Old Testament Exegesis: A Primer for Students and Pastors

by Douglas K. Stuart

Old Testament Exegesis "will be indispensible to those who want to do serious exegesis in the Hebrew scriptures".------Chicago Theological Seminary Registerf

Genres: Theology, Reference, Old Testament, Christianity, Religion, Nonfiction, Christian

142 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Douglas Stuart is a professor of Old Testament at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton, Massachusetts.

Reviews

[Jimmy Reagan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Subtitled “a handbook for students and pastors”, this volume has been a standard in the field for many years. Now in its fourth edition, it is poised to continue its usefulness for many more years. Mr. Stuart is a highly-respected Bible scholar, who has written several outstanding commentaries. I’ve enjoyed using several of them myself. In this volume, he goes through his process of performing exegesis on Old Testament passages. This book is especially valuable for those new to exegesis.

The structure of the book, with every section and subsection numbered, makes using it as a reference at any point of the exegetical process very efficient. After you work through the volume initially, you will find it easy to go back and check certain elements where you may be confused. There’s even a handy analytical table of contents at the beginning to help you zip to the needed location. While you might not have his exact method, you must think of everything he addresses at some point in the exegetical process. I don’t personally do everything in the exact order he says, but I found him to be engaging and suggestive. It even struck me as I read that there were some elements of the exegetical process that I could improve.

Chapters 1 and 2 are aimed more at students doing exegetical papers in seminary. Not only does he explain the process well, but he also illustrates his point with scriptural passages on several occasions. Chapter 3 shortens the process for pastors creating sermons. He takes the process even through application and sermon. Chapter 4 is a fine bibliographic chapter suggesting books for each phase. The suggestions are quite extensive.

The only downsides I could see in the book is that it reduced the process to such a science that the art was lost. Further, some of the language work he suggested is realistically not going to be done by pastors. Finally, if the student or pastor is just beginning, it would take years to build the library he recommends. In his defense, I’m sure he was suggesting buying one good book in each category.

You might want to check out a similar volume on the New Testament from the same publisher. Don’t miss the list of common Old Testament exegesis terms and the list of frequent hermeneutical errors in the back of the book. As a guide or refresher, I recommend this book.

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

[Kevin Dickson · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent primer on the topic of Old Testament exegesis. Although sometimes obvious in places, this is a primer and wonderful handbook and should be read as such.

[William Schrecengost · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really good help for exegetical studies. I’ll definitely be returning to this for reference.

[Jake · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great resource for grammatical-historical exegesis. The method is systematic and well explained. It is also given in two forms: for full exegesis and for expository preaching. The only downfall is that exegesis is presented as a scientific pursuit at the expense of the spiritual and theological aspects.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent treatment of the specific issues (e.g., issues beyond the scope of a general textbook because they require the use of Hebrew) involved in interpreting texts in the Hebrew Bible. If you do not know Hebrew yet, or will not conduct exegesis any time soon, at least get this book because of its exhaustive bibliography.

[Robert Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book. I need to email all my pastor friends and see if they have it, 'cause if not, they need it. The chapter on exegesis in hurry for pastors was great, but the book is really just an awesome list of all the best books on every possible subject to do with the OT. Great

[Phil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good summary

The author provides a very good summary of the procedure for performing exegesis, with respect to the Old Testament. He also gives some good examples of types of issues--textual, grammatical, and background--that the exegete may encounter. He provides his solution along with supporting evidence. Where this book really shines is the very thorough and detailed section laying out resources for further reading and research. This book is a great introduction for those wanting to get their feet wet that provides a great springboard for the student who wants to dive into the deep waters.

[Daniel Joshua · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not a pastor and some of this is beyond me but I did enjoy this book. I'll definite be keeping it around. The edition (I forget which) had grammar problems which made my soul melt a little. I also found it to focus too strongly on methods and systems with which to read the bible. Those are great and have their place, but I felt like it imposed forms on the Holy Scriptures and not the other way 'round.

[J. Amill Santiago · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good reference book to keep close to you. The first three chapters provide a detailed, scholarly-oriented, process to develop an outstanding exegetical paper and/or sermon. In a nutshell, Stuart helps his readers to ask a lot—a lot—of valuable questions regarding a text in order to exegete it properly.

The last section is still valuable, but it probably already needs some updating, since the nature of resource aids have drastically changed in the last decade.

[Ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much like the New Testament version written by Fee that I read for a class at the beginning of the year, this is a great utility book for Hebrew Scripture study. It includes step-by-step guides for exegesis in different contexts, and a healthy list of resources for doing the work.
This book will remain on my shelf beside the guide for New Testament work, and I expect I'll be using it quite a bit the next school year when I'll be taking my Hebrew Bible courses.

[Jordan Lange · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very dry, without a doubt boring, but helpful to all Biblical students. If you can get past the dryness this book is a real treasure that will allow a Biblical student or pastor to better prepare their sermons and papers. Personally, I wish I would have read this book in my first year of Biblical studies so I knew how to study better.

[Joseph Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must-have for everyone studying the Old Testament for scholarly, pastoral, or personal benefit. Key insights, approaches, and tactics for rightly interpreting the passages are sorely needed. The modern tendency to neglect the Old Testament because it is difficult is a mistake, and this book goes a long way to helping bring confidence to even an amateur reader. You NEED this!

[Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, practical guide to Old Testament exegesis, much of which can equally be applied to the New Testament. Step-by-step instructions, guidelines, and explanations. Can be useful to a total amateur and to someone with a lot of experience.

[Parker · Rating 4 out of 5]

With three step-by-step guides with differing levels of detail, a (somewhat outdated) annotated bibliography of exegetical resources, a short dictionary of exegetical terms, and an index of exegetical fallacies, this book has just about everything you'd want out of a textbook on exegesis.

[Seth Channell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lays out an easy process to follow in exegesis. Also is a great resource for finding resources needed for OT exegesis.

[Travis Johnston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some really good helpful tools in here for Exegesis and sermon writing. Very helpful if you know Hebrew, still good if you don't (I would assume).

[Noah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great approach to sermon prep, with an extensive resource list and how to use them. On the technical side for sure, but very helpful for every level.

[Chad Dillon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of great information on exegesis both from an academic level and a pastoral level. A wealth of resources are listed and talked about.

[Betty · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great help. very thorough and conveyed well

[Khuntha Daimari]

Help me to get this book.. Pdf Or original one... I'm struggling in my study because of this book. This book is our text book for our OT exegesis..

[Lindsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

OT version of the NT text. Both are great handbooks for working through the process.

[Waddellski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect for explaining ot exegesis step by step according to genre.
this was a birthday present and somebody borrowed it and didn't return it.

[Greg Baughman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid little book (3.5 stars). Its layout is handy for repeated usage. The first section explains in detail how to exegete an Old Testament text. The second section demonstrates how each step is performed on an actual text. The third section gives a guide for how a pastor can perform sufficient (though less detailed) exegesis in roughly five hours. The final (and perhaps ultimately most useful) section follows the same layout, but instead of instructing the reader how to perform the step or giving an example of it performed, it discusses the key resources available to accomplish that task. This final section is a significant portion of the book, almost 90 pages. Each entry is well annotated letting the reader know what sort of information one could gain from each book. Finally, there are two appendices, one is a list of exegetical terms, the other a list of common hermeneutical errors.

Overall, this is a very utilitarian book. It may intimidate those not interested in serious exegesis, and those who are interested likely already know much of the information provided. Still, the way in which it is laid out and the final two sections on sermon prep and resources cause this to be a book that will remain on my shelf and will likely be referred to from time to time.

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a handy little book. It is a true handbook, in that it will actually be read and used. It covers the basics of biblical exegesis from reconstructing a text, to translation, placing the text in context, and applying the text (homelitics). Approximately half the book is an annotated bibliography of resources for the study of the Hebrew Bible.

My only real criticisms of the book are:

1. The recommendation to use late translations (Targums, Peshitta, Latin Vulgate) for hebrew text reconstruction is spurious. Really only two resources should generally be used for reconstruction in addition to the Masoretic Text, which should be used as the basis: Septuagint and Samaritan Pentateuch.

2. The instruction for outlining pericopes is not well detailed. Do you want us to prepare sentence diagrams, like Osborne recommends in The Hermeneutical Spiral? Do you want logical propositions outlined like the way Jacob Neusner analyzes rabbinic literature?

3. In the resources section, there could have been more explicit recommendations on commentaries to consult for which specific areas and organized according to theological outlook.

[Vesselin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Въпреки че книгата следва структурата на Екзегетика на Новия Завет от Гордън Фий, ми се струва, че е малко по-добре направена. За съжаление, и двете издания на български споделят еднакъв проблем, с който не биха и могли да се справят по-добре. Авторите разясняват как да се използват много други пособия за работа с текста. Българските издатели са се постарали да дадат заглавията на някои помагала на български, но са крайно недостатъчни. Без добро владеене на английски и достъп до съответната литература, голяма част от написаното в тази книжка би било безполезно за читателя.

Дадени са много интересни примери с някои трудни пасажи, преведени погрешно в повечето Библии, включително българските. Накрая са дадени и най-честите грешки при тълкуване на текста. Дори само заради тези неща, книжката си струва да се прочете.

[Andy]

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[Justin Merth]

Old Testament exegesis: A primer for students and pastors by Douglas K Stuart (1980)

[Meredith · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book I should reread and see how it might inform my preaching.

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

A boring Read, that could probably aid undergraduate students or people who wish to teach themselves old testament exegesis. It could also be helpful for pastors who have not gone to seminary.