“He is a man of excellent understanding, and has a knowledge of many languages, which were spoken by the ancients, & he is an honorable man so far as I can judge yet.” — Joseph Smith1
Joshua Seixas, born on June 4, 1802, in New York City, was a very competent Hebraist, textbook author, and teacher. Seixas taught at Oberlin College in Ohio in 1835 and also taught a private 6-week course at Western Reserve College between 1835 and 1836. He used his own textbook, Manual Hebrew Grammar for the Use of Beginners (1833), as the basis for his teaching.2
In January 1836, Joseph Smith began the School of the Prophets in Kirtland, Ohio. Among other subjects, he determined that elders preparing for missions should learn the Hebrew language. Seixas was hired to teach on January 26, 1836, having been referred by Lorenzo Snow, who had taken Hebrew from him at Oberlin College. Classes were held in the attic story of the Kirtland Temple.3
