Outline

Survey the historical context in general: Read the entire letter and note any clues about: the author; the recipients and their relationship to the author; where they were; what were their circumstances; what historical occasion prompted the letter to be written; the author's purpose.

Confirm the limits of the passage: Is the passage a self-contained unit? (Note that in this course the passage you are assigned may cross natural divisions in the text. If it does, be sure to say so.) What comes before and after, and how does the passage fit into its surroundings? For example, “Rev 1 introduces John's message to the seven churches, which begins at chapter 2.”

Become thorougly acquainted with the passage: [All] Read the passage in several translations, noting any places where they convey significantly different meanings. You might try to determine whether these differences are due to textual, grammatical, or lexical (i.e. dictionary-like) alternatives. [Greek] Make an initial translation.

Analyse sentence structures and syntactical relationships: [All] Write out the passage in a structured form using your own words. The structure of the passage will sometimes be simple, other times complex. Look for literary cues such as inclusios, repeated words or phrases, and chiasmus. [Greek] Perform a grammatical analysis of the sentences in the passage, identifying the parts of speech and how they relate to each other.

Establish the text: What was the author's text? The transmission process has introduced textual variations. When there is a textual variation at some site, it is necessary to decide which reading (i.e. which alternative) is original, if indeed that can be established. [All] Note any footnotes in English translations which alert the reader to differences of this kind. Such a note will typically say, “Some manuscripts have...” Commentaries sometimes give English translations of significant alternatives. [Greek] The United Bible Societies Greek New Testament [UBS4] shows which variations are significant for the purposes of translation. These should be listed along with your own translations of the alternatives. Make an attempt to decide which alternative is most likely original. Do the alternatives say significantly different things? What might be the cause of variation?

Analyse the grammar: [All] Are there grammatical issues which affect the meaning of the passage? An English Bible may provide an alternative way to construe the text in a footnote. For example, the main text may have “whatever you bind on earth has been bound in Heaven” while a footnote has “whatever you bind on earth will be bound in Heaven.” [Greek] Identify any grammatical issues which are significant for translation. For example, is there more than one possible antecedent for a relative pronoun? Books in the United Bible Societies “Helps for Translators” series are helpful in this respect but should only be consulted after you have thought about it yourself.[6]

Analyse significant words: [All] This involves isolating key words or phrases and thinking about their intended meanings. Some words are of great importance to the meaning of the passage: these are the ones to look for. They may have a range of possible meanings: which one does the author intend in this context? Not every word should be treated this way; instead, focus on the handful of crucial players in the passage. Beware of etymology: tracing the derivation of a word can be enlightening but can also be misleading. The important thing to determine is what a word or phrase meant to the author and audience. [Greek] Look up the crucial words in Bauer's Greek-English Lexicon.

Research the historical and cultural background in general: [All] What contemporary events might be relevant? What cultural practices and understandings might be presupposed? How did the author and audience think? That, is, how did they decide what was worth acting upon? How did they understand the world to operate? What was authoritative for them? What echoes of other texts (e.g. Hebrew Bible, other New Testament writings) might be evident? The margins of the Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece list possible references to scriptural passages.

Examine the historical context in particular: All of the New Testament letters were written for some reason; each had an occasion, a special set of circumstances that compelled the author to write. Knowing these circumstances helps understand what the letter is about. As Fee says, “try to imagine what it would have been like to be sitting in an early Christian community hearing the letter read for the first time.”[7] What hints and clues are there in the passage which indicate why the author is writing these things? Does some behaviour need to be changed? Is there a theological misunderstanding? Does the audience need to be prepared for action? Is the cause of trouble inside or outside the community?

Determine the formal character of the letter: Some letters have a specific occasion, some are ad hoc, and some seem like tracts with letter-like beginnings or endings. Does the passage fall into one of the normal subdivisions of a Christian letter (e.g. greeting, introductory thanksgiving, introductory prayer, body, final greetings, benediction)? Is the passage part of a rhetorical structure (e.g. a section of teaching, a section of exhortation)? Does the form (i.e. the literary conventions followed by the author) affect the meaning?

Determine the literary context: “To do this, one must learn to THINK PARAGRAPHS.”[8] See how your passage fits into the surrounding context at the paragraph level. What are the preceding and following paragraphs about and how does your passage relate to them? In other words, how does your passage fit into the logical progression of the letter? Writing down the main points of these paragraphs in your own words will help.

Consider the broader biblical and theological contexts: How does what this passage says fit with what the rest of this book, the New Testament, the Bible, and Christian theology says? How does this passage compare with similar ones in the New Testament? Does it raise any difficulties? Has it been understood in different ways at different times? What would be lost if we didn't have it? Does our understanding of other things depend on how we understand this passage?

Consult secondary literature: Investigate what others have said about the passage. Up until now you should have been thinking for yourself rather than relying on others; now it is time to consider other viewpoints and to adjust your findings if necessary. Commentaries are a useful starting point in discovering the range of prevailing opinions in relation to your passage. Note what Fee says regarding critical assessment of other views, when to quote, and how to use annotation.[9]

Provide a working text: [All] Establish a text to work with. For English, this may involve choosing one translation of the passage or even constructing your own hybrid of the ones you have checked. [Greek] Provide a polished translation of the passage.

Write the exegesis: All of you are required to do this. If you have done the preceding steps you will have plenty of material to work with.