Different Steps For Exegesis PDF

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Different Steps for Exegesis

The Greek ἐξήγησις from ἐξηγεῖσθαι to lead out- is a critical explanation or interpretation of
a text. Exegesis can be referring to the historical investigation into the meaning of the biblical
text. The presupposition lying behind this task is that the biblical books had "authors" and
"readers," and that the authors intended their readers to understand what they wrote. Exegesis
therefore answers the question, What did the biblical author mean? It has to do both with what
he said (the content itself) and why he said it at any given point (the literary context)-as much
as that might be discovered, given our distance in time, language, and culture. Furthermore,
exegesis is primarily concerned with intentionality: What did the author intend his original
readers to understand? The first thing one must note of any biblical text is elementary, but it is
also the crucial matter, for it determines much of the rest. What kind of literature are you
exegeting? The NT is composed basically of four types (genres): The Gospels are comprised
of pericopes, individual units of narrative or teaching, which are of different kinds, with
different formal characteristics, and which have been set in their present contexts by the
evangelists. The Epistles, for the most part, are comprised of paragraphs of argument or
exhortation. Here the exegete must learn, above all else, to trace the flow of the writer's
argument in order to understand any single sentence or paragraph. Acts is basically a series
of connected shorter narratives that form one entire narrative interspersed with speeches. The
book of Revelation is basically a series of carefully constructed visions, woven together to
form a complete apocalyptic narrative. Once we have decided the literary genre of the text
under study, we have to follow thirteen different steps to reach at the exegesis.
1: Survey the historical context in general.
2: Confirm the limits of the passage.
3: Become thoroughly acquainted with your paragraph/pericope.
4: Analyze sentence structures and syntactical relationships.
5: Establish the text.
6: Analyze the grammar.
7: Analyze significant words.
8: Research the historicalcultural background.
9: Determine the formal character of the pericope or saying.

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10: Analyze the pericope in a Gospel synopsis.
11: Analyze the pericope in its narrative context.
12: Consider the broader biblical and theological contexts.
13: Consult secondary literature.
1: Survey the historical context in general: Answers for the following questions will
help one to do the historical context- Who is the author? Who are the recipients? What is the
relationship between them? Where do the recipients live? What are their present
circumstances? What historical situation occasioned this writing? What is the author's
purpose? What is the overall theme or concern? Does the argument or narrative have an easily
discerned outline?
2: Confirm the limits of the passage: whether the passage taken for study is a
structurally coherent unit. Even if you are exegeting only a single sentence, that
sentence must be placed in its own paragraph or pericope. (Critical edition of the
Greek text of Nestle-Aland).
3: Become thoroughly acquainted with your paragraph/periscope: Process called

textual criticism starts from this step onwards. The critical edition of the Greek text,
help us to be acquainted with the periscope under study. Examine the pericope through
in different manuscripts. Found out the variants : addition-modification-ommission.
Try to make a provisional translation and note certain exegetical difficulties.
4: Analyze sentence structures and syntactical relationships: Recognize the basic

syntax of each sentence – to do this well, you make a sentence diagram (Subject-
object – verb). Observe whether there exists certain patterns (contrasts, parallels,
chiasm).
5: Establish the text: The science that seeks to recover the original form of
manuscripts is called textual criticism, which has become a very technical and
complex field of study. Thus to establish the text an elaborated process of textual
criticism is needed.
6: Analyze the grammar: Are any grammatical points in doubt? Could any sentences,
clauses, or phrases be read differently if the grammar were construed differently? Are
there genuine ambiguities that make a definite interpretation of some part of the
passage impossible? If so, what at least are the possible options? Is the grammar
anomalous (not what would be expected) at any point? If so, can you offer any
explanation for the anomaly?
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7: Analyze significant words: (1) Explain what is not obvious. (2) Concentrate on key
words and wordings.
8: Research the historical-cultural background: Involved in this step are a variety

of concerns that include (1) the meaning of persons, places, events, and so forth
mentioned in the passage; (2) the cultural-social milieu of the author and his readers;
(3) the customs and practices of the author or speaker and his readers or listeners; (4)
the thought world of the author and his readers; and (5) the frequent intertextuality
(echoes of language and context of the OT) found in the NT writers.
9: Determine the formal character of the pericope or saying: Identify the general
literary type. Is your pericope or sentence a narrative or a saying? Or is it a
combination of the two-a pronouncement story? Each of these types functions in a
different way. Identify the specific literary form. If your pericope is a narrative, is it a
miracle story? Does it have all the formal characteristics of such stories? Is it a story
about Jesus? Or about John the Baptist? About such a narrative you might ask, why
was it preserved in the tradition? What important thing about Jesus does it tell you by
the fact of its preservation? More important, how does the narrative now function in
the evangelist's narrative? to reinforce a teaching? as one in a series that illustrate some
aspect of Jesus' mission or message? If your passage is a saying, what kind of saying is
it? Is it a parable? a similitude? an apocalyptic saying? a wisdom saying? a prophetic
utterance? a piece of legal material? Does it have poetic elements? chiasm?
10: Analyze the pericope in a Gospel synopsis: This analysis consists of three
observations- “Triple tradition” means the pericope is found in Mark-Matthew-Luke;
double tradition means Matthew-Luke; single tradition means it is found in only one of
the Gospels-Matthew or Luke.
11: Analyze the pericope in its narrative context: When all the previous steps have
been carefully worked through, the single most important thing for exegesis is to
grapple with how the pericope fits the immediate narrative purposes of the evangelist.
In the end, biblical exegesis has to do not with exegeting the historical Jesus, as it
were, but with the historical Jesus as he is now mediated through the witness of the
evangelists themselves. It is the biblical book that one exegetes, not the reconstructed
story that lies behind the book.
12: Consider the broader biblical and theological contexts: to fit it into its broader
biblical and theological contexts. How does the passage function (i.e., as teaching or
conveying a message) in the section, book and Scripture? How does it or its elements
compare to other Scriptures that address the same sorts of issues? To what is it similar
or dissimilar? What hinges on it elsewhere? What other elements in Scripture help
make it comprehensible? Why? How? Does the passage affect the meaning or value of
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other Scriptures in a way that crosses literary or historical lines? What would be lost or
how would the message of the Bible be less complete if the passage did not exist?
13: Consult secondary literature: Even though you will have consulted
commentaries, grammars, and many kinds of other books and articles in the process of
completing the preceding steps, you should now undertake a more systematic
investigation of the secondary literature that may apply to your exegesis. For the
exegesis to be your work and not merely a mechanical compendium of others' views, it
is wise to do your own thinking and to arrive at your own conclusions as much as
possible prior to this step. Further we can do our own evaluation on the secondary
sources basing on our exegetic assumptions. Do they organize their exegesis in a better
way? Do they give consideration to implications you hadn't even considered? Do they
supplement your own findings? If so, do not hesitate to revise your own conclusions or
procedures in the preceding steps, giving proper credit in each case. But never feel that
you must cover in your exegesis everything that the others do.
Mt 26, 40 - Mk 14, 37 Lk 22, 46

kai. e;rcetai pro.j tou.j kai. e;rcetai kai. eu`ri,skei kai. ei=pen auvtoi/j\ ti,
maqhta.j kai. eu`ri,skei auvtou.j auvtou.j kaqeu,dontaj( kai. kaqeu,deteÈ avnasta,ntej
kaqeu,dontaj( kai. le,gei tw/| le,gei tw/| Pe,trw|\ Si,mwn( proseu,cesqe( i[na mh.
Pe,trw|\ ou[twj ouvk ivscu,sate kaqeu,deijÈ ouvk i;scusaj mi,an eivse,lqhte eivj peirasmo,nÅ
mi,an w[ran grhgorh/sai metV w[ran grhgorh/saiÈ
evmou/È

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What are the different steps involved in exegesis?

What are the different steps involved in exegesis?

What are the different types of literature in the New Testament?

What are the different types of literature in the New Testament?

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Different Steps for Exegesis

1: Survey the historical context in general.

2: Confirm the limits of the passage.

3: Become thoroughly acquainted with your paragraph/pericope.

4: Analyze sentence structures and syntactical relationships.

5: Establish the text.

6: Analyze the grammar.

7: Analyze significant words.

8: Research the historicalcultural background.

9: Determine the formal character of the pericope or saying.

10: Analyze the pericope in a Gospel synopsis.

11: Analyze the pericope in its narrative context.

12: Consider the broader biblical and theological contexts.

13: Consult secondary literature.

3: Become thoroughly acquainted with your paragraph/periscope: Process called

4: Analyze sentence structures and syntactical relationships: Recognize the basic

8: Research the historical-cultural background: Involved in this step are a variety

Mt 26, 40 - Mk 14, 37 Lk 22, 46

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