Exegesis of Exegesis

the Book- of Danielprocedures

General - Research Guidelines
Teófilo Correa

General guidelines for Paper Research (Items to consider): (1) Identify the pericope or
your study, (2) What is in the discussion related to the section of your study in academ-
ic [adventists and not adventists] circles. Who are involved in that discussion? (3) What
is the problem about your pericope? (4) How are you going to do the research “that”
particular pericope/verses? (5) What are the primary resources you used doing your re-
search? (5) What did you find? (6) How important are that finds for you as a Seventh-
day Adventist? (7) General evaluation (8) The paper should include footnotes.
*Notice: Follow the format and style of AIIAS Research Manual Standards and Writing
Manual.
Morph-syntactic analysis (template)
‫ָקבַץ י ְהוָה אֶת־ ָהעָם‬
Translation [4] Hebrew wo Morphological analysis [2] Root (and meanings)
Hebrew Word rd [1] [3]

gathered ‫קָבַץ‬ Verb Qal Perfect, Third person, ‫" קבץ‬he gathered", "he
Masculine, Singular. assembled people", "he
collected", "he
acquired."1
YHWH ‫יְהוָה‬ Proper noun. ‫ יהוה‬Divine name.2

-- –‫אֶת‬ Sign of direct object

the people ‫הָעָם‬a Definite article + Noun mas. ‫" עַם‬people", "citizen",
sing. absolute. "inhabitant."3

Syntactic analysis [5]: ‫אֶת־ ָהעָם‬ ‫י ְהוָה‬ ‫ָקבַץ‬

Direct Object Subject - Predicate

Textual Witnesses analysis: ‫הָעָם‬a: LXX has ‫ גֹוי‬instead ‫( עָם‬MT). ‫ גֹוי‬is used to refer any
nation of the earth, but mostly ‫ עָם‬is an “exclusive” reference to the nation or the people of
YHWH. We prefer the MT reading.

English translation [7]: YHWH gathered the people

1. David J.A. Clines, "‫"קבץ‬, The Concise Dictionary of Classical Hebrew (Sheffield: Sheffield
Phoenix Press, 2009), 387.

2. Ludwing Koehler and Walter Baumgartner, "‫"יהוה‬, The Hebrew and Aramaic of the Old
Testament (Leiden/Cologne/New York: Koninklijke Brill, 1994-2000), 394.

3. William Lee Holladay and Ludwig Köhler, "‫ "עַם‬A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the
Old Testament (Leiden: Brill, 2000), 275.

-1-
Details for including in the paper research. It should include the following items.
‫א‬. Methodology. At first, you have to mention what topic or verses you are going to
study. α. Why is the purpose of your study. β. How are you going to study that topic/
verse/Hebrew word? or How did you get the results or conclusions? What procedures
have you followed? Please be generous in details.

‫ב‬. General features of the section(s) under study

α. Identify the general section where the pericope is located. It could be a chapter or
an more broader section. What is the broad section about?
β. Identify the genre of the section.
γ. Indicate the demarcation of the pericope. Identify the limits or boundaries. Indicators
of the unit. Point out the markers or internal textual evidence.

‫ג‬. Background of the section

α. Sociological/political/religious/cultural/other contexts related to the pericope. In-
clude archaeological contribution if it applies.
β. Ancient Near Eastern related literature to the Biblical Text.

Literary Analysis
Divide the pericope in sentences/clause and select the relevant clauses for analysis.
‫ד‬. Grammatical [Morpho-Syntactical] analysis of main clauses (see the chart above)
α. Point out the morphology of main words of the clause. Establish lexemes, including
frequency.
β. Distinguish the function of main words in the sentence (syntax).
γ. Words frequency.

‫ה‬. Semantic range of key Hebrew/Greek expressions.

α. Etymology (origin of the words - cognate languages/Semitic languages)
β. Lexical meaning. Conventional meanings of the word. Compare the words in several
Lexicons/Dictionaries.
γ. Use and word meaning in a general context. How has the word been used in another
related chapters or in the whole book or in a section of the Hebrew Bible/New
Testament.
δ. The meaning of the word in the defined context (your sentence/pericope).

-2-
‫ו‬. Analysis of Textual Witnesses and Critical Apparatus (each sentence)
α. Textual Witnesses. LXX, DSS [Q], vulgate.
β. Critical Apparatus of BHS/GNT.
γ. Working translation of the section or sentences/clauses

‫ז‬. Literary style analysis

α. Analysis of the structure of the pericope.
β. Style of the language.
β.1. Analysis of the scenes, characterization, the scenario, plot. OR
β.2. Analysis of symbols and types; What kind of prophecy is your section about?

‫ח‬. Intertextuality. Inner-biblical allusions. How does other biblical prophet has refered to
the expression or motif under your study. Explain on it.

‫ט‬. Theology of the section

To merge on what the text meant and what the text means.
α. How was God revealed in this section/sentence? or How God is presented in this
section/sentence? What does the text says about God?
β. What actions of God are evident in this section/sentence?
γ. How does this (small) section contribute to the understanding of the "particular mo-
tif" in a book/section/OT-NT/the entire Bible? or/and How does the motif in this section
should be understood in light of the largest context?
δ. How does the text should be understood today?

‫י‬. Secondary Literature comparison

What is going on about my pericope among:
α. Academic scholars in general (Church fathers, Judaism, Catholics, Evangelicals,
others)
β. Adventist scholars (pioneer and modern approaches)

‫כ‬. Synthesis and conclusions

α. The synthesis should be based on the previous analysis.
β. Conclusions.

-3-
Bibliography
Include primary sources

-4-