Old Testament Exegesis, Fourth Edition

A Handbook for Students and Pastors

Douglas Stuart

• Verlag: Westminster John Knox Press
• Jahr: 2009
• ISBN:
  9781611640571
• Thema: Theology & Religion
• Thema: Biblical Studies

For years, Douglas Stuart's Old Testament Exegesis has been one of the most popular ways to learn how to perform exegesis--the science and art of interpreting biblical texts properly for understanding as well as proclamation. Completely updated and substantially expanded, this new edition includes scores of newer resources, a new configuration of the format for the exegesis process, and an entirely new section explaining where to find and how to use the latest electronic and online resources for doing biblical research. Stuart provides guidance for full exegesis as well as for a quicker approach to provide information specifically tailored to the task of preaching. A glossary of terms explains the sometimes bewildering language of biblical scholarship, and a list of frequent errors guides the student in avoiding common mistakes. No exegetical guide for the Old Testament has been more widely used in training ministers and students to be faithful, careful interpreters of Scripture.

Chapter One

Guide for Full Exegesis

The outline that we provide here is supplemented with many comments and questions intended to help you leave no stone unturned in doing a thorough exegesis. These comments and questions are primarily suggestive and not to be followed slavishly. Indeed, some questions overlap and some may seem redundant to you. Some may not be relevant to your purposes or the scope of your particular exegesis needs in any given passage. So be selective. Ignore what does not apply to your passage and task. Emphasize what does.

Pastors and others who will work mainly from the guide for sermon exegesis in chapter 3 should familiarize themselves with the content of this chapter first, since it constitutes the basis for the condensation in chapter 3.

1.1. Text

1.1.1. Confirm the limits of the passage

Try to be sure that the passage you have chosen for exegesis is a genuine, self-contained unit (sometimes called a pericope). Avoid cutting a poem in the middle of a stanza or a narrative in the middle of a paragraph—unless that is the assignment you are working under, or unless you explain clearly to your reader why you have chosen to exegete a section of a full passage. Your primary ally is common sense. Does your passage have a recognizable beginning and end? Does it have some sort of cohesive, meaningful content that you can observe? Check your decision against both the Hebrew text and modern translations. Do not trust the OT chapter and verse divisions, which originated in medieval times. They are not original and are often completely misleading.

Note: You may find it confusing to begin with the textual analysis of your passage if your knowledge of Hebrew is not yet adequate. In that case, first prepare a rough, even wooden translation of the passage from the Hebrew. Do not delay yourself needlessly at this point. Use a trustworthy modern translation as your guide, or an interlinear if you wish (see 4.2.2 [chapter 4, section 2, subsection 2]). Once you have a working idea of what the Hebrew words mean, you can resume the textual analysis with profit.

1.1.2. Compare the versions

From as many as you can read of the Greek, Syriac, Aramaic, Latin, and Qumran versions of the passage, isolate any words or phrases that do not seem to correspond to the Hebrew text you are working on. Since all of these ancient language versions have English translations (see 4.2.2), you can actually work from them profitably even if you do not know one or more of these languages.

Refer to the critical apparatus in the BHS (and perhaps the apparatuses in the older BH³ if you have access to it and/or whatever part of the the newer BHQ [Quinta] has been published as of the time you are doing your exegesis), even though none of them is complete and any comment in an apparatus can be difficult to decipher because it is typically written in abbreviated Latin (!). Fortunately, the deciphering guides mentioned in 4.1.5 are very helpful. Examine the differences (called variants). Try to decide, as best you can, whether any of the variants is possibly more appropriate to the passage (i.e., possibly more original) than the corresponding words in the Hebrew text. To do this, you must translate the variant back into Hebrew (normally via English) and then judge whether it fits the context better. Often you can see exactly how a variant came to result from a corruption (an ancient copying mistake that became preserved in the subsequent copies) in the Hebrew text. Make these decisions as best you can, referring to critical commentaries and other aids (see 4.1) for their guidance. Sometimes, especially in a poetic section, a corruption will simply be insoluble: the wording may not make much sense in the Hebrew as it stands, but you cannot figure out a convincing alternative. In such cases, leave the received text alone. Your task is to reconstruct as far as possible the text as originally inspired by God, not to rewrite it.

1.1.3. Reconstruct and annotate the text

Make your best guess at the original Hebrew text. Normally you should print out the reconstructed original text in full. If your reconstruction omits any words or letters from the received text, mark the omissions by square brackets: [ ]. If you insert or replace any words or letters, place the new part inside angle brackets: < >. Mark each such spot with a raised letter (letters are better than numbers for these sorts of notes, since they cannot be confused with verse numbers) and in the footnotes keyed to those letters, explain clearly and simply your reasons for the changes. It is advisable also to footnote any words you did not change but which someone else might think ought to be changed. Provide an explanation of all your significant decisions for or against changes in the text, not just those that result in actual changes.

Normally, this reconstructed text should constitute the beginning of your exegesis paper/project, following immediately upon the table of contents (if any), preface (if any), and introduction. Fortunately, textual problems are rarely so frequent or major as to affect the sense of a passage. So a proposed textual revision (i.e., revision of the MT) that materially affects the sense of the passage will probably require a major discussion at this point in the paper/project.

1.1.4. Present poetry in versified form

In most cases you can expect the BHS (or BH³ or BHQ) to identify poetry properly and to arrange the lines of poetry according to the editor’s sense of parallelism and rhythm (meter). The process of arrangement and the arrangement itself are both referred to as stichometry.

The parallelism between the words and phrases is the main criterion for deciding the stichometry. A secondary criterion is the meter (see 4.6.4). If you decide on a different stichometry for your passage from the one indicated by the BH editor (their stichometries can be quite subjective and are not always right), be sure to give your reasoning in a footnote. The modern English translations usually arrange poetry stichometrically. Consult them as well, because their sense of how the parallelism works can be both instructive and time-saving, providing a good check on the BH editor’s approach.

1.2 Translation

1.2.1. Prepare a tentative translation of your reconstructed text

Start fresh, from the beginning. Look up in a lexicon such as Holladay’s (see 4.4.1) all words whose range of meaning you are not absolutely certain of. For the more significant words, try at least to skim the more lengthy lexicon articles in major lexicons such as Koehler-Baumgartner or Brown-Driver-Briggs (see 4.4.1). For any words that appear to be central or pivotal for the meaning of your passage, it is advisable either at this point or in connection with your analysis of the lexical content (exegesis step 1.4.3) to consult the detailed word studies (concept studies) in the aids referred to in 4.4.3. Remember that most words do not have a single meaning, but rather a range of meaning(s), and that there is a difference between a word and a concept (at step 1.4.3 we explain this further). A single Hebrew word rarely corresponds precisely to a single English word but may range in meaning through all or parts of several different English words. Translation therefore almost always involves selection.

1.2.2. Check the correspondence of text and translation

Read your Hebrew text over and over. Know it as a friend. If possible, memorize parts of it. Read your translation over and over (out loud). Do the Hebrew and your English seem the same in your mind? Have you used a rare or complicated English word to translate a common or simple Hebrew word? If so, does the resulting precision of meaning outweigh in value the disruptive effect on the reader or hearer? Have you considered the possibility of using several English words to convey the meaning of one Hebrew word? Or vice versa? Does your passage contain words or phrases that originally were genuinely ambiguous? If so, try to reproduce rather than mask the ambiguity in your English translation. A good translation is one that creates the same general impression for the hearer as the original would, without distorting the particular content conveyed.

1.2.3. Revise the translation as you continue

As you continue to exegete your passage, especially as you examine carefully the grammatical and lexical data, you will almost certainly learn enough to make improvements in your tentative translation. This is because the word(s) you choose for a given spot in the passage need(s) to fit the overall context well. The more you know about the whole passage, the better you will have a proper “feel” for selecting the right word, phrase, or expression in each part. The part should fit the whole. Also, as you make decisions about the literary and theological contexts of your passage, you will likewise be developing better judgment about the translation. Try to evaluate the use of a word, phrase, or expression both in its broad contexts (the book, the OT, the Bible as a whole) and its immediate contexts (your passage, the chapter, the surrounding chapters). The difference can be significant. For example, although you might have assumed that the Hebrew word

means “house” in your passage, a wider look at its uses throughout the OT shows that in an expression like

it can mean “family,” “dynasty,” or “lineage.” Which suits your passage better? Which makes your passage clearer to the reader? By asking these sorts of questions, you help to guarantee that you will not overlook potentially useful translation options.

1.2.4. Provide a finished translation

After your research is complete and you have benefited from the secondary literature as well as all the other steps of the exegesis process and are ready to write the final draft, place the finished translation immediately following the text. Use annotations (footnotes—again, for these note call characters, letters are less likely to cause confusion with verse numbers than digits are) to explain choices of wording that might be surprising or simply not obvious to your reader. You are not obliged, however, to explain any word that was also chosen by several modern versions unless it seems to you that their choice, even if unanimous, is questionable in some way. Use the footnotes to tell the reader other possible translations of a word or phrase that you consider to have merit. Do this especially wherever you find it difficult to choose between two or more options.

1.3. Grammatical Data

1.3.1. Analyze the significant grammatical issues

A correct understanding of the grammar is essential to a proper interpretation of the passage. Are any grammatical points in doubt? Could any sentences, clauses, or phrases be read differently if the grammar were construed differently? Are you sure you have given proper weight to the nuances of meaning inherent in the specific verb conjugations and not merely the verbal roots? Slight variations in syntax can convey significant variations in meaning. Are the syntactical formations in your passage clearly understood? Does your translation need revision or annotation accordingly? Are there genuine ambiguities that make a definite interpretation of some part of the passage impossible? If so, what at least are the possible options? Is the grammar anomalous (not what would be expected) at any point? If so, can you offer any explanation for the anomaly? Pay attention also to ellipsis, asyndeton, prostaxis, parataxis, anacoluthon, and other special grammatical features that relate to interpretation. (For definitions, see Soulen’s Handbook—mentioned in the introduction.)

1.3.2. Analyze the orthography and morphology for date or other affinities

All major texts of the Hebrew Bible contain an orthography (spelling style) characteristic of the Persian period (postexilic), since the texts selected for official status by the rabbis of the first century AD were apparently copies from the Persian period. At many important points, however, traces of older orthographies are discernible (in 4.3.2, see Freedman, Forbes, and Andersen, Studies in Hebrew and Aramaic Orthography). Does the passage have any of these older spellings or traces of special ancient morphological features? Morphology refers to meaning-affecting parts of words, such as suffixes and prefixes. (For examples, see David A. Robertson, Linguistic Evidence in Dating Early Hebrew Poetry [Missoula, MT: Scholars Press, 1972].) If so, they may help to indicate the date or even the geographical origin of your passage; their presence elsewhere may help you to classify your passage in comparison to others. At least an intermediate-level knowledge of Hebrew is required for this task.

1.4. Lexical Data

1.4.1. Explain all words and concepts that are not obvious

Bear in mind that there is a difference between a word and a concept. A given concept may be expressed by many different words or wordings. An excellent reminder of this is Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10. He tells the parable to demonstrate what it means to love neighbor as self, yet the parable does not contain the word “love” or the word “neighbor” or the word “self”—even though it teaches powerfully the concept of loving neighbor as self. It therefore is important to realize that your purpose in analyzing the lexical data is to understand the individual concepts of your passage, whether these concepts are conveyed by single words, groups of words, or by the way all the words are put together into a coherent pericope.

Work in descending order of size from whole sentences or even groups of sentences (if applicable) through clauses (if applicable) through phrases (such as idioms) to words and parts of words. Using the various helps available (see 4.4), try to define for your reader any concepts, words, or wordings that might not be clear or whose force would not be noticed without attention being called to them. Some of these explanations may be quite brief, others fairly detailed. Proper nouns almost always deserve some attention. So do idioms, since by definition an idiom is a wording that cannot be translated literally, meaning word for word. When citing words from the passage, use either the Hebrew letters or an underlined transliteration of them.

1.4.2. Concentrate on the most important concepts, words, and wordings

Working in descending order of size, isolate whatever you consider especially significant or pivotal for the interpretation of the passage. Assemble a list of perhaps six to twelve such important concepts, words, or wordings. Try to rank them in order from most crucial to least crucial. Focus on these, telling your reader why they are important to the interpretation. The meaning of a passage is built up from the meaning of its concepts, and the more clearly they are explained, the more clearly the passage is likely to be understood.

1.4.3. Do “word studies” (really, concept studies) of the most crucial words or wordings

Using the procedure outlined in 4.4.3, try to analyze the most crucial—therefore not a large number—of the key words or wordings in the passage. Present a summary of your procedures and findings to the reader. (Much of the statistical or procedural information may be relegated to footnotes.) Do not neglect the specific theological meaning(s) of words or wordings in considering the various ranges of meaning. In addition, be sure that you do not merely analyze individual words but also words in combination—including combinations sometimes separated from one another by intervening words—because combinations of words convey concepts as well. Be as inductive as possible, checking your conclusions against, rather than deriving them from, the theological dictionaries.

1.4.4. Identify any special semantic features

The semantics (the relation between content and meaning) of the passage is often affected by such features as irony, anaphora, epiphora, paronomasia, metonymy, hendiadys, formulas, loanwords, purposeful archaizing, and etymological oddities. Look for these, and bring them to the attention of your reader. Where possible, show how they affect interpretation.

1.5. Form

1.5.1. Identify the general literary type (genre)

First, locate the passage within the broad, general categories of literary types contained in the OT. Decide whether your passage is a prose type, a saying, a “song,” or a combination (such basic categories are defined in any of the general guides to form analysis listed in 4.5.1).

1.5.2. Identify the specific literary type (form)

Describe more precisely what sort of prose type, saying, or song the passage actually is. For example, if you decide that it is a historical narrative, you must then go on to judge whether it is a report, a popular history, a general autobiography, a dream-vision account, a prophetic autobiography, or some other specific kind of historical narrative. This is important: You must do your best to identify the specific type because that is what allows you to compare it to other such types elsewhere in the Bible (and sometimes in literature outside the Bible) and thus learn what elements in your passage are typical of its literary form and what elements are unique to your passage alone and thus of special value for interpreting your passage as opposed to others.

You must know both the general and the specific literary type of your passage before you are in a position to analyze its form or forms. Only the specific—not the general—types have “forms.” That is, every specific literary type is identifiable because it has certain recognizable features (including both its contents or “ingredients” and the order in which those ingredients occur) that make it a form. For example, each “dream account” in the OT tends to have certain features that it shares with all the other dream accounts. The specific contents of the various dream accounts may be different, but the features are not; each dream account contains roughly the same sorts of things. They are said to have the same form, which we call the “dream account form.”

There is a complication here that you must be aware of: scholars may use different terms to refer to OT forms because no standardized system of terminology exists. Therefore, what o...

Inhaltsverzeichnis

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Abbreviations
• Preface
• Analytical Table of Contents
• Introduction
• 1. Guide for Full Exegesis
• 2. Exegesis and the Original Text
• 3. Short Guide for Sermon Exegesis
• 4. Exegesis Aids and Resources
• Appendix 1. A List of Common Old Testament Exegesis Terms
• Appendix 2. A List of Frequent Hermeneutical Errors
• Index of Scripture Passages
• Index of Authors