NT613HA Exegesis of Mark

Transcription

1 Course Objectives NT613HA Exegesis of Mark Summer Session III (July 24 - August 18) Class sessions (9am 12pm) July 24-29, July 31-Aug. 4 Gerry Wheaton The aim of this course is to deepen the knowledge and refine the skills needed for robust exegesis in pastoral ministry, and to do this by means of an investigation of the Gospel of Mark. Toward this end, the course is structured around the following learning objectives: 1. Students will emerge with a deeper understanding of the contents and theology of the Gospel of Mark. 2. Students will gain a stronger grasp of NT Greek and improve their ability to make use of such reference works as the Grammars of Wallace and Blass-Debrunner- Funk for purposes of syntax analysis of a passage of Scripture. 3. Students will become better equipped to identify and analyze the significance of an allusion to the Old Testament in a Gospel text. 4. Students will increase their understanding of the cultural and historical backgrounds of the ministry of Jesus. Course reading Required reading: 1. R.T. France, The Gospel of Mark (The New International Greek Testament Commentary; Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 2014) ISBN-10: N.T. Wright, Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church (2008). ISBN-10: Recommended reading: 1. Richard Hays, Echoes of Scripture in the Gospels (Baylor, 2016) ISBN-10:

2 2. Daniel Wallace, Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament (Zondervan, 1997) ISBN-10: Daniel Wallace, The Basics of New Testament Syntax: An Intermediate Greek Grammar (Zondervan, 2000) ISBN-10: William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White, The Elements of Style (4 th ed.; Longman, 1999). A diminutive book (104 pp.) that can greatly improve your ability to write clearly and engagingly. Class meeting plan Students are responsible to come to the two weeks of class meetings prepared to translate and comment on the syntax of the following passages. Use France and other reference works for help with the grammar, as needed. Use Wallace, especially, for analyzing the syntax of various constructions throughout each passage. Focus especially on participles, infinitives, and the four cases. Passages to translate 1:1-15 2:1-3:6 Week 1 Reading for lecture (All journal literature is available through the library) Steve Walton, What Are the Gospels? Richard Burridge s Impact on Scholarly Understanding of the Genre of the Gospels, Currents in Biblical Research 14.1 (2015) James R. Edwards, Markan Sandwiches: The Significance of Interpolations in Markan Narratives, Novum Testamentum 31.3 (1989) Joanna Dewey, Mark as Interwoven Tapestry: Forecasts and Echoes for a Listening Audience, Catholic Biblical Quarterly 53.2 (1991) :14-44 The Power of a Dinner Table, New York Times Oct 18, :1-23 Week 2 8:27-38 Jodi Magness, They shall see the glory of the Lord, Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus 14 (2016)

3 9:30-41 Don Garlington, Who is the Greatest? Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 53 (2010) : :12-25 Be prepared to discuss Wright. 15:21-41 Be prepared to discuss Wright. Test on Greek passages, August 18 (40% final grade) An exam on the assigned Greek passages from Mark will test the student s ability to translate selected texts and analyze the syntax of the Greek. Students will be allowed use of Wallace s Grammar but no other aids during the exam. Exegesis paper, August 18 (60% final grade) 1. Passage selection. You may select a passage of your choice. 2. Exegesis paper length and quality. Exegesis papers must be between pages in length. The goal must be detailed, thoroughgoing analysis of a passage presented in concise and straightforward fashion. Grades are based on the quality of the work, measured in these terms, rather than on the length of the work. I will not read beyond 15 pages! 3. A word on style. The appropriate style of writing is formal/academic, not conversational. You will learn much in this regard by imitating the writing style in most top-tier journal articles. The quality of your writing will be greatly improved, even during the course, by making regular use of Strunk and White (recommended above). 4. Exegesis and paper format. All analyses should include the following critical components (listed below). How one writes up the results of one s analysis (i.e., paper format) is up to the student. The two best options are running commentary style (i.e., verse-by-verse) or a compartmentalized format, as found in the Word Biblical Commentary series. The student should demonstrate familiarity and interaction with technical commentaries and journal articles on the selected passage throughout the paper. Footnotes should be liberally used and conform to the SBL Handbook of Style. If, however, students have mastered different

4 footnoting style for another discipline at the seminary, this will be acceptable, as well. DO NOT devote any space to matters of introduction to the Gospel as a whole (authorship, date, outline, structure, etc.). Simply delve directly into exposition. a. Greek text. Detailed analysis of every facet of the grammar, syntax and semantics of passage. Grammar: Do not parse (unless the parsing is in dispute). Rather, pull the passage apart. Discuss, explain, and analyze every facet of the grammar that is not obvious or may be interpreted in different ways. Make use of at least two of the major Greek grammars (Blass, Debrunner, Funk; Zerwick; Robertson; Wallace; Moulton and Turner) as well as multiple technical commentaries and relevant journal articles. Words: Look up several words that seem to have potential significance in the passage: does usage outside the NT contribute anything (LXX, Apocrypha, Josephus, Philo, Papyri/Inscriptions [Milton and Milligan])? Does usage elsewhere in the NT, the Gospels and Luke add anything to your understanding of the word in the passage? This is to be a densely written section. Be concise, not wordy! Verbosity will lose points. b. Literary features. This section will form a discussion of the literary features of the passage. Please begin by providing an outline of the passage, then proceed to notable literary devices such as metaphors, inclusios, chiasms, etc. Note any catch-words or echoes that link the passage to larger motifs in the Gospel. Has the author emphasized some feature of the account by his manipulation of narrative time vs real time, speech vs action, who is given speech vs who is denied it, etc.? Again, your discussion can benefit from interaction with multiple technical commentaries and relevant journal articles. c. Relevant backgrounds: Old Testament, Second Temple Jewish, Greco- Roman. This section will be devoted to identifying and drawing out citations, allusions and echoes of the OT, and/or identifying and elucidating the relevant themes, customs or ideas from the Jewish or Greco-Roman background that illuminate the passage. After making your own initial study of the background you will do well to appropriate a few journal articles

5 treating this specific facet of your passage in more depth than the commentaries are able to do. d. Theological significance. This section is NOT a summary of your findings in the above sections. It is rather the place to trace the author s thought in the pericope (what is the point(s) the author is making by means of his inclusion of this particular story, at this particular point in his narrative, in the shape in which he has crafted it?) and to ask how this idea contributes to the flow of thought across this section of the Gospel and/or to the thought of the Gospel as a whole. Does the passage ultimately speak to our understanding of who God is (theology proper)? Who Jesus is (Christology)? What he came to do (Redemption)? How Jesus expects his followers to live (discipleship, mission)? Other issues? You may draw upon commentaries and articles for this section but the bulk of the work ought to be your own reflection growing out of all the work you have done on the passage.