Library Resources for Biblical
Exegesis
As
Michael J. Gorman points out in his Elements of Biblical Exegesis, the task
of exegesis is by no means simple. Some
approaches are incredibly complex, and others are oversimplified. Gorman grasps the complexity of the task of
interpretation; however, he develops an approach that works for seminarians and
other ministers. Many people—including
preachers—miss out on the richness of the biblical text because they never dig
deep enough. The problem isn’t the lack
of skill in biblical languages, for as Gorman points out, the English-only exegete
can still derive much from the text. The
real problem is the failure to recognize the complexity of the task of
interpreting a historical text like the Bible.
Too many people see a text as simply ‘there’ in front of them—whatever
meaning they can derive from a single reading is often assumed as the ‘true’
meaning of the text. This results in the
fallacy that the most obvious meaning is the ‘real’ meaning—or the fallacy that
the most obvious meaning is all the meaning that can be found. The worst sermons are those in which the
meaning of the biblical text is so ‘obvious,’ that the preacher reads the text
at the beginning of the sermon and never mentions it again.
So the first step in using the library for biblical exegesis is to have a reasonable grasp of the complexity of the task. Without this comprehension, the would-be exegete walks into the library (at least give them credit for this), pulls some Bible dictionaries and commentaries off the shelves, sits down and strings together bits and pieces into a sermon text. Be aware of the crucial role of the exegete as a person—the interpreter can never be completely separated from the textual sources. You should have some awareness that your background, training and religious experience affect the way you approach a biblical text. If the meaning of the biblical text is ‘obvious’ then everyone will read the text the same way, and library resources will scarcely provide any ‘added value’ to the task. But the biblical text is wondrously rich in meaning, and this richness comes from its complexity—its elusiveness from the obvious. We can never simply go to the library, pick out some books on Bible manners and customs, and pretend we understand the text in its original setting. We are also reading a text that has been translated into English, and much is lost in the process. This is the fundamental error we commit when we rely too much on Strong’s numbers—we have dictionary definitions, but these are fragments that are torn and bleeding from being ripped out of their historical contexts. Strong’s minimal definitions are in fact oversimplifications of a rich web of meaning.
When
we turn to library resources for biblical exegesis, we should have a clear
sense of the task before us. Books and
articles, print and electronic, are more than objects that have answers. They
contain the ideas of people, with whom we engage in dialogical
communication. The task is much more
complex than getting answers in the same way contestants play Supermarket
Sweep™--grabbing items and placing them in the cart. Since research—including biblical exegesis—is
dialogical or interpretive, there remains more to be said about a subject. Nobody ever preaches the last word on a
biblical passage. That’s why biblical
exegesis perpetually remains an unfinished task.
Look
at the library as more than just a place to dig up some answers. It’s a place to dialogue with scholars who
can help us get into the rich complexity of the biblical world. It’s also a place where we can sharpen our
imagination to connect that ancient world with today’s world.
When
you enter a library for the first time, and you are baffled—bewildered—in a
word, utterly lost and have no idea how to find resources for biblical
exegesis, a good strategy is the ‘Types of Literature’ search as outlined by
Thomas Mann, a reference librarian at the Library of Congress.[1]
The
‘Types of Literature’ search uses Library of Congress Subject Headings and Subdivisions
to find resources on the library’s catalog.
This method had the advantage of prediction—you may not know individual
resources by name, but if you search for these types of resources using the
subject headings and subdivisions, the library catalog will help you find them
without having to know the titles by name.
The
library catalog has the function of collocation—the language of information
organization, such as Library of Congress Subject Headings, brings
similar kinds of resources together.
When you search for Bible. O.T. –Genesis—Commentaries in the library’s
catalog, you will bring up all the resources that have been assigned that
subject heading. This feature brings up
all the commentaries on Genesis, together in one list, even if you can’t think
of an appropriate title. Especially note
the commentaries that have a call number prefaced by Ref. These will take you to the appropriate place
in the reference collection that contains the commentaries.
You
can find many of these subject headings through the Library of Congress
Subject Headings (refer to my handouts on Library of Congress Subject
Headings—available from my faculty web page—see below)
If
you don’t know about LCSH, head over to Sprague Library and ask for the ‘big
red books’—four hefty volumes—at the circulation desk or at the reference desk.
Examples
of LCSH subject headings with subdivisions:
Bible—Commentaries
Bible. O.T. –Commentaries
Bible. O.T.
–Pentateuch--Commentaries
Bible--Concordances
Bible—Dictionaries (covers Bible
encyclopedias as well)
Bible. N. T. —Commentaries
Bible—Versions
Bible—Introductions
Bible. O.T. –Introductions
Bible—Feminist interpretations
Bible—Hermeneutics
Greek language,
Biblical—Dictionaries—English
If
you look up ‘Bible—Hermeneutics’ in Library of Congress Subject Headings,
immediately under the subdivision
--Hermeneutics you will see [BS476]. This is a special classification number for
books cataloged with the subject heading Bible—Hermeneutics. Be aware that there may still be other
resources cataloged with this subject heading that are scattered in other parts
of the classification system. But this
is a ‘special number’ reserved for these resources, and the bulk of them will
be found in BS 476. Hint: look for this classification number in the
reference collection, which will be Ref. BS 476, and you will
likely find reference resources on biblical hermeneutics.
Another
example: Bible—Introductions is assigned
the range [BS474-BS475]. Under
the subdivision
--Introductions you will find a ‘scope
note’ that tells what kind of resources are classified in this range.
“Here
are works dealing with the origin, authorship, authenticity, general
characteristics, contents and aim of the different books of the Bible.”
Demonstration
with laptop computer projection:
Bring
up the library catalog www.roberts.edu/library ; in the search screen, drop down to the
setting for ‘Subject Browse.’ Enter a
Library of Congress Subject Heading—with a subdivision—in the search box, and
the catalog will display the library’s holdings that have been cataloged under
that subject heading.
An
alternative route: If you find an
appropriate resource through keyword searching, you can check the item’s
bibliographic record for subject headings that can lead you to additional
resources.
For
most reference resources, keyword searching is an ineffective way to find what
you need.
Reference
resources can best be found through the type-of-literature search.
Title
searches are best done with specific titles or title words in mind. Dr. Davis can make excellent recommendations,
but Gorman has a splendid section that recommends specific resources for
specific parts of the exegetical task. I
would be pleased as well to make recommendations—you can visit my office in
Sprague Library, call my extension (6893) or send an email question at the
address below.
If
the books were tossed on the shelves at random, just think of how difficult it
would be to find related materials. The
classification system brings books together according to a systematic scheme of
the universe of knowledge. Books that
share similar ideas can be placed together in the same area on the
shelves. That’s why shelf browsing can
be an effective research tool. For
example, most of the commentaries that deal with the Gospel of Mark can be
found in BS 2585.3. But there’s a
catch—if the commentary is part of a full set, the cataloger can choose to put
it with the rest of the books that belong to that set—in BS 491 (pre-1950) and
BS 491.2 (1951- ). You’ll find several
commentaries on Genesis in BS 1235.3, but you’d better check in BS 491 and BS
491.2 as well. Most commentaries in the
reference collection are brought together as sets in Ref. BS 491. What about
the commentaries in BS 491 and BS 1235?
Why no decimal .2? These were
published prior to 1950. Those published
from 1951 are placed in BS 1235.3. This
is an obscure rule for catalogers that reflects the history of practice at the
Library of Congress. Not that anybody
cares. . .
What
about books on the criticism and interpretation of Genesis? Most of these will be brought together in BS 1235.2. Special treatments of Genesis follow the
commentaries—BS 1235.4, for example, deals with homiletical studies of Genesis.
The
best place to begin the search process is the library catalog, not the library
shelves. If you start with the shelves,
you might have a measure of success, but your success could be more random than
systematic. Start with the catalog and
develop a back-and-forth rhythm between the catalog and the shelves. The catalog will provide the classification
ranges where you should browse for related materials.
For
example, if your professor recommended Exodus to Deuteronomy: A Feminist Companion to the Bible (Second
Series) and you wanted to do more research in feminist criticism of the Bible,
you could use the library catalog to pull up the record for this item, perhaps
with a title search. Now that we’ve
pulled up the record, let’s click on the tab marked “Holdings.” Notice that the subject heading is
highlighted:
Double-click
on this subject heading. This pulls up
all the holdings that are catalogued with this subject heading. This significantly increases your chances
that you will find ideas related to your research subject. You are in fact following a ‘bibliographic
chain.’ But in this case, there is only
one item in Sprague Library cataloged under Bible. O.T. –Pentateuch—Feminist
criticism. What’s the matter? Have we struck a brick wall? Does this mean
But
wait—we’re not finished with searching for materials in Sprague Library. Widen your search by broadening your subject
heading—
Bible—Feminist criticism
Now
we have 15 items in Sprague Library that have been cataloged with this subject
heading. Note that several of them are
shelved in BS 521.4. You might find
related material in that area, such as Luise Schottroff’s Feminist
Interpretation: The Bible in Women’s
Perspective. (You will then check
the index of these individual resources for more specific information—this is
why it’s helpful to keep a research journal of searchable terms).
Remember
that the catalog pulled up 15 items under the subject heading Bible—Feminist
criticism, and some were not in BS 521.4. As we mentioned earlier, the library catalog
brings together—collocates—resources with similar ideas that are scattered
across the classification system. If you
look only in BS 521.4 and not in the catalog, you will miss several sources
that aren’t classified in BS 521.4.
Remember,
library catalog and library shelves work in tandem—subject headings and
classification scheme form bibliographic links to help you find related ideas.
If you find helpful resources on the library shelves in the circulating collection, perhaps in BS 511.2, try browsing in the same classification area in the reference section. You might find reference tools related to your subject.
And if you search the library catalog using subject headings, such as Bible—Hermeneutics, look for holdings with a classification number preceded by ‘Ref.’ This means the resource is located in the ‘Reference’ collection.
To
browse the shelves effectively for an exegesis, you should be focused on a
passage and have collected related terms.
Without some focus, you will waste time browsing through unrelated materials. “If you don’t know where you’re going, any
road will get you there.” Bring focus
and discernment to shelf browsing, and you will be able to spot related
materials with dispatch.[2] Look at chapter headings, tables of contents
and indexes. Run the terms from your
research vocabulary against the terms in these parts of books. When you find a book on the shelf that’s
right on target, go back to the library catalog and look up its holdings
record. Take note of the subject
headings in the ‘tracings.’ These subject headings could lead you to more books
related to your exegesis. For books
missing from the shelves, check the catalog to see if they have been checked
out. They could be on course reserve, or
could have been sneaked out the back stairs by the Theological Librarian (just
kidding). Or stolen by a
seminarian.
Don’t
browse too far from the specific range in the classification system—books even
a few numbers away might not be even remotely related to your research. Stick closely to the classification numbers
listed on the relevant items you found in the library catalog. You probably won’t find related materials
outside the immediate classification range by browsing the shelf. Related materials can be scattered throughout
the classification range, but the shelves won’t provide that relatedness
outside an immediate classification range.
That relatedness is brought out in the library’s catalog through its
collocation function—it brings together related materials, scattered across the
classification system, through subject headings.
Make
it a point to get printouts of holdings from the library catalog, and keep them
in files for your project. The larger
the project, the more important this becomes.
In this manner, you will have exact classification numbers. It does make a difference whether you look in
BS 500 or DS 500. If you must write down
the call numbers, write them legibly—and write down the complete call
number, including the classification number (BS 521.4) and the Cutter number
(.S3613) and the year (1998). The Cutter
number is taken from the first letter of the author’s last name, and the other
numbers are derived from a special table invented by Charles Cutter. It has absolutely nothing to do with Lorena
Bobbitt.
The
library catalog provides access to the bibliographic records of the library’s
holdings, but not to the resources themselves.
When you look at the stuff on the computer screen that tells you the
author, the title, the subject headings, the publisher, etc., you see a
representation of the resource and not the resource itself. The bibliographic record will help you judge
whether the resource is in fact useful to your exegesis, but there’s no
guarantee. Bibliographic records
imperfectly represent resources—they can give you a good idea of what the book
is about, as a whole, but they don’t provide much in the way of detailed
information.
Some
catalog records now have “contents notes” that include chapter headings or
tables of contents. This also helps you
get into the content of the resource without actual examination of the resource
itself.
However,
sometimes you will be looking for a subject that’s so specific, you will not
find any clues in bibliographic records.
The level of information is too specific to be directly indicated by
‘information description language’ like subject headings, and neither the
author nor title provides any hints.
That’s when you must move from more broadly related ideas in the subject
headings or titles and find that higher level of specificity by doing a keyword
search the old-fashioned way—by looking at the actual resources.
This
means taking search terms related to your subject, and browsing indexes. Typically, books on biblical studies will
have indexes related to authors, subjects, and Scripture references. Sometimes you can find highly specific
information by searching for closely associated terms.
While
most people simply pick up a reference resource like a Bible dictionary and
begin using it, I recommend taking a close look at the ‘front matter’ like the
‘Preface’ or ‘Introduction.’ You can
learn much about the bias in the resource by reading the front matter—the
author will often tell readers how s/he selected information and sometimes
provide criteria by which s/he left out material. Sometimes the author or editor will provide a
useful section titled, “How to Use This Book.”
One
of the best examples of extensive front matter can be found in The New
Interpreter’s Bible. This
commentary—easily the best on the market for the English-only exegete—points
out the “General Articles” at the beginning of volumes 1 and 8 (beginning of OT
and NT). “Others have been inserted in
those volumes where the reader will encounter the corresponding type of
literature (e.g., “Introduction to Prophetic Literature” appears in volume 6
alongside several of the prophetic books).”
“Coverage of each biblical book begins with an ‘Introduction’ that
acquaints the reader with the essential historical, socio-cultural, literary,
and theological issues necessary to understand the biblical book. A short bibliography and an outline of the
biblical book are found at the end of each Introduction.” “The biblical text is divided into coherent
and manageable primary units, which are located within larger sections of
Scripture. At the opening discussion of
any large section of Scripture, readers will often find material identified as
‘Overview,’ which includes remarks applicable to the large section of text.” “The exegetical approach is
‘text-centered.’ That is, the
commentators focus primarily on the text in its final form rather than on (a) a
meticulous rehearsal of problems of scholarship associated with a text, (b) a
thorough reconstruction of the pre-history of the text, or (c) an exhaustive
rehearsal of the text’s interpretive history.
Of course, some attention to scholarly problems, to the pre-history of a
text, and to historic interpretations that have shaped streams of tradition is
important in particular cases precisely in order to illuminate the several
levels of meaning in the final form of the text. But the primary focus is n the
canonical text itself. Moreover, the
Commentary not only describes pertinent aspects of the text, but also teaches the
reader what to look for in the text so as to develop the reader’s own capacity
to analyze and interpret the text.”
Examples of “General Articles” in Volume 1: “Introduction to The New Interpreter’s
Bible”; “How We Got Our Bible”; “Contemporary Methods of Reading the
Bible”; “Reading the Bible as Women”; “The Authority of the Bible”; from
section IV, The Background of the Old Testament Texts: “Life in Ancient Palestine”; “The Ancient
Near Eastern Literary Background of the Old Testament”; “Introduction to the
Pentateuch.”
Most
reference resources, including commentaries, do not have the abundance of front
matter and general articles as does The New Interpreter’s Bible. Certainly, The New Interpreter’s Bible
is without peer in terms of the ample background material that it provides to
the English-only exegete. For this
reason, if you plan to spend much of the rest of your life doing biblical
exegesis, you would do well to get your hands on a set. Perhaps the best place to buy a set is the
world’s largest vendor sale for religion/theology books, held every year at the
Annual Meeting of the
The
front matter of most reference resources will have a list of abbreviations,
although in some exceptional cases the abbreviations can be found in the
back. This is vital information, especially
for journal citations. Guessing at
journal title abbreviations never comes close.
Usually
in the front matter, you’ll find a list of contributors and their professional
positions. Sometimes these are keyed to
abbreviations—sets of initials at the ends of articles.
Most
reference resources have an index or two in the back. Sometimes these will be Scripture references,
author/title indexes, and keyword indexes.
Reference resources that do not have an index of any kind are often
limited in usefulness.
One set of commentaries that
might not be obvious to you: Roger E.
Van Harn, The Lectionary Commentary:
Theological Exegesis for Sunday’s Texts.
For
those of you who follow the Revised Common Lectionary (1992), this is a
valuable set indeed, and worth the investment for your own library. I would also commend it to those who don’t
follow a lectionary—the exegetically-based commentary is worth the price. But the lectionary format will initially
stump non-lectionary people, and the commentary doesn’t cover every
Scripture verse. But it is still worth
practically every exegete’s effort to make use of this
splendid-yet-underutilized set.
Another resource that might
not be obvious is The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. ed. Raymond E. Brown, Joseph A.
Fitzmyer, and Roland E. Murphy.
The best Bible dictionary on
the market today is The Anchor Bible
Dictionary. ed. David Noel Freedman.
You will also want to
consider purchasing this six-volume set for your professional library—and now
it comes in a CD-ROM! Take a half-hour or so just to glance through the contents—you will
find a vast quantity of material on major personalities, places, customs,
literary genres, chronology, along with summaries/outlines/ introductions to
canonical/extracanonical books—just for starters!
You should also take the
time to get acquainted with the Word
Biblical Commentary. Published by Word Books (
For
Old Testament exegesis consider the New
International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology & Exegesis. 5 vols.
ed. Willem A. VanGemeren.
For New Testament exegesis
(English-only), investigate the excellent resources published by InterVarsity
Press under the heading, “A Compendium of Contemporary Biblical Scholarship.”
One example is the Dictionary of Paul and
His Letters. Ed. Gerald F. Hawthorne, Ralph P. Martin, and Daniel G. Reid.
A specialized resource
worthy of your interest is Women in
Scripture: A Dictionary of Named and Unnamed Women in the Hebrew Bible, The
Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books, and the New Testament. ed. Carol Meyers.
There are several strategies for finding articles related to your exegesis project.
If
you keep a research journal with lists of searchable terms (authors, titles,
keywords), you can take them to an appropriate database and find journal
articles to support your exegesis.
Perhaps
the best database for exegesis is the ATLA Religion Index.
If you have a specific Scripture passage for exegesis:
Go to ORA, Sprague Library’s
online library catalog. Double-click on
“Databases.”
Select “ATLA Religion Index.” See the highlighted “Advanced” under the ‘Search’ options on the left? Double-click and bring up the Advanced Search screen. This is my favorite search level (lots of options and easy to use).
You will see three search boxes in the middle of
your screen. To the right of each box,
you will see a drop-down box with options for searching in different
fields. Drop down to “Scripture Citation
Phrase.”[3] A new search screen will come up. Put ‘Genesis 12’ in the search box, and hit
‘Search.’ You will be provided with
options to narrow down your search terms in the form of a thesaurus (this has
nothing to do with
Important: When you look for an article to support
your exegesis of a Scripture passage such as Genesis 12: 1-6, you will want to
select the Scripture Citation Phrase for Genesis 12, Genesis 12:1, Genesis
12:1-2, Genesis 12: 1-4, as well as any listing of Genesis 12: 1-6. These selections do not overlap. Don’t ask me why. I’ve been a theological librarian for seven
years, have three master’s degrees and a doctorate, and a record of
publication. And I still can’t tell you
why. Just trust me—check out all the
options that relate to your passage. And
yes, you have to run a separate search for each of them. Just to make sure you don’t miss a helpful
article. (Josh McDowell could use this
as evidence of a fallen world.)
What about specific concepts in
Scripture, like ‘Akedah’? You can search
for these terms in the keyword field—but remember, the best keywords are the
most specific—the most unambiguous.
Uncommon places like ‘
Since the search term ‘Akedah’
retrieves a rather large set, you can focus the results by searching for
‘Akedah’ in the descriptor field. Place
the term in the search box, set the field for descriptor, and click on the
arrow at the far right to use the thesaurus.
Double-click on the appropriate term.
You still may get a cumbersome set of results. Then it’s time for a combination search. A combination search can link terms in two or
more search boxes in the same field (e.g. keywords) or can link terms in
different fields (e.g. the title field linked with the Scripture citation
field). This type of search is
especially useful when you have several keywords that aren’t very
specific. (I often resort to this
strategy when using Internet search engines like Google—when each search term
can have numerous meanings.)
The most powerful searches
happen when terms are linked in combination searches. For example, if you want to find articles
that discuss the blessings and curses in Genesis, place ‘blessings’ or ‘curses’
in the subject phrase field and use the thesaurus to find the correct entry
form (if you don’t, the computer may seem as though it’s cursing you). Then go to the second search box and enter
‘Genesis’—you can search in the title field or in the subject field, or leave
it in the keyword field if you want every single article where the term
‘Genesis’ appears. This is one of the
most powerful types of searches you can do.
If you want to narrow down a
large set of results, and you can’t read German, click on the box that says
‘language’ and select English. If you
want only articles or essays or book reviews, click on the box that says ‘Document
type.’ You can also click on ‘File type’
and search a specific index, such as the one that has only book reviews.
One final word of advice on
database searching—it’s not as simple as we like to think. There’s a still a wide gap between the minds
of people and the search engines of online databases, although the latter are
far superior to those on the Internet.
Another database for an exegesis
project is Religious and Theological Abstracts. You can download the search interface
from the ‘K’ drive on the campus intranet.
But the search engine has nowhere near the capability of the ATLA
Religion Index.
One database that is being
developed further is the Christian Periodical Index, available from the
library’s menu of databases under ‘Arts and Humanities.’ This database indexes journals in religion
and theology from an evangelical perspective.
Another database that might be
overlooked is WorldCat.
Beware—it’s HUGE—so use your subject heading searches and combination
searches. Also beware the boxes where
you can choose the format—you can cut the chase on massive results by checking
‘books.’
Sprague Library has ordered
several tools for biblical exegesis—including the Anchor Bible Dictionary,
the New Interpreter’s Bible—as well as several resources published by
InterVarsity Press—on CD-ROM. Of course,
as any computer-literate Gen-Xer (an oxymoron, right?) should know, finding
something on CD-ROM is vastly easier than finding stuff in print
resources. And hey, sometimes CDs come
with lots of really cool pics of ancient scrolls, archaeological digs, and
other Bible-related themes—certainly much better brain food than that
awful, sexist stuff in Sports Illustrated.
You
should be able to find enough material for your exegetical project in Sprague
Library. However, if you need materials
from other libraries, you can get them through our first-rate interlibrary loan
service.
Go to Northeastern Seminary’s
home page at www.nes.edu
Click on the left tab that says
‘Library’
Scroll down until you see the
second ‘Click here’ for contacting the Theological Librarian
When you pull up the faculty web
page with my name on it, scroll down to the highlighted link that will take you
to “Internet Resources for Biblical Exegesis.”
It’s still under construction, so be patient. I try to get only the good stuff, and
frankly, there’s not much of that on the Internet (but there’s more and more as
time goes by).
I also recommend the highlighted
link to “Internet Resources for Theology and Ministry.”
Also check out the highlighted
link, “Handouts for Better Research and Writing.”
Contact information:
Dr. Barry W. Hamilton
Theological Librarian and
Associate Professor of Historical and Contemporary Theology
Northeastern
Seminary at
585-594-6893
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Last Modified
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October 2006
[1] Thomas Mann, Library Research Models: A Guide for Classification, Cataloging, and Computers (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993), 56-74.
[2] Research focus almost never takes final shape at the beginning of a project, but sharpens and changes as one moves through the project. Research—including exegesis—is a cyclical process of deliberation rather than a stereotyped set of stages. Thus the researcher will often go back-and-forth between catalog and shelves—and between stages of the research. Neither will exegesis always proceed in a smooth, progressive order.
[3] Use fields with the ‘phrase’ designation for finding appropriate terms in the thesaurus—this becomes especially critical with terms that consist of more than one word, or that contain numbers and punctuation marks like a colon or dash. If you simply place these marks in the search box, the database will almost certainly respond with false hits.