1. Literary Criticism
a. What follows and precedes your passage? Are your pages affected by this context?
b. Form criticism: What is the literary form of your passage? Are there other places in the Bible where this form is used and which help to interpret this passage?
c. Structure: Do you detect any particular structural pattern ? Describe the parts of your passage.
d. Redaction criticism: Has your passage come through an editorial process? What changes have been made? Explain why certain changes have been made.
e. Key words: What are the theologically important words in the passage? Do these words
evoke any other parts of the Bible? Are these words used in a new way by the author of this passage? What do these words mean?
2. Theological Analysis
a. What does this passage say about the relationship with God?
b. What questions might this passage have addressed in the community for which it was
originally written?
[Some of the ideas above are adopted from A Guide to Biblical Exegesis by G. Landes and W. Wink
(unpublished.)]
You should document your exegesis carefully. Be sure to use some material from the bibliography in the
course Doc Sharing area for your exegesis, especially the biblical reference books. Below are some hints
for successfully completing the paper:
1. Look up your passage in the New Testament.
2. Consult a general commentary (such as The Jerome Biblical Commentary, The New Jerome Biblical Commentary, or The Collegeville Bible Commentary).
3. Consult specific commentaries (see the course bibliography in Doc Sharing, e.g., Harrington's Matthew's Gospel, Fitzmyer's The Gospel According to Luke).
4. Conduct a periodical search (through EBSCO) of your passage, limiting search to full-text, peerreviewed journals. Use the checklist below to ensure that you are following the format properly:
1. Are all ideas documented (including page numbers)?
2. Are all quotations documented (including page numbers)?
3. Is there a works cited page?
4. Do the notes and bibliography include sources recommended by the syllabus?
5. Does the format include the headings from the syllabus?
6. Does each sentence make sense?
7. Does the "form" section clearly name a literary form?
8. Does the redaction section contrast the assigned passage with Mark's version (except for infancy narrative and Lord's Prayer)?
9. Does the key word section include more than one key word?
10. Does the key word section refer to Old Testament material?