Exodus 19 to 40 Commentary
Instructions for Building Exodus 19 to 40 Commentary
You will draw from your class notes, assigned readings, extra research, and observations in order
to create a personalized reference work for your study of Exodus. There is some flexibility here, as you may choose to focus on specific aspects of the book (i.e. linguistic, socio-cultural, literary, etc.). It will in any case be academic. In other words, this is not about application or personal reflection on the biblical text.
This assignment will be a test of your research skills. It will require organization, clarity, understanding, the ability to separate important information from the unimportant, and the ability to distill that important information.
It will contain the following:
1. Section by section commentary ( Exodus 19 to 40)
a. Delineate your sections
b. Provide a roughly balanced commentary throughout each section
i. For reasons of space, pick an aspect of study that interests you and focus on that. For example, if you have a languages background, you might like to focus on linguistic aspects of Exodus. If you like archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern studies, then you might focus on the socio-cultural connections. If you like biblical theology, then you will focus on theological questions and so on.
c. Do not forget to include where you found information!
i. Citation style should conform to Chicago/Turabian or SBL formats. Footnotes are preferred.
ii. Remember that commonly known information (e.g. 586 BCE was the destruction of the first Temple) does not need cited, but specific arguments or lesser known material does. While it is better to err on the side of citing everything (as plagiarism is the ultimate academic sin!), students sometimes cite so much that it distracts from the flow of the discussion.
Feel free to adopt the style of your favorite commentary (albeit abbreviated). Some commentaries provide very short blurbs about each verse, while others will write a longer analysis of larger sections. Use whatever style you think is best for presenting the information.
Specifics :Format
- Margins = 1
- Single-spaced
- A standard font
- Citations in Chicago/Turabian or SBL format
- Biblical references abbreviated (e.g. Gen 1:1 ; not Genesis 1:1)
- Paragraphs/Sections/Bullet-points clearly delineated.
Do NOT include:
o The biblical text itself. This unnecessarily takes up space. I have many Bibles that I can reference when I look at your commentary.
o Any long quotes, either from the Bible or from your research. Anything must be distilled and put into your own words.
o Superfluous charts or diagrams (or basically anything which is an obvious attempt to use space).
If you make a chart or diagram and it really does fit the commentary well, then that is fine.
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