#Outline exegesis biblical paper how to

Write out the unit itself in a way that outlines its grammar, syntax and structure. both within your unit and between the several units that precede and follow your unit. Using a photocopy or printout of the passage in context and different colored pencils, charts, and diagrams, highlight the presence of such things as contrasts, similarities, repetition of key words or phrases, development in argumentation, etc. This will prematurely channel your own thinking about the passage and block important insights. How does the literary form of the book and your section affect your understanding of the passage?ДonвЂ™t look yet at what the secondary sources state specifically about your particular unit.In what sort of literature does your section occur?.(This might be the book itself or it might be several books such as the Pentateuch or both.) To orient yourself briefly to the passage use secondary sources to determine only the date, historical background, and (in some detail) the purpose and message of the entire section in which the passage is found. For the New Testament, a good resource is Bruce Metzger, A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament (United Bible Society, 1978). Normally the problems will be few and the variations minor. Subtle differences in wording should be overlooked the concerns here are obvious such as totally different wording and missing/extra phrases, etc. Where differences exist consult the critical apparatus (if you know Greek and/or Hebrew) or modern in-depth commentaries such as the Word or Hermeneia series. Look in several translations for differences over what words, phrases or even verses are included as part of the вЂoriginalвЂ™ text. In general, the paragraph divisions in the UBS Greek New Testament or the New International Version or New Revised Standard Version are reliable guides. Identify a Meaningful UnitД¬ompare several English translations to ensure that you are exegeting a meaning unit such as a complete paragraph. PrayerД«egin (and proceed) with prayer, asking God for wisdom and insight. Because the Bible is also the word of people, the mode of inquiry must also include the same methods that are used to understand other kinds of literature. In view of the BibleвЂ™s character as divine revelation, the exegete should approach the text with a conviction about its implicit sensibility and with a sense of humility, tenacity, faith and, above all, reverence. In the case of the Bible the mode of inquiry must reflect the fact that it is both the Word of God and the word of people. The nature of the object must always determine the mode of inquiry. To use an analogy, the text is the lead partner in a dance of meaning your job is to follow, observe and interpret the dance with sensitivity and precision. You are looking for meaning and coherence that really is there. The correct method is not mystical or devotional, but careful and methodical. By asking the text questions, let it tell you what it means. What youвЂ™re after is the textвЂ™s meaning, not your own, so go slowly. The reader of the paper should be left with the impression not that the student has done something new or different with the text but has understood it well, including mirroring such things as its aesthetics (or lack thereof) and problems. вЂњfeelвЂќ, plain sense, problems, ambiguities, context, potential theological sensus plenior, etc.) of that text alone. The goal of an exegetical paper is coherently, succinctly and sensitively to open-up the meaning of the text in such a way that it reflects the particularities (e.g. Because the right kind of questions will vary depending on the type of literature involved, and finding them is more of an art than a science, a guide such as this is not definitive, but only a crude tool.

#Outline exegesis biblical paper how to

A good exegete has learned what questions to ask of a text in order to arrive at this sense and how to find the answers. Exegesis is a word for the systematic process by which a person arrives at a reasonable and coherent sense of the meaning and message of a biblical passage.