Here is a list of 100 command prompts for performing a historical exegesis of a text, structured around the scholarly workflow of the historical-critical method.
I. Textual Criticism (Establishing the Text)
Goal: To establish the earliest and most reliable version of the text.
Gather all available manuscripts (MSS), papyri, and fragments of the text.Collate the variant readings between the most important manuscripts (e.g., Codex Sinaiticus, Codex Vaticanus).Consult the *apparatus criticus* (critical notes) of a standard scholarly edition (e.g., Nestle-Aland, Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia).Identify unintentional transcriptional errors (e.g., dittography, haplography, homoioteleuton, itacism).Identify intentional scribal changes (e.g., theological corrections, harmonization, smoothing of grammar).Analyze the "family tree" (*stemma*) of the manuscripts to determine their relationships.Evaluate variants based on external criteria (e.g., date of MS, geographical distribution).Evaluate variants based on internal criteria (e.g., "Which reading best explains the others?", *lectio difficilior potior* - "the more difficult reading is stronger").Reconstruct the *Urtext* (original text) or the earliest recoverable version of the passage.Justify your final textual choices for all significant variant passages.
II. Literary & Form Criticism (Analyzing the Text's Form)
Goal: To identify the genre, structure, and pre-existing forms (oral or written) within the text.
Determine the overarching literary genre of the entire work (e.g., epistle, gospel, chronicle, apocalypse, legal code, wisdom literature).Compare the text's features against the known conventions of that ancient genre.Define the precise boundaries of the passage (*pericope*) to be analyzed.Analyze the immediate literary context: what comes directly before and after this passage?Outline the internal structure of the passage (e.g., narrative arc, poetic stanza, logical argument).Identify any smaller, self-contained literary forms *within* the passage (e.g., parable, proverb, hymn, miracle story, legal saying).Determine the original *Sitz im Leben* ("Setting in Life") of that smaller form (e.g., a community dispute, a liturgical setting, a scribe's school).Trace the hypothetical transmission history of this form before it was written down.Analyze the text's rhetorical devices (e.g., chiasmus, inclusio, antithesis, hyperbole).Map the development of characters, plot, and recurring motifs within the text.Identify the text's narrative point of view (e.g., first-person, third-person omniscient, third-person limited).Analyze the text's tone (e.g., polemical, didactic, urgent, satirical, somber).Identify the "implied author" and the "implied reader" (the figures created by the text itself).Isolate any formulaic language (e.g., "Thus says the LORD," "Amen, I say to you").Classify the text's primary function: is it etiological (explaining origins), didactic (teaching), polemical (arguing), or kerygmatic (proclaiming)?
III. Source Criticism (Identifying the Sources)
Goal: To identify the different written sources the final author used to compose the text.
Identify internal "seams" in the text (e.g., abrupt changes in topic, style, or vocabulary).Isolate "doublets" (the same story told twice in different ways, e.g., in Genesis).Identify internal contradictions or logical inconsistencies.Compare the text with its parallels in other documents (e.g., the Synoptic Gospels, Kings/Chronicles).Determine the direction of literary dependence (e.g., did Matthew use Mark, or vice-versa?).Reconstruct the hypothetical content and characteristics of the proposed sources (e.g., the "Q" document, the "J" source).Identify passages that are unique to this author's source material (e.g., "Special Luke" or "Special Matthew").Analyze *how* the author has integrated these different sources.Isolate any direct quotations or clear allusions to other known texts (e.g., Old Testament quotations in the New Testament).Evaluate the relative age and historical proximity of the identified sources.
IV. Redaction Criticism (Analyzing the Editor)
Goal: To understand how and why the final author (redactor) edited and shaped the source material.
Analyze the redactor's "seams"—the editorial passages used to connect the sources.Identify the redactor's "fingerprints": their characteristic vocabulary, phrases, and stylistic preferences.Compare a passage to its original source to see what the redactor *added* (e.g., a theological explanation, a new character).Compare a passage to its original source to see what the redactor *omitted* (e.g., a confusing detail, a conflicting theological point).Analyze how the redactor *altered* the source material (e.g., changing a word, "cleaning up" grammar, changing the sequence of events).Analyze the overall structure the redactor imposed on the final work (e.g., arranging stories geographically, thematically).Identify the main theological or political agenda of the redactor.Determine the *Sitz im Leben* of the *redactor's community*: what problems were they facing?Formulate a profile of the redactor: what were their primary concerns, beliefs, and biases?Explain *why* the redactor combined these specific sources in this specific way.
V. Historical-Social Criticism (Reconstructing the Context)
Goal: To reconstruct the social, political, cultural, and religious world behind the text.
Establish the *terminus post quem* (the earliest possible date) for the text's composition (e.g., based on events it mentions).Establish the *terminus ante quem* (the latest possible date) for the text (e.g., based on its earliest attestation in other sources).Identify the most probable *locus* (place of origin) for the text (e.g., Rome, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem).Reconstruct the political situation at the time of writing (e.g., under Roman rule, Babylonian exile, post-Alexander conquests).Correlate events in the text with external historical records (e.g., Josephus, Tacitus, Suetonius, Babylonian chronicles).Correlate claims in the text with archaeological evidence (e.g., the Cyrus Cylinder, the Merneptah Stele, coin data, destruction layers).Analyze the economic system presupposed by the text (e.g., agrarian, patronage-based, empire taxation, trade routes).Analyze the social structure (e.g., kinship/tribe, class, slavery, patron-client relationships).Identify the dominant cultural values (e.g., honor-shame, purity-defilement, hospitality, collectivism vs. individualism).Analyze the text's perspective on marginalized groups (e.g., women, slaves, foreigners, the poor, the sick).Research the legal systems referenced or presupposed (e.g., Roman law, local customs, Jewish law).Analyze the text's assumptions about daily life (e.g., food, housing, labor, travel).Identify the religious groups or sects active at the time (e.g., Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, Stoics, Epicureans).Analyze the polemical nature of the text: who is the "in-group" and who is the "out-group"?Research contemporaneous religious beliefs and practices (e.g., emperor cult, mystery religions, Gnosticism, local paganism).Identify philosophical concepts that may have influenced the author (e.g., Platonism, Stoicism).Analyze the function of religious institutions mentioned (e.g., the Temple, the synagogue, the priesthood, oracles).Reconstruct the specific historical problem or crisis the text is responding to (e.g., a persecution, a famine, an internal schism).Analyze the text for anachronisms (details from a later period inserted into the story).Research the meaning of technical terms, place names, and titles from the period.Analyze the text's cosmology (view of the universe) and eschatology (view of the end times).Determine the literacy level and social class of the probable intended audience.Analyze the text's use of public versus private space (e.g., "house church," "agora," "temple court").Identify the text's ideological assumptions (what it takes for granted).Research the original language of composition (e.g., Koine Greek, Classical Hebrew, Aramaic) and its specific nuances.Analyze the text's view on wealth, poverty, and debt.Identify any military or imperial references (e.g., legionaries, taxes, crucifixion).Research the specific agricultural practices or seasonal cycles mentioned.Analyze the text's assumptions about medicine, disease, and purity.Determine if the text is normative (setting rules) or descriptive (describing events).Identify and analyze all *hapax legomena* (words that appear only once) in their historical context.Analyze the meaning of gestures and symbolic actions (e.g., washing feet, tearing garments).Reconstruct the intellectual climate: what were the "big questions" of the day?Analyze the text's relationship to imperial power (e.g., subversive, accommodationist, supportive).Evaluate the text as a historical source: is it a primary, secondary, or tertiary source for the events it describes?
VI. Synthesis & Interpretation (Deriving the Original Meaning)
Goal: To synthesize all findings to articulate what the text meant in its original context.
Synthesize the findings from textual, source, and redaction criticism to narrate the text's "biography" (how it was formed).Synthesize the findings from form and historical criticism to reconstruct the original socio-historical setting and function.Articulate the primary message the *redactor* intended for the *original audience*.Explain *how* the text's literary form and rhetorical strategy were designed to achieve that purpose.Differentiate the original intended meaning from 2,000 years of later interpretations (*hermeneutics* vs. *exegesis*).Identify the specific historical problem or question the text was written to answer.Summarize the text's historical value: what does it reliably tell us about the past?Summarize the text's theological or ideological argument in its own terms.Explain the most "foreign" or "scandalous" parts of the text in light of their original context.Evaluate the "kernel of history": what in this text can be reasonably deemed historically factual, and what is literary/theological embellishment?Write a new translation of the passage with footnotes explaining key historical and cultural nuances.Formulate the central thesis of your entire exegetical analysis in a single, clear paragraph.Explain *why* this text was likely preserved and valued by the community that produced it.Articulate the text's "theodicy": its explanation for evil, suffering, or the state of the world.Compare the text's ideology to that of its contemporaneous rivals.
VII. Methodological Review & Reception History
Goal: To check for bias and understand how the text's meaning has changed over time.
Review your analysis for personal biases, modern assumptions, or theological agendas (*eisegesis*).Identify any remaining ambiguities or questions that defy a definitive exegetical answer.Compare your historical-critical reading to a major pre-critical (e.g., allegorical, patristic) or post-critical (e.g., feminist, post-colonial) interpretation.Briefly trace the text's *Wirkungsgeschichte* (history of its effects and interpretation) over time.Identify how this text has been used (or misused) to support later historical, political, or theological programs.
No comments:
Post a Comment