CLERC, Jean le (1657-1736), an eminent scholar and biblical critic, was born at Geneva, where his uncle was professor of Hebrew. He became early distinguished for his attainments in classical literature; and after studying under Mestrezat and Turretine, he was ordained at Geneva in 1679. His opinions, however, were more in accordance with the views of Curcellæus and Episcopius—a circumstance which led him to retire from Geneva to Grenoble, and afterwards to Paris. After a short visit to England he removed to Amsterdam, where in 1684 he became professor of philosophy, belles-lettres, and Hebrew, in the Remonstrant College. In 1728, while lecturing, he lost the use of his speech through a paralytic stroke; and his memory failing, he lingered on till his death in a state bordering on idiocy. As a critic, Le Clerc may be ranked the first of his time; but the Socinianizing tendency of his views estranged him from the great mass of Protestant divines. His polemical works in general betray a somewhat bitter and dogmatic tone, while his miscellaneous writings bear the marks of hasty composition.
His works are exceedingly voluminous. The best known are his Latin commentaries on several books of the Bible; his Ars Critica; Harmonia Evangelica; Translation of the New Testament into French; Traité de l'Incrédulité; and the Parrhasiana, ou Pensées diverses sur les Matières de Critique, d'Histoire, de Morale, et de Politique. Besides these he edited the Bibliothèque Historique et Universelle, 26 vols.; the Bibliothèque Choisie, 28 vols.; and the Bibliothèque Ancienne et Moderne, 29 vols. He also published several editions of the ancient classics.