EXEGESIS AND THE ORIGINAL TEXT

[Dr. Henry, President of the AOCI]

SESSION 2 – Exegesis and the Original Text

1. No modern translation follows the BHS/BH3 Hebrew text slavishly. These differences among the modern English versions of the Old Testament are due simply to translators’ reconstructions of the Hebrew text. All translators change it whenever they think that the evidence from the ancient versions points to an original Hebrew text different from that preserved in the Leningrad Codex.
2. You have every right to (disagree) with translations produced by “experts”. The facts are that all the modern translations have been produced either by (committees) working against time deadlines or by individuals who cannot possibly know the whole Bible so well in the original that they produce flawless renderings at every point. There is also (pressure) on these committees to keep renderings conservative in meaning and most translators hate to go out on a limb in printing.
3. A basic rule in hermeneutics the science of interpretation is that a passage cannot mean what it could never have meant. The Bible is such a historically oriented revelation that ignoring historical context tends to assure misinterpretation. Nevertheless, knowing the background, social setting, foreground, geographical setting, and date are essential to appreciating the significance of a passage.
4. Literary context is concerned not with the entire historical context, but with the particular way that an inspired author or editor has placed a passage within an entire block of literature. How the passage fits within that book – what it contributes to the entire flow of that book and what the structure of that book contributes to it.
5. Knowing the form of a passage will pay you dividends in exegesis. If you can accurately categorize a piece of literature, you can accurately compare it to similar passages and thus appreciate both the ways in which it is typical and the ways in which it is unique. The form of a piece of literature is always related in some way to its function.
6. To understand the structure of a passage is to appreciate the flow of content designed into the passage by the author, consciously or unconsciously. Meaning is conveyed by more than just words and sentences. A key in structural analysis is looking at patterns which indicate emphases and relationships. By careful structural analysis, one can learn more than meets the eye at first glance.
7. In the exegesis process, one must look at the grammatical data. This is where an understanding of (Hebrew) will pay off. The goal of (grammar) is accuracy because bad grammar will not only offend our tastes, but its greater danger is that it may block our comprehension. Failure to appreciate the grammar of the Old Testament is failure to be sure that you know exactly what was or was not said.
8. The analysis of Hebrew orthography (spelling style) or morphology is not a task that beginning students can easily undertake. It requires knowledge of Hebrew beyond the beginner level. However, its value is often inestimable in connection with problem passages, especially where the decisions of the medieval Masoretes about how words were to be understood may be suspect. Page 54
9. Because actual quotation of one literary work in another literary work is very (rare) in the ancient Near East prior to the Roman era, you cannot expect to find one part of the Old Testament quoted in another part. However reference by allusion may exist and the New Testament certainly both quotes from and alludes to the Old.
10. When the “Index of Quotations” and the reference list are silent, you must rely on your own knowledge of the biblical context and whatever indications you can glean from books, articles, and commentaries that address your passage and/or its themes. You must remember that your own judgment must prevail. What someone else considers “related” may or may not be. It is for you to decide.
11. Examining Hosea 6:1-3, we find that in its relation to Christian theology this passage is eschatological from the OT perspective and represents a partly realized eschatology form the NT perspective. It also touches on the doctrine of sin, in that forgiveness is part of the promise; and it touches on the doctrine of the church, in that God’s faithfulness to his people as a corporate entity is promised here. (Gal. 3:26-29; Eph. 2:1122). However, its most direct theological impact may well be in the area of the doctrine of God.
12. Without application, exegesis is only an intellectual exercise. Every step of the process of exegesis should have as its goal, right belief orthodoxy and right action orthopraxy. The Scriptures fulfills its inspired purposes by affecting our very living not merely in entertaining our brains.
13. In application, ask does the passage speak mainly of faith or of action? Who is the audience? Does it inform or give a direct command? Recognizing the nuances during application will help make it as precise as possible.
14. You must set the limits of your application. Your main concern would be to prevent misunderstanding on the part of your audience. For example, the central application of Job 31 is that an upright life must be decent, honest, generous, fair, faithful, unselfish, and non-exploitive.
15. Job 31 does not suggest that legal oppression of orphans should be punished by amputation of an offender’s arm (vv. 21-22), or that a closed front door is evidence of a homeowner’s sinfulness (v. 32). Neither are the particular curses Job potentially calls down upon himself as proof of his decency indicated as appropriate or normal modern punishments.

[Dr. Henry, President of the AOCI]

Dr. O'Callaghan, thank you for your kind and encouraging comment. By the way, we will be sending you a copy of the role and responsibilities for a professorship in our AOCI Bible Training Institute (ABTI). I sure would love to see your giftings used to help educate our members and others throughout the world.

Once you review, please response (in your ministry letter head) to our Executive Media Administrator, Rev. Linda Smallwood, if you accept. Let her know if you do not want to participate as a professor of ABTI so we may select another suitable and qualified professor. Thanks and God bless you, your family, and your ministry.

[Dr Denis O'Callaghan]

Well Done!

[Christopher R. Dockrey]

I'm looking forward to that next blog. Thanks again.

[Dr. Henry, President of the AOCI]

A general introduction to the principles involved can be found in The New Testament Development of Old Testament Themes by F. F. Bruce. Often when exegeting, expositioners see the OT as something yet to be fullfilled instead of interpreting through the eyes of the NT. (even though we know that the OT are shadows and types of things to come to pass or contained in the NT) What they forget is that the NT is "concealed' in the OT and the OT is "revealed" in the NT. In a few days I have a blog to recommend a well rounded scholarly library of Exegesis aids, tools, and resources. Building this library will take time, money, and study but in the final analysis will yeild accurate, godly, holy, and spirit filled exegesis which will add life to the church of the Lord.

[Christopher R. Dockrey]

I'm just soaking this all in. Any recommendations for books along this line?