Douglas K. Stuart - Old Testament Exegesis: A Handbook for Students and Pastors

T hose few students and pastors who control several ancient and modern languages, read the scholarly literature regularly, and have already gained some confidence in their ability to do exegesis will certainly not need this primer. It is written for those who cannot read a Hebrew psalm at sight and who are not sure what Vetus Testamentum would mean or contain (the words mean Old Testament in Latin and are the title of a major OT scholarly journal). It is for those who have no idea what homoioteleuton might mean (same kind of ending, a factor in certain textual problems). It is for the vast majority of all seminary students and pastors. It is predicated on the conviction that even the most intelligent people cannot understand procedures and concepts that are not somehow explained to them, and that there is no shame in seeking such explanations in spite of the fact that most seminary professors do not volunteer them. Old Testament exegesis has regular procedures and concepts, and these can be taught to almost anyone willing to learn. It is a tragedy that so few seminary students ever really feel sure of themselves in doing OT exegesisand most pastors apparently abandon the practice altogether.

I have set out, therefore, to present a step-by-step guide to OT exegesis that will be nontechnical and simple without being simplistic, that will explain not only the procedures but also the goals of exegesis, and that will serve as a handbook for reference as the student or pastor does the actual work of exegesis.

My approach to exegesis has certain conscious biases for which I make no apologies. Perhaps the most debatable is my insistence that exegesis should include guidelines for application of the passage being studied. Exegesis is patently a theological enterprise, and a theology that is not applied to the lives of Gods people is sterile. For this reason, too, I have purposely deemphasized some of the critical techniques (e.g., structuralism, redaction criticism) which, though fascinating to the scholar, yield meager rewards theologically and are, in the final analysis, of minor value homiletically, much as that value judgment may displease some scholars. Likewise and for similar reasons, I have not given attention to various subjective hermeneutical approaches such as ethnic-based, gender-based, or life-status-based interpretational filters. I have tried to set a fair balance between synchronic and diachronic techniques (i.e., techniques concerned with the text as it stands [synchronic] and with the history of the developments that led to the text as it stands [diachronic]), but only insofar as these also hold promise of practical, theological benefit. The end of exegesis is preaching and teaching in the church. Seminary students and pastors know this instinctively and demand relevance from exegesis and other biblical studies, as well they should.