IMPORTANT QUESTIONS TO ASK IN TEXTUAL CRITICISM

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1 The following points need to be noted. (1) The subsequent list does not suggest that one method should be used prior to another. All the methods interrelate and any one method can be pursued first, second, third, etc. (2) The student should observe that several questions may be nearly identical among several of the different methodologies, but with different nuances. (3) The principle that commentaries, articles, etc., should be read after the research was one of the reasons I did not place historical interpretation first. While that is the place that most of us want to start, doing so means we often skew our judgment. Thus, I have listed these questions toward the end. (4) Finally, the student should perceive that the "intention" of any one interpretative method can be traced through to the application today. This tracing is the "anchor" that allows us to find the meaning of the text today by understanding its meaning originally. Cognizance of this principle also takes pressure off the individual "to interpret" the text and frees the interpreter from the accusation, "That's your interpretation!" IMPORTANT QUESTIONS TO ASK IN TEXTUAL CRITICISM What textual difficulties exist and how does this impact on the meaning of the text? (For those who know the original languages.) How do the various translations render the passage and how does this impact on the meaning of the text? (For both those who know and those who do not know the languages.) IMPORTANT QUESTIONS TO ASK IN PHILOLOGICAL INTERPRETATION What key words are concepts may need to be investigated in a word study and how do they impact on the meaning of the text? How are these words used in this text as compared to how they are used by the author elsewhere? How are these words used in this text as compared to their use elsewhere in the Bible? IMPORTANT QUESTIONS TO ASK IN FORM INTERPRETATION What does the structure (outline) reveal about the meaning of the text? What genres are imbedded in the text and how does this impact on its meaning? What does the setting reveal about the text? 1

2 What intentions are imbedded in the text and how does this contribute to an understanding of it? IMPORTANT QUESTIONS TO ASK IN SOURCE INTERPRETATION What is the pericope (boundaries) of the text? What words, phrases, etc., indicate changes in subject, theme, etc.? IMPORTANT QUESTIONS TO ASK IN TRADITION/REDACTION INTERPRETATION What factors caused the community to preserve this text in this place? What words, phrases, etc., indicate how the book came to be put together? What intentions are revealed in this larger context (pericope) of the book? IMPORTANT QUESTIONS TO ASK IN CANON AND COMMUNITY INTERPRETATION Why did the community preserve this text? What do these words, phrases, etc., indicate about how the community interpreted this text? How did the community interpret this text in the context of the Old and/or New Testament? How did the community interpret this text in the context of the whole Bible? Can a history of interpretation be traced from the beginning by various religious groups? If so, what did their particular perspective contribute to an understanding of the text? IMPORTANT QUESTIONS TO ASK IN HISTORICAL INTERPRETATION Who wrote the text? To whom was this text written? When was this text written? 2

3 Where was this text written? Why was this text written? What was the "itch"? What was the intention of the speaker(s)? What was the intention of the author? What was the socio-political-religious situation of the day? What do the secondary sources (encyclopedias, dictionaries, commentaries, introductions, histories, and journals say about this situation? IMPORTANT QUESTIONS TO ASK IN NARRATIVE INTERPRETATION Implied Author and Narrator: What concerns, values and theological perspectives of the original author highlight in this particular text? Point of View, Ideology and Narrative World: What points of view are expressed by the various characters and the narrator? Do you see any from the following: Psychological Dimension: What inside information (thoughts and feelings) of the various characters occurs? Evaluative or Ideological Point of View: What value judgments of right and wrong are made by any of the characters or narrator? Spatial Perspective: Does the narrator shift geographical positions in the story? Temporal Perspective: Does the narrated event effect past, present, or future? Phraseological Point of View: What different points are view are revealed by the various speeches in the narrative? Narrative and Story Time: Are any gaps left in the story? What areas of minimal representation create suspense, etc., in order to construct a picture that is more real than if it were drawn in detail? What purposes do they reveal? Plot: What plots and miniplots builds conflict, etc., so as to develop themes and characterizations which help determine the meaning of the passage? 3

4 Characterization: How may the various characters be described Physically, Socially, Singularly (i.e., skills or talents that stand out), Moral and ideological, and/ or Psychologically? How do the various characters compare to one another? Setting: How may one describe the Geographical, Temporal, Social, and Historical setting? Implicit Commentary: Does one part of the story comment on another part of the story? What is repeated in the story? Do various Leitwort, Motifs, Themes, or Sequence of Actions occur? Can the scene be related to other scenes and thus be designated a Type-scene? Representation through dialogue: What does the dialogue reveal about the meaning of the passage? How is the recording of the dialogue reveal its importance? How does the contrasting dialogue function? Implied Reader: What does the identification of the modern reader with the implied reader reveal about the intent and meaning of the passage? Do you: 1 Find Enjoyment in the Story? Find Confirmation in the Story? Practice Living with the Story? Find a Moral in the Story? Find Yourself Disconcerted by the Story? Find Yourself Changed by the Story? IMPORTANT QUESTIONS TO ASK IN POETIC INTERPRETATION What kinds of parallelism occur? Internal parallelism? (That is, synonymous, synonymous complete, synonymous incomplete, antithetic, synthetic or formal, synthetic emblematic, emblematic stairlike, inverted or chiastic?) External parallelism? (That is, synonymous, synonymous complete, synonymous incomplete, antithetic, synthetic or formal, synthetic emblematic, emblematic stairlike, inverted or chiastic?) 1 See Application below. 4

5 How do the various lines of poetry define and relate to each other? What does this say about the emotions revealed in the text? What emotions are revealed in the text? IMPORTANT QUESTIONS TO ASK IN THEOLOGICAL INTERPRETATION Why did God preserve this text? What does this text reveal about God and his will? What does this text mean in the context of the New or Old Testament? What does this text mean in the context of the whole Bible? IMPORTANT QUESTIONS TO ASK IN REGARDING RELEVANCE & APPLICATION Relevance How may the historical/cultural gap be bridged properly in order to understand the application to myself and my audience? What areas of continuity/discontinuity do I need to observe between the two cultures? What did the text mean to the original hearers of the words (form critical intention)? What the text mean to those who first read the passage in its larger context (source, redaction, tradition, canon, narrative, poetic, etc., intentions)? What do these intentions say to me and my audience? Application What is my response to this text? Did I enjoy this text (story)? 5

6 Did I find confirmation in this text; does it remind me of real life situations? Can I live with this text (story); what would I have done differently had I found myself in this situation? What moral does this text teach me? Is the text disconcerting to me in any way? Does the text encourage me to change in any way? 6