BIBL 415 Old Testament Exposition

The Bible expositor must be able to handle the exposition of both testaments consistently, recognizing their unity derived from inspiration but maintaining an awareness of their differences. To rightly exposit Old Testament passages, the student needs to study language, background, context, and genre using a competent knowledge of resources and tools in conjunction with a sound application of hermeneutical principles. Having established the general hermeneutical principles taught in BIBL 400, there is a need for the Bible student to appreciate the specific and often unique considerations and challenges associated with expositing Old Testament passages.

Textbook readings and lecture presentations

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Course Requirements Checklist

After reading the Course Syllabus and Student Expectations, the student will complete the related checklist found in the Course Overview.

Discussions (4)

Discussions are collaborative learning experiences. Therefore, the student will create a thread in response to the provided prompt for 4 discussions throughout the course. The thread must be at least 400 words and demonstrate a comprehension of the corresponding course material, incorporating at least one scholarly source from the course materials into the thread. In addition to the thread, the student will reply to the threads of at least 2 classmates. Each reply must be at least 200 words and incorporate at least one scholarly source. Proper Turabian formatting must be used for each citation in both the initial thread and replies. (CLO: A, B)

OT Passage Study Checkpoint Assignments (4)

On the road to completing the OT Bible Passage Exposition Plan Assignment, the student will study an Old Testament passage using sound hermeneutical principles and resources provided in the Logos Bible Software. The student will provide a brief report of the passage study at four checkpoints throughout the course. Each assignment must include a title page. If required in each assignment, references must be cited correctly in current Turabian format. (CLO: A, B, C)

OT Passage Context Assignment

In order to interpret an OT passage correctly, one must have a strong understanding of the context. To this end, the student will study the literary intentions, historical circumstances, and theological context of an Old Testament passage using the resources made available through the Logos Bible Software. This passage studied for this assignment will be the same as the one identified in the OT Passage Study Checkpoint Assignments. The student will write a three-page overview of the literary, historical, and theological contexts of the passage accordingly. There should be a title page and bibliography included in addition to the three-page body of the paper. The paper will include three sections, and no introduction or conclusion is needed. At least three scholarly commentaries should be included and cited using current Turabian format. (CLO: A, C)

OT Genre Dossiers Assignment

Interpreting the OT requires one to have a good understanding of the literary genres that categorize each book in the OT. The student should already have basic knowledge of these genre distinctions. However, in this assignment, the focus will be on creating succinct “expositional dossiers” on the following four genres—Pentateuch, Narrative, Wisdom/Psalms, and Prophecy/Apocalyptic. The dossiers will identify the characteristics, hermeneutical reminders (at least five), and important questions (at least five) to ask when interpreting passages in each genre. The dossiers will serve as a reference resource to be used when expositing OT passages in the future. Each dossier should be at least 1 page in length and will include three sections. At least two scholarly sources should be used from the Logos Library and cited using current Turabian format. The student will submit the four dossiers as a single document, including a title page and bibliography. (CLO: A)

OT Word Study Project Assignment

As a part of interpreting an OT passage in context, one must be able to discern the meaning of words or phrases according to their original language. To this end, the student will conduct a basic word study of an important Hebrew word or phrase. The word (or phrase) should be chosen using good principles of observation from the passage being studied as a part of the OT Bible Passage Exposition Plan Assignment. The study will be completed in three steps—establishing a preliminary definition (1–2 paragraphs), surveying the use of the word in other locations in the Old Testament or other ancient sources (1–3 paragraphs), and revisiting the passage to determine the meaning in context (1–2 paragraphs). At least three scholarly resources should be used from the Logos Library and cited using current Turabian format. A title page and bibliography should be included. (CLO: A, C)

OT Bible Passage Exposition Plan Assignment

Using sound expositional hermeneutical principles and the resources in the Logos Bible Software, the student will construct a plan to teach, preach, or otherwise communicate a chosen Bible passage from the Old Testament in an identified setting. This expositional plan will be the result of the student having first studied the passage. Having accurately interpreted the meaning of the passage, the plan will strategize how that meaning can be effectively contextualized in the presentation for a church, conference, class, etc. The plan will consist of seven sections: Lesson Title, Intended Audience, Thesis Statement, Context of the Passage, Outline of the Lesson, Illustration, and Points of Application. Each of these should be used as headings in the project document. The outline must include content from the OT Word Study Assignment. The plan should include a title page and bibliography and use double-spaced formatting and page numbers. The final plan will be 4–8 pages, not including the title page and bibliography. At least three scholarly sources should be used and cited using current Turabian format. (CLO: A, B, C)