"[1] He studied in the United States and Germany, centers of biblical scholarship and exploration of the Bible as history.

His Greek and English Lexicon of the New Testament (1836; last revision, 1850) became a standard authority in the United States and was reprinted several times in Great Britain.

He attended Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, where his maternal uncle, Seth Norton, was a professor.

After the couple returned to the United States, Robinson was appointed professor extraordinary of sacred literature at Andover Theological Seminary (1830–1833).

He published Biblical Researches in Palestine in 1841, for which he was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Geographical Society in 1842.

Examples of his finds in Jerusalem include the Siloam tunnel and Robinson's Arch in the Old City; the latter was named in his honor.