Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

COMMENTARY

The genre of explication of biblical texts, usually following the order of verses as they are presented. The constituent elements of the commentary generally include text-critical discussion relating to the establishment of a reliable text and philological and grammatical analysis that addresses difficult or unusual words, phrases, or syntax. Once these elements of “lower criticism” have been applied, “higher criticism” usually begins. Higher criticism is interested in the formation of the text in its historical context and includes source, form, and redaction critical analysis. Along with these more technical aspects of the commentary, a number of other characteristics of the biblical text are often analyzed, including the literary qualities of the text and its theological import. Commentaries often also include interdisciplinary approaches that bring current critical theory to bear on the analysis of texts.

The history of biblical commentary is part of the larger history of the exegesis of the Bible. Perhaps the earliest examples were Aramaic paraphrases (cf. Neh. 8:8) such as the Targums and the midrashim (cf. 2 Chr. 13:22 JB). Much of what appears in the modern genre of commentary is witnessed in commentaries from the late classical and medieval period. Modern critical commentaries often ignore the work of these early commentaries because they are considered to be “precritical.” In reality, however, early commentaries share with their modern versions the awareness of ambiguities in grammar, lexicography, textual variants, and meaning in general. By and large, the difference between modern and earlier forms of commentary is not in the ability to recognize the problematics of interpreting the Bible but, rather, in the location of meaning. It has been said that prior to the “critical” approach the world was understood primarily through the Bible, but with the rise of the “critical” approach the Bible began to be understood primarily through observations about the world in general.

Larry L. Lyke

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

COMMENTARY

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)