In 1974, the Rev. Frederick Danker, along with most of the faculty at Concordia Seminary here, were fired for what the college president called their liberal teachings.

The Rev. Danker went on to become a prolific author and a world-renowned Bible scholar. His most famous work, published after 30 years of research, is an acclaimed Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament.

The Rev. Frederick William Danker died Thursday (Feb. 2, 2012) at St. Louis University Hospital. His family said he broke his hip in a fall at his home in St. Louis on Jan. 9 and had post-operative complications. He was 91.

The Rev. Danker spent a lifetime studying words, specifically ancient Greek.

His lexicon contains more than 5,500 Greek words, with definitions and multiple examples of how early Christians used them. His book filled 1,082 pages of small type and weighs 5 pounds, 5 ounces.

"A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature" was published in 2000. A lexicon differs from a dictionary in that it defines words as they are used in a particular writing or group of books.

For example, the Rev. Danker investigated centuries of Gospel readings about Jesus' final hours that said "the Jews" called for Jesus to be crucified. That led some Christians to blame the Jewish people for Jesus' death, the Rev. Danker said.

But he determined that "Jews" should be translated as "Judeans," referring to the proper name of the people who then lived in southern Palestine.

"Over the centuries, the word 'Jew' in translations got so distorted and caused so much unnecessary acrimony, causing such tragedies between Christians and Jews," the Rev. Danker told the Post-Dispatch in 2001, in an interview about his lexicon.

Good scholars, he said, must be both honest and accurate. He added: "...in my profession, no matter what we say, someone disagrees with us."

Rev. Danker was born in Frankenmuth, Mich., where his parents were Lutheran school teachers who also operated an orphanage.

He graduated from Concordia Seminary in Clayton, was ordained and became a parish pastor until 1954 when he joined the Concordia faculty. He later earned a Ph.D. in Greek and Latin classics at the University of Chicago.

His skill in Greek and the classics was said to have no peer.

He was called "the Flash" because few could keep pace with his walking.

In 1974, he and his older brother, William Danker, were among the 45 Concordia faculty members fired in a controversy over biblical interpretation.

After he was evicted from his seminary house and office, the Rev. Danker helped found a Seminary in Exile in midtown. He later moved to Chicago to teach at the Lutheran School of Theology.

He retired in 1988 and spent the next 12 years working 14-hour days on the lexicon. Then, nine years later, he wrote a new book, "The Concise Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament."

In November, at age 91, he presented his last scholarly paper in San Francisco after spending a year preparing by learning the Syriac language.

He married Lois R. Dreyer of Chicago in 1948. He dedicated one of his many books to the passage in Proverbs 31 describing an idealized woman. Friends say they knew he meant Lois, who died in 2008 after 60 years of marriage.

A memorial service will be at 2 p.m. Feb. 18 at Bethel Lutheran Church, 7001 Forsyth Boulevard, University City. Interment will be private at St. Trinity Cemetery.

Among the survivors are his daughter, Kathleen Danker of St. Louis; three grandsons; and one great-granddaughter.