Biblical Literature 101 Information.

Maccabees online:

http://etext.virginia.edu/rsv.browse.html (University of Virginia)

http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/Kjv1Mac.html (also U. of Virginia)

download from The Online Bible: http://www.ccel.org/olb/.

Also see the Christian Classics Ethereal Library’s study Bible, with links to 1 Maccabees in several versions: http://www.ccel.org/wwsb/1Maccabees/

A King James Version translation: http://ebible.org/bible/kjv/1Mac.htm

Notes on Exegesis

Assignment 1:

Read excerpt from LeGrand Richards, A Marvelous Work and a Wonder.  Then:

    1. Summarize Richard's position on marriage.

    2. Evaluate his exegesis, especially his use of scripture.

Reserve Readings: 

either (1) ask at the library main desk for the reserve reading by name of Professor and of reading material; (2) or go to the Religion Reading room, where reserve readings are on the shelf in manila folders marked with the author/title. (the room is on 4th floor of Academic Building, 2d door on right from elevator).

Week 1: Fee & Stuart, How to Read the Bible for All its Worth, chap. 1.

The Interpretation of the Bible

1. The need for good exegesis in the church today.
1.a. The place of scripture in Christianity: the value of the book. Inspiration and authority.
1.b. The way scripture is treated in the Church

1.c. The dangers of ignoring or abusing God's word: subjectivism (as with allegory); heresy (whether or not intentional); bad advice; ultimately, not hearing God.
1.d. The myths of private reading: (1) reading "without interpreting"; (2) the Holy Spirit and my Bible is all I need.
 

2. Some Principles of Exegesis.
2.a. Caution: this is not complete!
2.b. Overview: First Goal in understanding and interpreting Scripture is to find the original meaning and intention of the author [or final redactor] as accurately as possible. This may be an elusive goal; we may never attain it perfectly. Some theorists in modern literary study would even say that it is an error to look for an author's meaning or intention. But as a guide to study, it is the surest foundation we as limited, finite creatures can lay. Otherwise, the text becomes a polyvalent lump of clay to be molded at whim; the reader determines the meaning, rather than the text.

2.c. The Literary Context.
2.i. The hermeneutical spiral: parts--whole--parts--whole (book; canon?).

2.ii. The meaning of words. Some fallacies. The meaning of a word is determined by investigating the total treasury of the language's potential (Saussure: la langue) and then filtering this through genre, the context of this individual occurrence, and author's individual style (la parole) to decide upon the most likely meaning.
The problem of polysemy (more than one meaning; ambiguity).

iii. The context of the book: thinking on a larger scale. What is its purpose? What is the overarching message? How does the author (and this type of literature) go about communicating his message?

2.c.1. Genre.
Historical narrative (Genesis; 1-2 Samuel; Acts).
Law (parts of Exodus; Leviticus; Deuteronomy)
Prophecy (Isaiah)
Poetry (Psalms; prophets; Proverbs)
Gospel
Letters (Romans; Galatians; 1 Corinthians).
Apocalyptic (Revelation)

2.c.2. Determining the literary structure (the "skeleton" of the message).
The way a message is communicated may vary depending on the genre. Narrative vs. poetry vs. the rhetoric of a letter. Clues from the writer: recurring formulas of introduction or closing (Genesis; Matthew); recurring literary patterns or events in narrative (Judges); conjunctions signalling stages in an argument (Romans).

2.c.3. Outline the drama.
Who are the "characters"? When and where are they "acting"? What is the "plot"? Describe the challenge(s), crisis, denouement. (this approach works best with narrative and gospel). What theological themes or lessons are presented (and they may not be mentioned directly, or in the terms we are looking for)?
 

3. The Historical Context
3.a. Recognize and take into account your (the interpreter's) chronological and cultural distance from the world of the text.

3.b. Social & Cultural setting of the book.
E.g., family structures and values; hospitality (Gen. 18-19); class- and citizenship-consciousness; behavior and dress expected of honorable women (1Cor. 11; 14; 1Peter 3.1-6); exchanging purchase rights for property with a sandal (Ruth 4.7-10)! There are also many more subtle things, such as the value of written documents, methods of instruction and how these influence attitudes to memory, oral tradition, writing, etc.

3.c. Political and Economic factors.
Israel and other Ancient Near Eastern kingdoms or empires (Exodus; other historical books; the latter prophets); Palestine and Roman rule (the gospels; Acts; James); Roman law in the provinces (Acts, Paul's letters); the agrarian nature of Israelite society, and how it worked--or was abused (the prophets, and nearly all Biblical books; e.g., laws governing planting of fields, animals, slaves in the Pentateuch; prophetic indictments against wealthy land-owners in Isaiah, Micah, Amos; Jesus' parables). Shipping and trade. Technology ("iron chariots," Judges 1.19).

3.d. Geography and Archaeology.
These assist in understanding the physical setting and material culture and economy of the ancient world. Archaeology also assists our linguistic understanding of the original texts of the OT and NT, as inscriptions, pottery, tablets, papyri, etc. are dug up which increase the amount of data we have on Hebrew and other Semitic languages (for the OT) and Greek (for the NT).

3.e. History, in the classical sense of understanding the course of events and their causation.
Ex: Obadiah's oracles against Edom; the relation of the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah to the Assyrian and Babylonian empires; the Jews' antipathy to Samaritans in NT times. Of course, we have to realize that any "history" is constructed from a certain (non-neutral!) viewpoint, and that when we read the Biblical writer's understanding of history they are interested in presenting God's purpose and how he accomplishes his will among his people on earth and in time. They are not concerned to narrate world history in the modern sense.

This website maintained by Terence Paige, Ph.D. (terence.paige@houghton.edu)