Exegesis

Exegesis: Exposition or explanation. A critical interpretation of a text or pericope of Scripture.

Exegesis involves a process of examination by which one comes to understand a particular passage of Scripture. Characteristically, this process involves a number of steps, which are listed here in a very generalized form as a guide to some of the library's resources. Your professor's specific instructions and your own research interests will direct you to more specific materials required for your exegetical work. This guide is intended to assist you to begin examining the two types of questions an exegesis requires, question of content (what is said) and questions of context (why it is said).

General Steps in Bible Exegesis

1. Establish the context of the passage in the biblical book as a whole.
2. Establish the historical setting or context for the passage.
3. Analyze the Content of the text.
4. Apply a variety of critical methods to analyze the text in both its content and its context.
5. Analyze the text theologically
6. Add your own analysis and/or application.

Laying a Foundation for Your Examination

1. Read the text using several translations (NRSV, New English, NIV, KJV, Jerusalem,etc.), paying special attention to place names, personal names, social roles, theological concepts and key phrases. Note any variations from version to version. Whenever possible, read the text in its original language, Hebrew or Greek.
2. Look up terms, locations, genres in several of the Bible dictionaries and encyclopedias available,e.g., Anchor Bible Dictionary Ref. BS 440 .A54 1992
   (also online at STH Work Station 1), Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible
   Ref. BS 440 I63.
3. Search the library catalogue. You can try a word search or a subject search to find any books related to your passage. For subject searching, use the Library of Congress Subject Headings Ref. Z695 .Z8 L524a (5 volumes kept near the circulation area computer terminals.
4. Do a preliminary use the ATLAS Religion Database, available at all the public service computer terminals to look for general topics applicable to your passage, to look for terms, locations, and/or concepts mentioned in your passage; or to search for articles and books about your passage using the Biblical book, chapter, and verses as your search term.

Analyzing the Text
Expand your examination of the text, exploring further the terms, idioms,
and structures in your passage, using

1. Interlinear Bibles such as: The NIV Interlinear Hebrew-English Old Testament, BS 715 1979 (4 vols.), Interlinear Greek-English New Testament, Ref. BS 1965 1984, NASB-NIV Parallel New Testament in Greek and English, Ref. BS 1965 1986, NRSV-NIV Parallel New Testament in Greek and English, Ref. BS 1965.5 1990.
2. Concordances, such as: the Unabridged Concordance to the Old and
   New Testaments and the Apocrypha, Ref. BS 425 .C8 1953, Nelson's Complete Concordance of the Revised Standard Version Bible, Ref. 425 .E4 1984, The Analytical Concordance to the New Revised Standard Version of the New Testament, Ref. BS 2305 .W45 2000. A concordance enables one to identify the correct book, chapter, and verse in which a word appears in Scripture, to pursue a particular topic or concept through the Bible, to discover the nuances in which a term is used, and to find similar stories for
   comparison.
3. Lexicons and Dictionaries such as: The New Brown, Driver, and
   Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, Ref. PJ
   4833 .B68 1981, The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old
   Testament, Ref. PJ 4833 .K61813 1994, Theological Dictionary of the
   Old Testament, Ref. BS 440 .B 5713, Theological Dictionary of the
   New Testament, Ref. BS 2312 .K813 1964. Lexicons and
   Dictionaries define the meaning of specific words in their original
   language as well as providing grammatical forms, functions,
   and etymologies.
4. Commentaries such as: The Jerome Biblical Commentary,
   Ref. BS 491.2 .B7 (And The New Jerome… Ref. 491.2 .N485 1990),
   The Interpreter's Bible, Ref. BS 491.2 .I65 (And The New Interpreter's… Ref. BS 491.2 .N484 1994), and the International Critical Commentary, Ref. BS 491 .I5.

Exploration of Other Scholar's Works
You are ready to seen how others have handled the text you are
studying, only after you have laid a foundation for your examination and preliminarily examined the text yourself. In this process, it is important to note where others' research supports, challenges, and contradicts your assessment. A good beginning point is the brief bibliographies that often accompany the entries in Bible dictionaries and encyclopedias and the topical entries in commentaries such as those named above.

You will also want to consult:

• Commentaries, such as those named above, as well as those in the
  Anchor Bible Series, Ref. BS 191.2 .A1 1964 G3, Hermenia Series, Ref. BS 491.2 .H47. Commentaries may also be found by using the library catalogue and searching under "Subject" using the book of the Bible as the search term.

Journal Articles: Find these using the:

1. ATLAS Religion Database, which remains one of the best and most comprehensive indexes of religious and theological work. Atlas is available at all computer workstations in the library.
   
   You may search using a word or topic as your search term or by scripture. Use the "history" function to build searches. (Consult the onsite helps for the proper form of citing the books of Scripture, chapter and verse.)
   
   
2. Old Testament Abstracts (available at computer Work Station 1 in
   the library, only.) This resource is still DOS-based and a bit
   "clunky". Always use the "browse" function to discover entry
   points.
   
   
3. Catholic Periodical and Literature Index (available at computer Work Station 2, only.)
   
   
4. Religious and Theological Abstracts (available at computer Work Station 4, only.) This database is also very "clunky". Use the "help" function, "searching", and "search" tables for how to find entries for Scripture.
   
   
5. Internationale Zeitschriftenschau für Bibelwissenschaft und Grenzgebiete. International review of Biblical studies. Revue internationale des études bibliques. (Ref. Z7770 .I57 )
   

This brief guide to biblical exegesis is merely designed to get you started. Please move beyond this rudimentary level and explore the full wealth of print and electronic materials listed under the heading "Biblical Resources" on the Library Home page.