A Handbook to Exegesis of the New Testament

by Stanley E. Porter

Publisher:

Brill

, 1997

Overview

Handbook to Exegesis of the New Testament is a substantial theoretical and practical guide to the multifaceted discipline of New Testament exegesis. This volume covers current topics in New Testament exegesis in sufficient depth to provide a useful methodological basis. The introduction includes an analysis of the various definitions of exegesis, a term notoriously difficult to define, and a bibliographic essay covering the basic tools of exegesis. A section on method includes detailed discussions of the different models used in the major approaches to exegesis: textual criticism; linguistic analysis; genre criticism; source, form, and redaction criticism; discourse analysis; rhetorical and narratological criticism; literary criticism; and canonical criticism.

Also included are models based on analysis of the backgrounds of the New Testament in Hellenistic philosophy, ancient Judaism, the Roman Empire, and the works of second-century authors. In a section on application, exegetical methods are applied to the various literary units of the New Testament. This handbook serves well as both a textbook and a reference book for the major tools and topics in the area of New Testament exegesis.

Key Features

• In-depth discussion current topics in New Testament exegesis
• Models on the analysis of backgrounds of the New Testament
• Great textbook and reference book

Contents

Introduction

• What is Exegesis? by Stanley E. Porter and Kent D. Clarke
• The Basic Tools of Exegesis of the New Testament: A Bibliographical Essay by Stanley E. Porter

Part One: Method

• Textual Criticism in the Exegesis of the New Testament, with an Excursus on Canon by Eldon Jay Epp
• The Greek Language of the New Testament by Stanley E. Porter
• The Genres of the New Testament by Brook W. R. Pearson and Stanley E. Porter
• Source, Form and Redaction Criticism of the New Testament by David R. Catchpole
• Discourse Analysis by Jeffrey T. Reed
• Rhetorical and Narratological Criticism by Dennis L. Stamps
• New Testament Literary Criticism by Brook W. R. Pearson
• Ideological Criticisms, Liberation Criticisms, and Womanist and Feminist Criticisms by Tina Pippin
• Social-Scientific Criticism by Stephen C. Barton
• Canonical Criticism by Robert W. Wall
• Hellenistic Philosophy and the New Testament by Gregory E. Sterling
• Jewish Backgrounds by Paul R. Trebilco
• The Roman Empire as a Context for the New Testament by David W. J. Gill
• Exegesis in the Second Century by Thomas H. Olbricht

Part Two: Application

• The Life of Jesus by Craig A Evans
• The Synoptic Gospels and Acts by Christopher M Tuckett
• Exegesis of the Pauline Letters, including the Deutero-Pauline Letters by Stanley E. Porter
• The Johannine Literature by John Painter
• New Testament Exegesis of Hebrews and the Catholic Epistles by George H Guthrie

Product Details

• Title: Handbook to Exegesis of the New Testament
• Editor: Stanley E. Porter
• Publisher: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

About Stanley E. Porter

Stanley E. Porter is president, dean and professor of New Testament at McMaster Divinity College in Hamilton, Ontario. He is the author of numerous studies in the New Testament and Greek language.

Contents

Top Highlights

“Whereas the emphasis of grammatico-historical exegesis has focused upon what the biblical text originally meant, it has been more recently argued that the exegetical task should, and even must, be expanded to include both what the text has meant (i.e. its history of interpretation) and what the text means (i.e. its relevance for today).” (Page 9)

“Discourse analysis (less frequently referred to as Textlinguistics or Text Grammar) is a sub-discipline of modern linguistics that seeks to understand the relationships between language, discourse, and situational context in human communication.” (Page 188)

“The implications of aspect theory for exegesis are extensive, including at least the following: Each verb tense-form is not to be equated with a single temporal value or an objective description of action. Each tense-form is instead to be seen in relation to putting into grammatical form a particular view of an action, as described by the author.” (Pages 117–118)

“Not only is the Bible an ancient record of past communities, and in this sense historical, it is also a modern record to present communities, and in this sense theological. The distinction between the role of the exegete as a proclaimer of what the text meant, and the role of the theologian as a proclaimer of what the text means, illustrates the primary issue at the heart of biblical interpretation today.” (Page 17)

“The third and final stage in discussion of Greek verbal structure is a logical continuation from that of Aktionsart theory, and recognizes that verbs are not primarily concerned either with time or with objectified action, but with a subjective perspective on action. This has come to be called aspect theory.” (Pages 116–117)

Product Details

• Title: Handbook to Exegesis of the New Testament
• Author: Stanley E. Porter
• Volume: 25
• Publisher: Brill
• Print Publication Date: 1997
• Logos Release Date: 2003
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subject: Bible. N.T. › Hermeneutics
• Resource ID: LLS:34.0.143
• Resource Type: text.monograph.handbook
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-02-11T16:32:11Z

About Stanley E. Porter

Stanley E. Porter, PhD, University of Sheffield, has taught for more than 30 years in post-secondary institutions in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom. He is a Greek and New Testament expert, and, since 2001, has been the president, dean, and professor of New Testament at McMaster Divinity College. He's best known for his works on verbal aspects in New Testament Greek, is actively involved in OpenText.org and the Linguistics Institute of Ancient and Biblical Greek, and is a regular columnist for Christian Week.

Porter is the author or editor of numerous New Testament and Greek studies, including Idioms of the Greek New Testament, Discourse Analysis and the New Testament: Approaches and Results, and Dictionary of New Testament Background. He has edited over 80 volumes and authored 28 books on various New Testament and related topics, including How We Got the New Testament: Text, Transmission, Translation, and The Gospel of John in Modern Interpretation. Plus, he's published more than 450 journal articles, chapters in books, and dictionary entries and regularly speaks at major conferences and other venues around the world.

His interests include Greek language and linguistics, hermeneutics and various methods of interpretation, and a range of New Testament studies from the Gospels to John to Acts to Paul. He is also a papyrological and text-oriented research specialist and is interested in the wider Greco-Roman world. Outside of academia, Stanley has served in young adult ministry and has assisted in developing a lay training institute for the local church.