{"id":268,"date":"2014-08-21T11:08:57","date_gmt":"2014-08-21T15:08:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/lawrencefrizzell\/?page_id=268"},"modified":"2023-04-11T13:26:59","modified_gmt":"2023-04-11T17:26:59","slug":"academic-study","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/lawrencefrizzell\/academic-study\/","title":{"rendered":"Academic Study of the Bible"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_3532\" style=\"width: 371px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/lawrencefrizzell\/files\/2022\/04\/28056187_1689817894405902_2720053448196242962_n-2.jpg\" data-rel=\"lightbox-image-0\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\" title=\"\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3532\" class=\"wp-image-3532\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/lawrencefrizzell\/files\/2022\/04\/28056187_1689817894405902_2720053448196242962_n-2.jpg\" alt=\"Sefer Torah Scroll in Academic Study of the Bible\" width=\"361\" height=\"285\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-3532\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sefer Torah Scroll<\/p><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">This page summarizes some of the methods used by scholars to analyze and interpret Biblical writings in the academic study of the Bible. It also provides links to other websites that provide more in-depth historical overviews; classic and modern bibliographies for further study; and\/or access to ancient manuscripts and\/or their translations. For further study, see Douglas A. Knight (ed), <a href=\"http:\/\/www.worldcat.org\/title\/methods-of-biblical-interpretation-excerpted-from-the-dictionary-of-biblical-interpretation\/oclc\/54530376&amp;referer=brief_results\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>Method of Biblical Interpretation<\/em><\/a> (Nashville: Abingdon, 2004).<\/p>\n<p>An outline of free databases, journals and websites designed to help students and scholars with their work and research in various areas of Biblical studies can be found on my website <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/lawrencefrizzell\/online-resources-for-biblical-studies\/\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h1><span style=\"color: #993300\">HISTORICAL-CRITICAL METHODS<\/span><\/h1>\n<h2><strong><span style=\"color: #000000\"><span class=\"toctext\">Textual Criticism<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">Textual criticism is a discipline that focuses on establishing the original or most authentic wording of Biblical texts and\/or manuscripts. Because the texts and manuscripts of the Bible have been preserved in a great variety of copies and ancient versions, the objective of textual criticism is to discover or reconstruct the purest text or the \u201ccritical text\u201d that most closely approximates what was first written by the original authors.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">Scholars who utilize this method often examine a myriad of sources to aid them in their work. Some of the most commonly used sources in textual criticism include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.deadseascrolls.org.il\/home\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dead Sea Scrolls<\/a> (3rd century\u00a0BCE &#8211;\u00a02nd century CE)<\/li>\n<li>the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.academic-bible.com\/en\/online-bibles\/biblia-hebraica-stuttgartensia-bhs\/read-the-bible-text\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Septuagint<\/a>\u00a0(3rd\u00a0&#8211;\u00a01st\u00a0centuries BCE)<\/li>\n<li>the <a href=\"http:\/\/tanakh.info\/gn1-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Samaritan Pentateuch<\/a> (2nd century BCE)<\/li>\n<li>the <a href=\"http:\/\/scrollandscreen.com\/syriac\/index.htm#Old\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Syriac translation<\/a> of the Hebrew\u00a0scriptures (1st\u00a0&#8211;\u00a02nd century CE)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.iep.utm.edu\/origen-of-alexandria\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Origen<\/a>&#8216;s\u00a0Hebrew and Greek <a href=\"http:\/\/biblehub.com\/library\/swete\/an_introduction_to_the_old_testament_in_greek_additional_notes\/chapter_iii_the_hexapla_and.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Hexapla and Tetrapla<\/a> (3rd century\u00a0CE)<\/li>\n<li>the Hebrew texts vocalized by the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org\/masoretic-text\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Masoretes<\/a> (3rd\u00a0&#8211;\u00a010th centuries\u00a0CE)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.catholicculture.org\/culture\/library\/view.cfm?recnum=7470\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jerome<\/a>&#8216;s Latin <a href=\"http:\/\/www.academic-bible.com\/en\/online-bibles\/biblia-sacra-vulgata\/read-the-bible-text\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Vulgate <\/a>(4th century CE)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/cal.huc.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Aramaic Targumim<\/a> (9th\u00a0&#8211;\u00a013th centuries CE) but rooted in early traditions<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">See R.E. Brown et al., \u201cTexts and Versions\u201d in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.worldcat.org\/title\/new-jerome-biblical-commentary\/oclc\/19388491&amp;referer=brief_results\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>The New Jerome Biblical Commentary<\/em><\/a> (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1990) 1083-1112.<\/p>\n<h2><strong><span style=\"color: #000000\"><span class=\"toctext\">Source Criticism<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">Source criticism focuses on identifying and dating any sources and materials to which the Biblical authors may have referred when writing their text. Scholars utilizing this method rely on various phenomena such as writing style, vocabulary, reduplication and discrepancies within the Biblical text as well as overt references by Biblical authors to other writings such as the <em><span style=\"color: #000000\">Book of\u00a0the Jashar <\/span><\/em>(<a href=\"http:\/\/www.mechon-mamre.org\/p\/pt\/pt0610.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Joshua 10:13 <\/a>and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mechon-mamre.org\/p\/pt\/pt08b01.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">2 Samuel 1:18<\/a>) and the <em>Sayings of the Seer(s) <\/em>(<a href=\"http:\/\/www.mechon-mamre.org\/p\/pt\/pt25b33.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">2 Chronicles 33:19<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">One of the most well-known\u00a0approaches that arose from the source criticism method is the Documentary Hypothesis or <strong>JEDP<\/strong> theory, which\u00a0speculates\u00a0the Pentateuch is a final redaction from the following four separate and independent\u00a0hypothetical narratives:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>the <span style=\"color: #000000\"><em><strong>Jahwist <\/strong><\/em><\/span>source (<strong>J<\/strong>)\u00a0: ~10th <span style=\"color: #000000\">century BCE <\/span><\/li>\n<li>the <strong><span style=\"color: #000000\"><em>Elohist<\/em> <\/span><\/strong>source (<strong>E<\/strong>)\u00a0:\u00a0~9th century\u00a0BCE<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000\">the <strong><em><span style=\"color: #000000\">Deuteronomist<\/span><\/em><\/strong> source (<strong>D<\/strong>)\u00a0: ~7th\u00a0&#8211;\u00a06th\u00a0 centuries BCE<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000\">the <strong><span style=\"color: #000000\"><em>Priestly<\/em> source<\/span><\/strong> (<strong>P<\/strong>)\u00a0: ~6th\u00a0&#8211;\u00a05th\u00a0centuries\u00a0BCE<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">For further study, see\u00a0Ernest Wilson Nicholson,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.worldcat.org\/title\/pentateuch-in-the-twentieth-century-the-legacy-of-julius-wellhausen\/oclc\/776942164&amp;referer=brief_results\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><i>The <\/i><i>Pentateuch in the Twentieth Century: The Legacy of Julius Wellhausen <\/i><\/a>(Oxford: Clarendon, 2002). A wide-ranging survey is also offered in <em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.worldcat.org\/title\/new-jerome-biblical-commentary\/oclc\/19388491&amp;referer=brief_results\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The New Jerome Biblical Commentary<\/a>, <\/em>1113-45.<\/p>\n<h2><strong><span style=\"color: #000000\"><span class=\"toctext\">Form Criticism<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n<p class=\"tab-1\" style=\"text-align: left\">Form Criticism is a method that divides Biblical scripture into units, categorizes these units according to their literary genres, such as prose, poems, genealogies, etc., and seeks to determine each unit&#8217;s original form and period of oral transmission by analyzing the sociological setting or <em>Sitz im Leben<\/em>\u00a0in which\u00a0the text\u00a0was composed and utilized.<\/p>\n<p class=\"tab-1\" style=\"text-align: left\">See Marvin Alan Sweeney and Ehud Ben Zvi, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.worldcat.org\/title\/changing-face-of-form-criticism-for-the-twenty-first-century\/oclc\/474581093&amp;referer=brief_results\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>The Changing Face of Form Criticism for the Twenty-first Century<\/em><\/a> (<span style=\"color: #000000\"><span dir=\"ltr\">Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing<\/span><\/span>, 2003) for analyses of the evolution of form criticism.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"toclevel-2 tocsection-9\"><strong><span style=\"color: #000000\"><span class=\"toctext\">Redaction Criticism<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n<p class=\"toclevel-2 tocsection-9\" style=\"text-align: left\">This method examines the editing, modification and copying differences between Biblical texts and manuscripts as well as the way and order in which the texts and manuscripts have been collected and arranged. Scholars who follow this method aim to determine a Biblical author&#8217;s theological intentionality and to reconstruct the community to whom the Biblical author was writing from their examinations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"toclevel-2 tocsection-9\" style=\"text-align: left\">For further study, refer to\u00a0<span style=\"color: #0066cc\"><span style=\"color: #000000\">Norman Perrin, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.worldcat.org\/title\/what-is-redaction-criticism\/oclc\/56837625&amp;referer=brief_results\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><i>What is Redaction Criticism?<\/i> ( Fortress, 1969). Reprinted:\u00a0Wipf &amp; Stock Publishers, 2002<\/a><\/span><\/span>.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"toclevel-2 tocsection-9\"><strong><span style=\"color: #000000\"><span class=\"toctext\">Socio-scientific Criticism<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n<p class=\"toclevel-2 tocsection-9\" style=\"text-align: left\">Scholars employing this method view meaning as a socially-constructed phenomenon. This type of exegesis therefore attempts to understand a Biblical text and its author&#8217;s purpose and intentionality by utilizing specialized methods, theories and models from the social sciences and cultural anthropology to help them reconstruct the cultural and social setting in which the Biblical author lived.<\/p>\n<p class=\"toclevel-2 tocsection-9\" style=\"text-align: left\">See Mark\u00a0Daniel Carroll R.\u00a0(ed.), <a href=\"https:\/\/www.worldcat.org\/title\/rethinking-contexts-rereading-texts-contributions-from-the-social-sciences-to-biblical-interpretation\/oclc\/286937867&amp;referer=brief_results\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><i>Rethinking Contexts, Rereading Texts: Contributions from the Social Sciences to Biblical Interpretation<\/i><\/a>\u00a0(Sheffield Academic Press, 2000) and Charles E. Carter and Carol L. Meyers, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.worldcat.org\/title\/community-identity-and-ideology-social-science-approaches-to-the-hebrew-bible\/oclc\/35325355&amp;referer=brief_results\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><i>Community, Identity, and Ideology: Social Science Approaches to the Hebrew Bible<\/i><\/a>\u00a0(Eisenbrauns, 1996).<\/p>\n<p class=\"toclevel-2 tocsection-9\"><strong><span style=\"color: #993300\">CANONICAL CRITICISM<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"toclevel-2 tocsection-9\" style=\"text-align: left\">This method studies the final form of Biblical texts from within their canonical context and recognizes the tradition of their assigned authority. Whereas source, form and redaction criticism centers on determining a presupposed development of the Biblical text prior to its final canonical form, this exegetical method analyzes the meaning of the text as it was preserved in its final canonical form.<\/p>\n<p class=\"toclevel-2 tocsection-9\" style=\"text-align: left\">See Mary C. Calloway, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.marquette.edu\/maqom\/Cannonical.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">&#8220;Canonical Criticism&#8221;<\/a>\u00a0in <em>To Each its Own Meaning<\/em>, ed. Stephen Haynes and Steven McKenzie, 142-155\u00a0(John Knox, 1993) and Brevard Childs&#8217; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.worldcat.org\/title\/old-testament-theology-in-a-canonical-context\/oclc\/12666442&amp;referer=brief_results\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>Old Testament Theology in a Canonical Context<\/em> <\/a>(Fortress Press, 1985).<\/p>\n<p class=\"toclevel-2 tocsection-9\"><strong><span style=\"color: #993300\">LITERARY ANALYSIS<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"toclevel-2 tocsection-9\"><span style=\"color: #000000\"><span class=\"toctext\"><strong>Rhetorical Criticism<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"toclevel-2 tocsection-9\" style=\"text-align: left\">This method focuses on examining the rhetorical features of Biblical texts, such as:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<div class=\"toclevel-2 tocsection-9\">the identity of\u00a0the author<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div class=\"toclevel-2 tocsection-9\">the identity of the\u00a0audience to whom the author is writing<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div class=\"toclevel-2 tocsection-9\">the nature of the\u00a0authors discourse or text, e.g., inform, persuade, motivate, etc.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div class=\"toclevel-2 tocsection-9\">the rhetorical techniques used by the author, e.g., repetition, imagery, irony, etc.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">See David M. Howard, Jr., <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/26422104?refreqid=excelsior%3A3080e50f322998781d943885b9021474\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">&#8220;Rhetorical Criticism in Old Testament Studies,&#8221;<\/a><em>\u00a0Bulletin for Biblical Research<\/em> 4 (1994) 87-104; James L.\u00a0Bailey and Lyle D. Vander Broek,<a href=\"http:\/\/www.worldcat.org\/title\/literary-forms-in-the-new-testament-a-handbook\/oclc\/24626368&amp;referer=brief_results\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Literary Forms in\u00a0the New Testament: A\u00a0Handbook<\/a> (Louisville\/John Knox Press, 1992); and James Muilenburg, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.jstor.org\/discover\/10.2307\/3262829?uid=3739808&amp;uid=2&amp;uid=4&amp;uid=3739256&amp;sid=21104541607287\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">&#8220;Form Criticism and Beyond,&#8221;<\/a>\u00a0<em>Journal of Biblical Literature<\/em> 88 (1969) 1-18.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"toclevel-2 tocsection-9\"><span style=\"color: #000000\"><span class=\"toctext\"><strong>Narrative Criticism<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"toclevel-2 tocsection-9\" style=\"text-align: left\">Narrative Criticism analyzes Biblical texts for literary rather than historical content. This form of exegesis treats the text as a literary unit and focuses on analyzing such narrative phenomena as:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<div class=\"toclevel-2 tocsection-9\">form or genre, e.g., prose, poetry, etc.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div class=\"toclevel-2 tocsection-9\">perspective and point of view of the narrator<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div class=\"toclevel-2 tocsection-9\">literary\u00a0structure, i.e.,\u00a0the plot and setting<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div class=\"toclevel-2 tocsection-9\">themes and motifs<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div class=\"toclevel-2 tocsection-9\">characters and character development<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div class=\"toclevel-2 tocsection-9\">mood and tone<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div class=\"toclevel-2 tocsection-9\">language<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"toclevel-2 tocsection-9\" style=\"text-align: left\">See Robert Alter, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.worldcat.org\/title\/art-of-biblical-narrative\/oclc\/7278152&amp;referer=brief_results\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><i>The Art of Biblical Narrative<\/i><\/a>\u00a0(Basic Books, 1981) and Meir Sternberg, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.worldcat.org\/title\/poetics-of-biblical-narrative-ideological-literature-and-the-drama-of-reading\/oclc\/42922642&amp;referer=brief_results\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><i>The Poetics of Biblical Narrative: Ideological Literature and the Drama of Reading<\/i>\u00a0<\/a>(Indiana University Press, 1985).<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">Finally, for a general review (with bibliography) of these questions, see Michael J. Gorman, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.worldcat.org\/title\/elements-of-biblical-exegesis-a-basic-guide-for-students-and-ministers\/oclc\/611576281?referer=br&amp;ht=edition\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>Elements of Biblical Exegesis: A Basic Guide for Students and Ministers <\/em><\/a>(Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2009 revised and expanded edition); also Felix Just, S.J. at <a href=\"http:\/\/catholic-resources.org\/Bible\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">http:\/\/catholic-resources.org\/Bible\/index.html<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This page summarizes some of the methods used by scholars to analyze and interpret Biblical writings in the academic study of the Bible. It also provides links to other websites that provide more in-depth historical overviews; classic and modern bibliographies &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/lawrencefrizzell\/academic-study\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2011,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":4,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-268","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/lawrencefrizzell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/lawrencefrizzell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/lawrencefrizzell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/lawrencefrizzell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2011"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/lawrencefrizzell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=268"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/lawrencefrizzell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/268\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4089,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/lawrencefrizzell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/268\/revisions\/4089"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/lawrencefrizzell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}