Exegetical assignment
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Please Note:
• Make sure on the exam template which
steps you must do, not all of them is for
every year-group
• Please note the steps differ for prose
(narrative) texts and poetic texts. (4th years
do poetic texts).
Cover page
• Name
• Student number
• Declaration that this is your own work
Introduction
•
•
•
“The introduction leads the reader from a general subject area to a particular topic of
inquiry. It establishes the scope, context, and significance of the research being conducted
by summarizing current understanding and background information about the topic, stating
the purpose of the work in the form of the research problem supported by a hypothesis or a
set of questions, explaining briefly the methodological approach used to examine the
research problem, highlighting the potential outcomes your study can reveal, and outlining
the remaining structure and organization of the paper.”
“A well-written introduction is important because, quite simply, you never get a second
chance to make a good first impression. The opening paragraphs of your paper will provide
your readers with their initial impressions about the logic of your argument, your writing
style, the overall quality of your research, and, ultimately, the validity of your findings and
conclusions. A vague, disorganized, or error-filled introduction will create a negative
impression, whereas, a concise, engaging, and well-written introduction will lead your
readers to think highly of your analytical skills, your writing style, and your research
approach. All introductions should conclude with a brief paragraph that describes the
organization of the rest of the paper.”
“The introduction is the broad beginning of the paper that answers three important
questions for the reader:
–
–
–
•
What is this?
Why should I read it?
What do you want me to think about / consider doing / react to?”
(Accessed on the 17/05/2018: http://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide/introduction)
Hebrew Text
Demarcation of the pericope
• No text can be studied meaningfully if it is not divided into workable
units. The first step in the exegetical process is thus the demarcation
of pericopes. A pericope can be described as a demarcated piece of
text that is characterised by a unity in thought and construction.
Pericopes are demarcated on the grounds of formal and contents
criteria. Formal criteria include: Introductory and concluding
formulae, change of subject, lexical preference, syntactic markers
like the correlation between finite forms of the verb and pronominal
suffixes, communicative mediums like parallelisms en chiasms and
fixed structural elements that do appear in some genres. Contents
criteria include: Well-roundedness of action and events, the actors
who intermittently play a role in the text, the place and time which
changes time and again in the text and any other contextual
elements which play a binding role in the specific text. An important
criterium that should never be neglected, is the paragraph markers
of the ancient Hebrew scribes. (Prinsloo, 2017:102)
Example:
Demarcation of the pericope of Judges 3:7-11
• Formal criteria indicate that 3:7-11 is an independent pericope. The
Masoretic paragraph markers at the end of 3:6 and 11 indicate that
they regarded the section as a unit. The phrase [rhAta larcyAynb
wc[yw (and its variants, cf. 3:7; 3:12; 4:1; 6:1; etc) can be regarded
as an introductory formula in Judges. The phrase larcy ynb occurs
throughout the book, but a change of subject occurs in 3:7-11. The
focus falls upon Othniel, then upon Ehud (3:12-30) and
consequently upon each individual leader. The content also
indicates that 3:7-11 is a unit. The beginning and end of the story
correlate to each other. The focus is upon a specific protagonist
(Othniel) and antagonist (Kushan Rishataim) mentioned nowhere
else in the book. Thus 3:7-11 can be regarded as an independent
pericope.
Textual criticism
• The units that have been demarcated in the first step
are now verified by using textual criticism. The old
codexes were copied by hand, which means that
sometimes in the transmission of the text mistakes
crept into the text. Because of this fact, it is necessary
to evaluate the text with the fixed criteria of text critical
scienceMany detailed studies have been written on
the subject (Deist 1978 en 1988; Markert 1979:31-44;
Noth 1966:301- 363; Würthwein 1973). It is sufficient
to state as premise that the Masoretic text should be
taken as starting point. One should try to work as
conservatively as possible with the Masoretic text, and
make text critical changes only where the Masoretic
text does not make any sense. (Prinsloo, 2017:102)
Example: Judges 3:7-11
Verse
Note
tArT' v .[ ;h '
7
a 2 Mss ê×
9
a-a cf 1,13b-b
Meaning
Implication and evaluation
(2 =) Two (Mss =) Hebrew manuscripts, (ê =) the Peshitta [the
Syriac translation of the Old Testament], (× =) the Vulgate
[the Latin translation of the Old Testament] read another word
in stead of the Masoretic text's tAr)vea]h'-ta,w> , namely tArT' v . [; h ' ta,w.>
Two Hebrew manuscripts and two of the (later)
translations of the Old Testament (Syriac and Latin –
both dating from the Christian era) read another word in
stead of the Masoretic text's tAr)vea]h'-ta,w> 'and the Asherahs',
namely tArT' v . [ ; h ' -ta,w> 'and the Astartes'. Asherah and Astarte
were both Canaanite goddesses. A choice between the two
would make little difference. The textual witnesses, however,
are fairly late and small in number, therefore the Masoretic text
is preferred.
For the phrase WNM,(mi !joïQ'h; compare the textctical note in Judges 1:13 bb. There the reader is referred to the identical words in Joshua 15:17.
In Joshua 15:17 the textcritical note reads © -B 120.129 + o` new, t eroõ =
WNM, m i !jo Q ' h ;. It implies that manuscripts of the Septuagint [the
Greek translation of the OT], with the exception of Codex
Vaticanus (B) and two late minicule manuscripts (120, 129)
add o` new, t eroõ. It corresponds to the Hebrew WNM, m i !jo Q ' h ; .
This note is an excellent example of the irrelevant information
often contained in the textcritical apparatus of BHS! In essence
the note does not refer to the text of Judges 3:9 at all. Judges
3:9 refers to WNM,(mi !joïQ'h; bleÞk' yxiîa] zn:ëq.-!B, laeäynIt.[' 'Otniël, son of
Kenaz, the brother of Caleb (who) (was) younger than him'.
The textcritical note simply states that the same expression
occurs in Judges 1:13. In Joshua 15:17 the text refers to 'Otniël,
Son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb', without the qualification
'(who) (was) younger than him'. Manuscripts of the Septuagint
harmonises the three occurrences. As textcritical note the
remark is completely useless!
Morphological analysis
• When the text has been established, the next step
– a complete morphological analysis – can be
attempted. In a morphological analysis, each word
is classified in terms of the basic word-class
(noun, verb or relational word) to which it belongs.
Each word is then analysed fully. Lastly, striking
characteristics are discussed. Here attention is
given to things such as the repetition of words, the
occurrence of word pairs and semantic fields, the
interlocking of the text on morphological level and
the occurrence of striking structural patterns.
Syntactic analysis
•
The next language level to be examined is linguistic syntax. Words do not
exist in isolation, but are connected to form sentences. Each kernel
sentence in the pericope is identified. A kernel sentence is a linguistic
sentence which contains at least one nominal and verbal element (S 
N+V). Each kernel sentence is then classified as a nominal or verbal
sentence. It is then established which kernel sentences are independent
and which are embedded. The kernel sentences are thus divided into
independent sentences (an kernel sentence which contains nominal and
verbal parts), context dependent sentences (a kernel sentence which does
adhere to the requirements but is not independent due to its context, for
example when it is part of direct speech) and dependent sentences (kernel
sentences which contain nominal and verbal parts but are embedded in
either the nominal or verbal part of an independent or a context dependent
sentence by means of a structural marker). Lastly, each sentence is typified:
described as a statement, command, question, relative sentence or
whatever the case may be. Often important information about a text can be
deduced from the frequency of sentence types. For instance, a significant
number of imperatives directed to YHWH helps to classify the text as a
prayer.
The Masoretic system:
demarcating phrases/cola
In the Masoretic syntactic analysis, the following steps should be applied:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Demarcate cola: cola are demarcated by using the disjunctive Masoretic accents as guide:
o
Identify the demarcating disjunctive accents.
o
Confirm the demarcation by identifying the accompanying disjunctive (precursor) of each
demarcating disjunctive accent.
o
Write the cola underneath each other and provide the following:

The name of the demarcating disjunctive accent that marks the end of the colon and its relative
'strength.'

The name of the accompanying disjunctive(s) (precursor[s]) that is/are associated with each
demarcating disjunctive accent.
•
Demarcate verse lines: cola are grouped together in verse lines by using the demarcating
disjunctive Masoretic accents as guide. A simple principle governs the demarcation of verse lines:
o
As long as the demarcating disjunctives in a verse appear in ascending order (e.g. from level 3 to
level 2 to level 1 to level 0), all the cola belong to the same verse line.
o
When the level of a demarcating disjunctive descends in terms of the previous one, a new verse
line commences.
•
Categorise verse lines in terms of type: the number of cola in a verse line determines it type. In
general the guidelines are:
o
In the twenty-one prose books a verse line consists of at least one (monocolon), mostly two
(bicolon), often three (tricolon), and sometimes four (quadrocolon) or five cola (pentacolon).
o
In the three poetic books a verse line consists of at least one (monocolon), mostly two (bicolon),
and often three cola (tricolon).
The linguistic system:
demarcating sentences
•
A linguistic syntactic analysis comprises four steps:
•
Demarcation of kernel sentences: the linguistic definition of a 'sentence' is
a unit consisting of at least one noun phrase and one verb phrase. The first
step in a linguistic syntactic analysis is thus to identify every verbal form in a
passage. The presence of nominal sentences with an implied link verb ('is')
should be kept in mind.
Classification of kernel sentences: kernel sentences occur in a specific
relationship to each other. There are three possibilities:
•
– Independent sentences consist of a noun phrase and a verb phrase.
– Context dependent sentences consist of a noun phrase and a verb phrase but are
dependent upon a previous independent sentence that acts as an introductory
formula.
– Dependent verbal clauses consist of a noun phrase and a verb phrase, but by
means of a marker, they are embedded in either the noun phrase or the verb phrase
of an independent or context dependent sentence.
•
•
Categorise kernel sentences according to type: indicate in each case to
what type of sentence or clause the kernel sentence belongs.
Provide a parallel translation for each kernel sentence.
TABLE 8: SYNTACTIC ANALYSIS (JUDGES 3:7-11)
Masoretic
Dem
Linguistic
Vertaling
Accents
Colon
Vs Line
Type
Kernel sentence
Tri
hw"ëhy> ynEåy[eB. ‘[r:h'-ta, laeÛr"f.yI-ynEb. Wf’[]Y:w: 7
Nr
Cl
Type
1
I
State
[And the children of Israel did the evil in the eyes of
YHWH,]
Acc
Zaq 2
Paš
hw"ëhy> ynEåy[eB. ‘[r:h'-ta, laeÛr"f.yI-ynEb. Wf’[]Y:w: 7
7a
Atn 1
Tip
~h,_yhel{)a/ hw"åhy>-ta, WxßK.v.YIw:)
b
~h,_yhel{)a/ hw"åhy>-ta, WxßK.v.YIw:) 2
I
State
[and they forgot YHWH their Godt,]
Sil 0
Tip
`tAr)vea]h'-ta,w> ~yliÞ['B.h;-ta, Wdïb.[;Y:w:
c
`tAr)vea]h'-ta,w> ~yliÞ['B.h;-ta, Wdïb.[;Y:w: 3
I
State
[and they served the Baals and the Asherahs.]
Paš
laeêr"f.yIB. ‘hw"hy> @a;Û-rx;YI)w: 8
8a
laeêr"f.yIB. ‘hw"hy> @a;Û-rx;YI)w: 8
4
I
State
[The wrath of YHWH ignited against Israel,]
Zaq 2
Paš
~yIt;ê['v.rI !v;äWK ‘dy:B. ~rEªK.m.YIw:)
b
~yIr"+h]n: ~r:åa] %l,m,Þ ~yIt;ê['v.rI !v;äWK ‘dy:B. ~rEªK.m.YIw:)
5
I
State
[and he sold them in the hand of Kushan Rishataim, the
king of Aram Naharaim,]
Atn 1
Tip
~yIr"+h]n: ~r:åa] %l,m,Þ
c
Sil 0
Tip
`~ynI)v' hn<ïmov. ~yIt:ß['v.rI !v;îWK-ta, lae²r"f.yI-ynE)b. Wdôb.[;Y:w:
d
`~ynI)v' hn<ïmov. ~yIt:ß['v.rI !v;îWK-ta, lae²r"f.yI-ynE)b. Wdôb.[;Y:w:
6
I
State
[and the children of Israel served Kushan Rishataim
for eight years.]
Zaq 2
Paš
hw"ëhy>-la, ‘laer"f.yI-ynE)b. WqÜ[]z>YIw: 9
9a
hw"ëhy>-la, ‘laer"f.yI-ynE)b. WqÜ[]z>YIw: 9
7
I
State
[The children of Israel called to YHWH,]
Atn 1
Tip
~[e_yviAY*w: laeÞr"f.yI ynEïb.li [:yvi²Am hw"ïhy> ~q,Y"’w:
b
tae… * laeÞr"f.yI ynEïb.li [:yvi²Am hw"ïhy> ~q,Y"’w: 8
bleÞk' yxiîa] zn:ëq.-!B, laeäynIt.['
I
State
[and YHWH caused a savior to stand up for the
children of Israel – Othniel son of Kenaz the brother of
Caleb
Zaq 2
Yet
zn:ëq.-!B, laeäynIt.[' tae…
9c
`WNM,(mi !joïQ'h; 8a
D
Relat
(who was younger than him)]
Sil 0
Tip
`WNM,(mi !joïQ'h; bleÞk' yxiîa]
d
~[e_yviAY*w: * 9
I
State
[and he saved them.]
Zar
èlaer"f.yI-ta, jPoåv.YIw: éhw"hy>-x:Wr) wyl'î[' y“hiT.w: 10
10
I
State
[The spirit of YHWH was upon him,]
èlaer"f.yI-ta, jPoåv.YIw: 11
I
State
[and he ruled Israel.]
hm'êx'l.Mil; ‘aceYEw: 12
I
State
[He went out in war,]
13
I
State
[and YHWH gave in his hand Kushan Rishataim, the
king of Aram.]
`~yIt'(['v.rI !v;îWK l[;Þ Adêy" z['T'äw: 14
I
State
[His hand was strong upon Kushan Rishataim.]
15
I
State
[The land experienced peace for fourty years,]
`zn:)q.-!B, laeîynIt.[' tm'Y"ßw: 16
I
State
[and Othniel the son of Kenaz died.]
Zaq 2
Seg 1
10a
Paš
hm'êx'l.Mil; ‘aceYEw:
Zaq 2
Paš
Adêy"B. ‘hw"hy> !TeÛYIw:
c
Atn 1
Tip
~r"+a] %l,m,ä ~yIt:ß['v.rI !v;îWK-ta,
d
Sil 0
Tip
`~yIt'(['v.rI !v;îWK l[;Þ Adêy" z['T'äw:
e
Atn 1
Tip
hn"+v' ~y[iäB'r>a; #r<a"ßh' jqoïv.Tiw: 11
11a
Sil 0
Tip
`zn:)q.-!B, laeîynIt.[' tm'Y"ßw:
b
Zaq 2
10b
1
2
3
4
5
6
Quad
Bi
Bi
Mono
Quad
éhw"hy>-x:Wr) wyl'î[' y“hiT.w: 10
~r"+a] %l,m,ä ~yIt:ß['v.rI !v;îWK-ta, Adêy"B. ‘hw"hy> !TeÛYIw:
7
Bi
hn"+v' ~y[iäB'r>a; #r<a"ßh' jqoïv.Tiw: 11
Segmentation (Poetic texts)
This step is specifically meant for the analysis of poetry. The building blocks of
the poem are identified. A Hebrew poem is built up from a few elements:
•
Cola/poetic feet: The smallest building block of a poem is the colon or
poetic foot. Cola are initially demarcated by using only the disjunctive Masoretic
accents as criterium. Everything that has been said in Chapters 25-26 and
33.4.4 is also applicable here. The following steps should be applied:
o
Identify the demarcating disjunctive accents.
o
Confirm the demarcation by identifying the accompanying disjunctive
(precursor) of each demarcating disjunctive accent.
o
Write the cola underneath each other and provide the following:
–
The name of the demarcating disjunctive accent that marks the end of the colon and
its relative ‘strength.’
–
The name of the accompanying disjunctive(s) (precursor[s]) that is/are associated
with each demarcating disjunctive accent.
•
Verse lines: Cola/feet are grouped together in verse lines by using the demarcating disjunctive
Masoretic accents as guide. A simple principle governs the demarcation of verse lines:
o
As long as the demarcating disjunctives in a verse appear in ascending order (e.g. from level 3 to
level 2 to level 1 to level 0), all the cola belong to the same verse line.
o
When the level of a demarcating disjunctive descends in terms of the previous one, a new verse
line commences.
•
When the boundary of each verse line has been determined, the line can be classified according to its
type. The number of cola in a verse line determines it type. In general the guidelines are:
o
In the twenty-one prose books a verse line consists of at least one (monocolon), mostly two
(bicolon), often three (tricolon), and sometimes four (quadrocolon) or five cola (pentacolon).
o
In the three poetic books a verse line consists of at least one (monocolon), mostly two (bicolon),
and often three cola (tricolon).
•
The disjunctive Masoretic accents should be used as guide to demarcate cola and verse lines. The
arbitrary demarcation of cola and lines as printed in Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia should be regarded
with suspicion! Nevertheless, it is important to verify the demarcation with reference to other criteria as
well. The following can be used as general guidelines:
o
The morphological and syntactical analysis serves as resource. For the greater part a Hebrew
verse line forms a coherent morphological and syntactical unit.
o
Poetic techniques like parallelisms and chiasms also serve as resources. Especially parallelism
occurs so frequently that it can be used as a trustworthy criterion to establish the beginning and end of a
verse line (Watson 1984:19).
o
The metre can also serve as a resource. Most verse lines fit into a known metric pattern in one or
other form, although any one poem does not have a uniform metre (Watson 1984:98).
o
The Masoretic punctuation is also of great help. Revell (1981:186-199) shows that verse lines in
Hebrew poetry are not clearly defined. In his opinion, careful attention must be paid to the Masoretic
punctuation, especially in pausal form. The Masoretes had a much better sense as to the way in which the
poetry was initially read than the modern exegete does. It can be accepted that the pausal forms show the
end of a poetic unit (1981:188).
•
Strophes: A strophe can be defined as a group of verse lines
that can be grouped together to form a subdivision of the poem
(Watson 1984:162). A number of criteria can be used to group verse
lines together into a strophe:
o
The morphological and syntactical analysis can be seen as
important criteria. In these steps, the underlying relation between the
words and sentences in the poem is already established. This relation
makes it possible to decide which verse lines should be grouped
together.
o
Distinctive use of words can also be of help (Van der Lugt
[1980]:213). Words that are repeated, the occurrence of semantic fields
and the distribution of key words suggests which verse lines belong
together.
o
The occurrence of figures of speech like parallelisms can serve
as resource (Van der Lugt [1980]:218). In this regard the occurrence of
external parallelisms can be noted, that is to say, two or more verse
lines which are built up parallel, also give an idea as to which verse
lines belong together.
o
The content can also be a guide (Van der Lugt [1980]:212).
Content can serve as check for the abovementioned criteria. As such, it
contributes to the establishing of which verse lines should be grouped
together.
•
Stanzas: A stanza can be described as
a bigger unit within the poem that contains
at least one (or more) strophes (Watson
1984:161). Stanzas thus are bigger
components in the poem (Van der Lugt
[1980]:220). The same criteria can be used
to group strophes into stanzas as that used
in the grouping of strophes.
Structure
• When the building blocks of the poem have been identified, the
relation between the elements can be established. In this step, the
information gathered in al the preceding steps is used to determine
the total structure of the poem. Structure thus does not show a
system outside the text (as in a structural analysis), but rather shows
a relation between the different components of the poem.
• Determining the structure of a text, remains an irrelevant exercise if
it cannot be used as an aid towards establishing the message of the
text. Therefore, it is helpful to give a synopsis of the structure of the
poem. The theme of each strophe and stanza and the relationship
between them is indicated. The theme of the poem can be deducted
from this exercise.
• By way of illustrating the principles mentioned, the structure of
Psalm 100 is given in Table 4.
TABLE 4: PSALM 100 – SEGMENTATION AND STRUCTURE
Sta
Str
Superscript
1
.1
Accent
Cola / feet
hd"+Atl. rAmïz>mi 1
Atn 1
A psalm. For giving thanks.
`#r<a")h'-lK' hw"©hyl;÷ W[yrIïh'
1a
Shout for joy to YHWH, all the earth!
hx'_m.fiB. hw"åhy>-ta, Wdåb.[i 2
2a
Worship YHWH with gladness,
`hn")n"r>Bi wyn"©p'l.÷ WaBoï
b
come before him with joyful songs!
~yhiîl{òa/ aWhÜ éhw"hy>-yKi( W[ªD> 3
3a
Know that YHWH is God,
he made us and we are his,
RebM
Sil 0
2
.1
Sil 0
RebM
OwY 1
Ṣin
Atn 1
Deḥ
Wnx.n:+a] Alåw> Wnf'['â-aWh)
b
Sil 0
RebM
`At)y[ir>m; !acoåw> AMª[;÷
c
his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Reb 2
Le g
hd"ªAtB. Ÿwy“r"['v. WaBoÜ 4
4a
Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
hL'_hit.Bi wyt'îrocex]
b
his courts with praise,
`Am)v. Wkïr}B' Alª÷-WdAh)
c
give thanks to him, praise his name,
AD+s.x; ~l'äA[l. hw"hoy>â bAjå-yKi 5
5a
for YHWH is good, for ever his love endures,
`At)n"Wma/ rdoªw"÷ rDoï-d[;w>
b
and from generation to generation his faithfulness.
Atn 1
.2
Translation
1Op
Atn 1
.2
Vs
Sil 0
RebM
Atn 1
Deḥ
Sil 0
RebM
SCHEMATIC REPRESENTATION OF STRUCTURE
STANZA
STROPHE
THEME
REMARKS
Superscript
A Psalm. For giving thanks.
hdy as 'theme' – cf 4a; 4c
1
Universal call to joyful living
7X impt 2mp (1a; 2a; 2b; 3a; 4a; 4c [2X])
1.1
Joy in the presence of YHWH
[wr hxmf hnnr in the semantic field 'joy'
1.2
Reason: YHWH is God!
Covenant terminology
Call to giving thanks
2.1
Thanksgiving in the presence of YHWH
awb (2b; 4a) links the two stanzas
hdy (4a; 4c) emphasises the thee of thanksgiving
2.2
Reason: YHWH's covenantal love
Covenant terminology
2
Note the interesting chiastic pattern in the succession of imperatives in the poem:
w[yrh (1a) wdb[ (2a) wab (2b) w[d (3a) wab (4a) wdwh (4c) wkrb (4c)
Joy (1a) and worship (2a) is only possible in the presence of YHWH (2b) where he is aknowledged as God (3a). Those who enter his presence (4a) can consequently give thanks (4c) and praise him
(4c). The repetition of wab and the fact that w[d occurs in the centre of seven imperatives, indicate that the theme of the poem is the recognition that YHWH is the only God by those who appear in his
presence and are thus inspired to joy and thanksgiving.
Poetic techniques (Poetic texts)
Poetry is a unique communication medium. This becomes clear in the following remark by
Gräbe (1985:107): ‘When the structure of poetic texts is studied, the accent is on a monological
language situation where an explicit or implicit speaker uses highly concentrated language to
communicate a certain poetic message’. The understanding of a poem rests ‘especially on a
careful analysis and interpretation of the relevant intratextual relations within a poem’ (Gräbe
1984a:138). In a poem, we thus find a concentration of communicative means (poetic
techniques) which serve as carriers of its meaning. Through the identification of these means, a
doorway is opened to the interpretation of the poem. The ‘uniqueness’ of poetry comes to the
fore on two levels:
•
Extra patterns: In poetry, there is a tendency to greater regularity in language used
than that in prose. It can especially be seen in phenomena like metre, sound phenomena like
alliteration, assonance, rhyme, onomatopoeia and wordplay, parallelisms and chiasms,
repetition, refrain, ring composition and other structural patterns.
•
Ungrammaticality: Poetry is characterised by many purposeful deviations from the
grammar rules of a language. Ungrammaticality comes to the fore in the form of similes,
metaphors, reference, deletion, irony, oxymoron, the use of the abstract when referring to the
concrete, hyperbole, merisms, hendiadys, the breaking up of composite phrases, enjambment,
delayed identification, rhetorical questions, the balancing of verse lines with the help of
supplementary variants, lists of word pairs, synonyms and inversion.
The function of these poetic techniques is on the one hand the emphasising of certain ideas,
on the other hand the laying of connections between the components of the poem (Gräbe
1984a:138-139; 1984b:22-67; 1984c:1-24; 1985:107-127; 1986:1-62. See also Watson
1984:87-159 en 201-359). A detailed analysis of any poem is essential in order to identify
poetic techniques. It requires from the exegete a high level of language competence.
Genre and Sitz im Leben
• According to Barton (1984:16) the ability to identify genre is one of
the most important abilities of a language user who is competent in
literature. With this he means that any user of language who is
educated in the conventions of a language, will be able to
contextualise the text within the framework of the literary corpus of
that language. In any language, stereotyped patterns (genres) do
exist. Each genre adheres to certain conventions and must be
interpreted according to those conventions. If no heed is paid to
these conventions for a specific literary genre, the danger always
exists that the text can be interpreted incorrectly. Genre recognition
is especially an intertextual exercise. The question asked is whether
the poem does not have a typical structure that can be found in
other Hebrew poems as well. If a poem does have a typical
structure, the next step is to determine whether it deviates from this
pattern at any time. In such cases, the question as to the function of
the deviation is asked.
•
•
The study of the structure of the pericope reveals the form of the text. Such
a form can, however, exhibit similarities with the form of other pericopes.
When different forms exhibit certain similarities, such a group of pericopes
are considered a Gattung. By the term Gattung is meant the literary genre
of the pericope. That it is important to determine the literary genre is in a
certain sense self-evident. Various Gattungen or genres (literary types)
have been identified by Old Testament scholars. Prophesies of doom,
prophesies of salvation, calling narratives of prophets, visionary material,
symbolic actions
performed
by the prophet, historical accounts, wisdom
Dating
and Authorship
sayings, geneaologies, psalms of praise, psalms of lament etc. It is also
important to try and determine the function of a particular genre in a
pericope.
When all is said and done, a poem needs to be read differently from a
historical narrative. It was the insight of Gunkel that indissolubly linked the
concepts Gattung and Sitz im Leben. By Sitz im Leben is meant the typical
sociological life situation within which one would expect a specific Gattung
to be used.
Dating and Authorship
• Trying to determent the dating (origin and
source) of the text and by whom it may
have been written
Position of the text in the Book
• Where does the pericope position in the
larger Biblical book
Relationship to other books in Old
Testament
• Does the text have any other intertextual
(comparison or uses to and in other texts
in the Bible) links
Detailed analysis
• With this step, the insights of all the
previous steps are integrated to form a
detailed analysis of the poem. Special
attention is given to the remarks of
theologians in commentaries and other
studies. These remarks are evaluated in
the context of the frame of interpretation
that has been determined by the previous
steps.
Sermon Outline
• Short outline of a proposed sermon
Synthesis/Conclusion
• The exegetical process is concluded with
a short overview of the content of the
specific pericope.
Bibliography
Harvard Method