Exegesis Paper

Exegesis of passage of New Testament (employing methods of interpretation and perspectives: literary and historical context, literary form, 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 develop further one's ability to interpret the Bible. Please respond to the following items as you exegete the assigned passages from the Bible. Length: 1000-3000 words.

Interpret Matthew 17: 1-8 (Transfiguration) with the following questions:

A. Literary Criticism

1. Context. What follows and precedes your passage? Is your passage affected by this context?

2. 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? (type of literature)

3. Structure. Do you detect any particular structural pattern? (e.g. parallelism within your assigned book of the Bible). Describe the parts of your passage.

4. Redaction criticism. Has your passage come through an editorial process? What changes have been made? Explain why certain changes have been made?

5. 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?

The answer the following questions:

B. Theological analysis.

1. What does this passage say about relationship with God?

2. 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(Some of the ideas above are adopted from "A Guide to Biblical Exegesis" by G. Landes and W. Wink, unpublished)

Document your exegesis carefully. Include sections of the assignment outline as subheadings for your paper. Be sure to use some material from the course bibliography for your exegesis.

Need to cite sources in the paper AND cite the page numbers along with the sources. Sources are below.

Here is HOW he wants it done:

1. Look up your passage in the New Testament.

2. Consult a general commentary(in reference section of the library), e. g. Brown. The Jerome Biblical Commentary and/or The New Jerome Biblical Commentary and/or The Collegeville Bible Commentary

3. Consult specific commentaries e.g., Harrington The Gospel of Matthew. (Liturgical Press, 2007), Fitzmyer The Gospel According to Luke and if you have the Lord's Prayer consult Jeremias The Lord's Prayer plus commentaries on Matthew or Luke.

Here is a checklist of what the paper should have:

QuestionsYesNo1. Are all ideas documented (including page numbers)? 2. Are all quotations documented (including page numbers)? 3. Is there a works cited page? 4. Do the notes and bibliography include sources recommended by the syllabus? 5. Does the format include the headings from the syllabus? 6. Does each sentence make sense? 7. Does the "form" section clearly name a literary form? 8. Does the redaction section contrast the assigned passage with Mark's version (except for infancy narrative and Lord's Prayer)? 9. Does the key word section include more than one key word? 10. Does the key word section refer to O.T. material?