How to Write a Seminary Paper, Part 4: Research as Conversation
Research isn’t about gathering data. Research is a conversation, one in which you are both a contributor and a moderator.
Seeing New Things in Old Texts: More Tips for Exegetical Inquiry
After multiple readings, we can get “stuck in a rut;” we grow content with our prior understanding of the text and are unable to see things anew. One way to see the text differently is to see it from a different angle. Deliberately switch your reading posture (both figuratively and possibly literally).
Exegetical Inquiry: The Question is more important than the Answer
We think exegesis is at its best when we arrive at “the answer,” when we reach “understanding,” but actually exegesis is at its best when the text seems strange and alien to us. We need to make the text strange again.
Should I be more “literal” or more “readable” when translating the Bible?
The question is really a matter of “how many exegetical decisions am I going to answer in my translation.” The more you leave ambiguous, the more burden you put on the reader. The more exegetical questions you answer, the less burden you put on the reader.
Everything I need to Know about Revelation I Learned in the First Eight Verses
Revelation seems so difficult and confusing, but John has actually given us firm footholds in the opening of his letter. He’s guiding his readers in how Revelation is to be read.
The Gated Community: A Biblical Theology of Gates
I recently had the privilege of writing about “Gates” over at TableTalk. Here’s an excerpt: The high walls of the new Jerusalem are punctuated by a dozen gates (that’s a lot), and these gates...
When to use the original languages. Part 3: The Point you are Making Must Be Sufficiently Important
Your audience might be under the assumption that the “original languages” are possessed with a kind of magic, a deep meaning that they cannot get from their plebian translations. In appealing to the original you may be reinforcing that conclusion, sowing the seeds of distrust of translation, or worse, cultivating mistaken conclusions about biblical interpretation.
Save Time: Stop Doing Word Studies
Word studies are a favorite tool of Biblical exegetes, but usually aren’t worth the time. Why not? Because either (1) the work has already been done for you, or (2) what you are trying...
Real Questions: What does “the” mean?
The point: when translating from the Greek, these subtleties won’t always show up in translation. That’s why it probably feels “low impact.” But such questions are worth thinking about because, though subtle, the rhetorical and semantic functions are different in many contexts.
Why the NLT is Good, actually
As a working guideline, then, I propose we evaluate translations on the basis of three criteria. A good translation (1) has a well-defined, well-reasoned, and useful translation philosophy, (2) applies that philosophy consistently over the “many parts and various ways” God has spoken to us in his word (Heb. 1:1), and (3) uses the “best of what’s around” to understand the original Hebrew and Greek text. The NLT gets an “A” in all three of these categories, as I will establish in a bit.