You will complete an exegesis of a passage from the New Testament (employing methods of interpretation and perspectives, such as literary and historical context, literary form, and structure). Exegesis means to expound upon a text, to unpack a text of its many meanings. Elements of various types of criticism will be employed to further develop your ability to interpret the Bible. The paper should be 2000-3000 words in length and follow MLA style.
Select one of the following passages as the basis for your exegesis:
1. Matthew 6:9-13, 2. Matthew 17:1-13, 3. Luke 9:18-36 and 4. Luke 11:2-4
Follow the outline below and answer the questions in each section using recommended sources. Keep the outline headings below as the subheadings of your exegesis.
1. Literary Criticism a. Context: What follows and precedes your passage? Are your pages affected by this context? b. Form criticism: What is the literary form of your passage? Are there other places in the Bible (or related text) where this form is used and which help to interpret this passage? c. Structure: Do you detect any particular structural pattern (e.g., parallelism within your assigned book of the Bible)? Describe the parts of your passage. d. Redaction criticism: Has your passage come through an editorial process? What changes have been made? Explain why certain changes have been made. e. Key words: What are the theologically important words in the passage? Do these words evoke any other parts of the Bible? Are these words used in a new way by the author of this passage? What do these words mean?
2. Theological Analysis a. What does this passage say about the relationship with God? b. What questions might this passage have addressed in the community for which it was originally written?
[Some of the ideas above are adopted from A Guide to Biblical Exegesis by G. Landes and W. Wink (unpublished.)]
You should document your exegesis carefully. Be sure to use some material from the bibliography in the course Doc Sharing area for your exegesis, especially the biblical reference books. Below are some hints for successfully completing the paper:
1. Look up your passage in the New Testament.
2. Consult a general commentary (such as The Jerome Biblical Commentary, The New Jerome Biblical Commentary, or The Collegeville Bible Commentary).
3. Consult specific commentaries (see the course bibliography in Doc Sharing, e.g., Harrington's Matthew's Gospel, Fitzmyer's The Gospel According to Luke).
4. Conduct a periodical search (through EBSCO) of your passage, limiting search to full-text, peerreviewed journals.