Study Bible (1876); Jerusalem, Bethany and Bethlehem (1887); and Through Samaria to Galilee and the Jordan (1888). He edited J. Kitto's Daily Bible Illustrations (Edinburgh, 1867) and J. Brown's Self-Interpreting Bible (1871).

Bibliography: DNB, xlvi. 187–188.