Task 3. Refine your Exegetical Decisions
Essence of the Task
Having carried out your own exegetical work examining the context, structure, and content of your passage, contrast your conclusions with the best commentaries available to you, noting and refining your conclusions. In this way we can make sure that we have not missed anything important, we will be able to qualify our own discoveries, and we will have the opportunity to go deeper, taking advantage of the work of others. At the same time, because the commentaries will offer us input of various kinds, it will be important to collect that information effectively for later use.
Detailed Description
This task requires you to work on several activities simultaneously. The fact is that although the main task is to polish your exegetical decisions, that is, to » wrap up» your formal work on the «What does it say?» question, you are doing it in dialogue with your commentaries. This exposes you to a fairly large amount of material with possibly many new and distracting ideas.
However, the reason for leaving more extensive reading of commentaries until now is so that your own study of the biblical text will be primary. The commentaries provide you with support, and perhaps a lot of support! But that does not detract from the fact that your own study of the passage remains the primary focus. Otherwise, «exegesis» could become a mere comparison of the opinions of others.
At this point in the process, you already have a good idea of the context of the passage and its contribution to the overall argument of the book. You already have a clear notion of the structure of the passage and have summarized the main thoughts. You already have a good handle on the content of the passage through the lens of its words in context.
With all that behind you, perhaps the ideal strategy is to read the commentaries from two angles:
First, read according to the blocks you have identified. Since these blocks represent the statements or propositions that you will be communicating, why not read the commentaries from that perspective? Usually this is simply a matter of following the normal flow of the commentary. However, the important thing here relates to your reading approach. Don’t just read and take notes. Read with reference to the blocks of thought you have identified.
For all practical purposes, that means you will read with greater intentionality and highlight and annotate with a more precise focus. You are not studying with undefined horizons. You are preparing a sermon that is being shaped by the work you have already been doing and that you have to preach at 11 o’clock on Sunday. Therefore, if reading something, highlighting something, or taking note of something contributes to that end, perfect. If not, move on to the next point that does.
Next, read to «verify» the contextual meanings of the words that you have research and explained. This is not the same as consulting with a lexicon. The reason is that the commentator’s focus is on the use of our words in our passage. That is to say, he tries to take into account all those dynamics of context and argument that so constrain the particular meaning of a word. This is of utmost importance. As Donald Carson rightly states (Exegetical Fallacies, p. 70), in concluding his chapter on fallacies in word study,
But the heart of the matter is that semantics, meaning, is more than the meaning of words. It involves phrases, sentences, discourses, genres, style; it demands sympathy not only with systematic word studies (those that relate some words to others), but also with paradigmatic word studies (those that reflect on why this word is used instead of that one).
There are several additional very specific reasons why it is worthwhile to consult commentaries at this point.
- It is wise to recognize that there are people who probably know quite a bit more about the original languages and who, moreover, have probably spent years studying the biblical book to which we are only devoting a few weeks.
- It is a safeguard for our fidelity. If we have made a mistake in any matter, even if it is only a matter of nuance, it is better to discover it now than after we have made an assertion from the pulpit.
- Many commentaries will also provide insights and ideas that had not yet occurred to us. Consequently, our work may be profoundly enriched. But having already done – on our own – all the study we have done so far, we will be able to better evaluate what we read and at the same time avoid being unduly influenced by what the commentator says.
To Do
It is important to develop this task with a clear strategy. On more than one occasion I have gotten lost reading in my commentaries without a fixed objective. Hours later I have realized that I have gleaned little from all that reading that has brought me tangibly closer to a finished sermon.
- As I said above, perhaps the most important thing at this point is to study (and collect the fruit of what you have studied!) according to the structure reflected in the summaries you developed on Tuesday, addressing the words that pertain those blocks as you go. That is, record what you glean under those blocks, since you will be preaching through those blocks.
- Normally, you would also work a block to completion. That is, if the block I was working on at any given time was verses 1-2b, I would read what the three or four commentaries I am consulting say about that passage, before moving on to what they have to say for the next block, e.g., vv. 2c-4 (or whatever it may be). For most of us, our minds can only work effectively with a certain volume of material at a time. Therefore, it is preferable to close blocks of thought, adding and polishing, until we have what you need to be able to explain that portion.
- Obviously, your specific way of working will depend on your preferences and whether you work with paper or digitally.
- If you work with paper and printed resources, a simple idea might be to simply dedicate a sheet of paper to each block of thought. Read and write down the most salient points. If you have a large enough desk, you can have all your comments visible at the same time and go through them one at a time until you finish the block in question.
- If you work primarily in a digital medium, the basic idea is no different, just the procedures. We will develop some specific ideas about this in the corresponding tutorial.
To Keep in Mind
It is important to be ready to jot down essential ideas in the appropriate places if, in your reading, you come across something good that does not pertain directly to the block or the word that you are studying at a given moment on an exegetical level.
- A commentator mentions a possible application.
- An illustration comes to mind.
- You come up with an idea of how to organize the sermon at the homiletical level.
For all of this, it’s good to have paper – or better, if you work in a digital environment – files and note documents ready to jot down what’s vital in order to be able to continue on with your study. If it helps, you may want to have several categories in mind in which to keep these additional observations. That way you keep them in a logical way and, when the time comes, you can work on observations of the same type together. As an example, Herbert W. Bateman IV, in A Workbook for Intermediate Greek, highlights issues to investigate in the following categories.
- Lexical issues.
- Stylistic issues.
- Syntactic issues (In our process we would work on structure issues on «Tuesday»).
- Interpretative issues (Depending on the issue, our process could work on «Wednesday» or «Thursday»).
- Theological issues (Interpretation and application, to unravel «Thursday»).
At the same time, since these Bateman categories do not include homiletical issues, it might also be good to add some such categories, in case a commentator suggests something along those lines.
- Outline ideas
- Illustration ideas
- Application ideas
- Introduction and conclusion ideas
Basically, the skill to develop regarding this last reflection is simply knowing how to focus (without distraction) on what you are working on at any given moment, without missing (at the same time) the opportunity to «catch» information that comes your way, which will save you time in the days to come. Clearly, this is a very important skill to develop for work at any given time, given that the mind works in such a way and resources are read in such a way that ideas and information will always present themselves «at the wrong time». Knowing how to collect those ideas and information, without losing focus on the job at hand, is vital.