Write long exegetical paper on the assigned Bible passage found in the Syllabus. Using your notes from previous assignments, write your *
research observations. Now that you have been introduced to the cultural lenses of honor and shame, purity and impurity, gender expectations,
stereotype and stigmatization dynamics, how do these themes play out in your passage? Your focus here must be historical — what might the text
have meant to its ancient hearers given the ancient historical context? Save any theological reflection (that is, about what you have learned from God)
for the Application portion of the paper. The assignment here is to keep your historical distance, and you will be graded on how successfully you are
able to do so in this section
Section |: Introduction
Your paper must have a thesis statement. To craft a thesis statement, think about the text as a whole. What is this text trying to teach people in its
original audience? What did the text mean for the ancient world? What is the text trying to communicate to them? How does the passage accomplish
these goals? Your answer/s to these questions will form your thesis for the paper. This should be a one-sentence statement that carefully, precisely,
and succinctly makes a statement or claim about the meaning (not just the content!) of the passage. A thesis statement, by definition, is a claim or
assertion that can be contested. Italicize this statement and place it at or near the end of your introduction.
Thesis Tips:
- Avoid writing a procedural statement. For example, “The following paper will exegete the Ten Commandments.”
- Here are some ways to start a thesis statement:
o "In this paper, | will argue that…"
0 "The thesis of this paper is that…”
Section Il: Structural Analysis
See sample paper to help you construct this section!
Section Ill: Analysis of Text
Using your notes from the previous assignments, write your research observations following a verse-by-verse format. The research notes you have
put together in your question and answer prompts (provided they are thorough) can now be refashioned to form the text of your paper. Your focus here
must be historical — what might the text have meant to its ancient hearers given the ancient historical context. Save any theological reflection (that is,
about what you have learned from God) for the Application portion of the paper. The assignment here is to keep your historical distance, and you will
be graded on how successfully you are able to do so in this section. You simply interact with the passage one verse at a time. Footnote all citations in
appropriate style.
Section IV: Conclusion & Application
Bring your paper to conclusion by reiterating the thesis statement and drawing conclusions from it. Then engage the text in term of how this text
applies to you and your community today. In making the leap from what the text meant to what the text means, students are to ask the following
questions (Questions are based on Donald Hagner’s discussion in, New Testament Exegesis and Research: A Guide for Seminarians (Pasadena:
Fuller Seminary Press, 1992), 23):
- Universal level analysis: How does what | have leamed from the passage affect the way | think about God, the world/society, the church in general
- Personal level analysis: How does what | have learned from the passage affect the way | live? How does this message/s challenge or encourage me
personally?
Sample Solution