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Recommended: exegesis matthew 6
Biblical Exegesis
First I will give you a background of exegesis. Webster's New World Dictionary(1990), defines exegesis as, the interpretation of a word, passage, etc., esp. in the Bible. This definition is a worldly. To understand the true meaning and background I looked in John H. Hays book called, Biblical Exegesis, for the answer. He says that the term "exegesis" itself comes from the Greek word exegeomai which basically meant " to lead out of." When applied to texts, it denoted the " reading out" of the meaning. The noun, therefore, could refer to "interpretation" or " explanation." Thus whenever we read a text or hear a statement which we seek to understand and interpret, we are involved in exegesis.
In this paper I am trying to find out what true Biblical exegesis means. By finding that truth then I and the person reading this paper can leave with an understand-ing on how to comprehend the content of exegesis. Through out my paper you will see noted some of my sources. I have carefully read these books and have selected the best ones to fit the purpose of this document. I will be exploring many areas of exegesis and will be giving you a brief overview of these and then explaining different uses for exegesis.
BIBLICAL EXEGESIS: Comprehending the content
In the quest for the original wording of the Bible you have to look at all of the texts and their background. Their are many versions: Revised Standard, The New English Bible, The New International Bible, New American Bible, and the King James Version. All have different ways of saying the same scripture. This is the beginning of the textual criticism portion of biblical exegesis. In my own personal opinion I have found that the K...
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... for personal reasons you to are using exegetical approaches to the scriptures. We do this every time we read something or hear it spoken. The Bible is no different besides that you have to decipher it correctly. By reading other commentaries on that book or verse you can form your own exegetical hypothesis, but make sure it is a biblical one.
In conclusion you can tell by my breif reasearch that exegesis is a large area of study. I wish that I had more time to study it. I plan to on my own time keep up on this subject and keep my memory fresh. Doing research for this paper has helped me in my exegetical view of scripture. I plan to become a pastor some day and exegesis will be a big part of my message and proclaimation. All in all exegesis was designed to give us a better awareness of God's Holy Word. If we apply it to our lives we will be better for it.
According to David M. Carr, the history of Scriptural interpretation indicates that religious texts are popular candidates for reinterpretation and, as such, are spaces wherein the personal identity of the reader frequently inscribes itself at length:
The Bible is read and interpreted by many people all over the world. Regardless, no one knows the absolute truth behind scripture. Walter Brueggemann, professor of Old Testament, wrote “Biblical Authority” to help people understand what he describes as six different parts that make up the foundation to ones understanding of scripture. He defines these six features as being: inherency, interpretation, imagination, ideology, inspiration, and importance. As Brueggemann explains each individual part, it is easy to see that they are all interconnected because no one can practice one facet without involuntarily practicing at least one other part.
The DTIB says that exegesis should focus on historical context in the grammatical relations to determine what the text meant when it was originally written (p. 203). This is really hard given some of the topics covered in the Old Testament. For me as a pastor I always look for the application of the scripture when reading a scriptural text. I pay close attention to the scripture so that I do not force things out of the scripture that are not present. It is hard to completely understand the view of the author when we have limited understanding of that culture. I tried to find as many things as I can about the culture that is related to the scriptural text, which I 'm studying. This way I have a marginal understanding of what the culture was like for the author and his
Silva, Moisés. Philippians. Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2005.
This quote by Gene Nowlin in his book The Paraphrased Perversion of the Bible summarizes the composition of the Bible. Throughout life, Christians grasp tightly to these words of God in hopes to inherit the Kingdom of God one day. In order to do this, they must study the Bible closely and apply it to their lives daily. Without the proper Bible, this may become a difficult task to accomplish. Although the various translations of the Christian Bible are exceptionally similar in their message, some have quite a few differences and perversions that set them apart from one another. Many of them even leave out several potentially important verses in their revision. These variations contribute to the justification of one translation being more reliable and accurate than the other versions.
Harris, Stephen. Understanding The Bible. 6 ed. New York City: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages, 2002. Print.
Moreover, the Bible can be inerrant and still use the common language, euphemisms, metaphors, etc. that were common to the people of the day. The Bible can speak, for example, of the sun rising and setting (Psalm 113:3), from the perspective of someone standing on the surface of the earth, even though we know that the sun neither rises nor sets. The Bible is absolutely truthful even though it often uses common language to describe natural phenomena or approximations, etc. Language can be true and still offer imprecise statements. “I live a little more than a mile from my office,” for example, is an imprecise statement that conveys the near proximity of my home to my office. ...
Kohlenberger, III, John R. and Barker, Kenneth L., eds. Zondervan NIV Bible Commentary: An Abridgement of the Expositors Bible Commentary. Chicago: Zondervan Publishing House, 1994.
Thus, the next steps in this investigation are to examine the passages for any clear interpretive glosses or syntax diversity. However, in each case, neither a clear interpretive gloss nor diverse syntax exists. In fact, Stanley omitted discussion of 2 Cor 10:17 “in accordance with strict guidelines that limit the investigation to passages that offer explicit indication to the reader that a citation is being offered (introductory formula, interpretive comments, etc.).”8 Nevertheless, while Stanley did not consider 2 Cor 10:17 to be a quotation, Euthalius clearly did.Interesting as this is, this should not suggest that Stanley’s reader-centered approach is the issue. For instance, Porter even critiqued the view that an introductory formula would always accompany a direct quotation, pointing to Gal. 4:22 as an example in which an introductory formula introduced a mere allusion.9 While the UBS5 supports Porter’s assertion, in this case the EA is not in agreement. This brings into question those places where the EA marks as a quotation those instances that the UBS5 marks as an allusion. These instances will return in the following section. In any case, in spite of 2 Cor 10:17; Eph 2:17; and Heb 12:15 lacking introductory formulae, similarities in word order with their presumed vorlages, interpretive glosses, or syntax diversity, the compiler of the EA longer quotation
Walvoord, John F., Roy B. Zuck, and Harnold W. Hoehner. "Ephesians." The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures. Wheaton, IL: Victor, 1983. 613-45. Print.
While these categories might be helpful for a reader to delineate between the objective or thematic point context of the parable, the author. Like Capon (2002) states that the interpreter must come to biblical interpretation with a “willingness to hear and respond appropriately” (p.24). From this perspective, Snodgrass (2008) adopts eleven rules for interpretation. These include:
Robinson, B. A. (2008, March 30). Books of the Hebrew Scripture . Retrieved May 7, 2011, from Religious Tolerance: http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_otb3.htm
Talbert, Charles H. Ephesians and Colossians. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2007The New Interpreter's Bible: General Articles and Introduction, Commentary, and Reflections for Each Book of the Bible, Including the Apocryphal deuterocanonical Books. Vol. XI. Nashville: Abingdon Press, ©1994-2004.
Answering these questions is the purpose of this essay. I begin by arguing that the Bible cannot be adequately understood independent of its historical context. I concede later that historical context alone however is insufficient, for the Bible is a living-breathing document as relevant to us today as it was the day it was scribed. I conclude we need both testimonies of God at work to fully appreciate how the Bible speaks to us.
the Bible were “God - breathed” making each a Word from God and not the words of the