I hope we can cover about a chapter a class that way...

not necessarily covering eve-

rything in class, but the important features.

When we finish a book, we can also discuss its theology as a whole. Such a
discussion should take into consideration the originally meaning of the book as well
as its later re-use or re-reading in both Judaism and Christianity. Such a discussion
should be rooted in the text, so to make a point for example how the book was un-
derstood in Judaism; the student should cite a Targum passage (even if you have
only read it in translation). Someone else could cite a reference to Nahum in a com-
mentary by a Church Father.
 tion. At this point in your studies, we have to be somewhat practical in how
much we can cover. I remember having a text criticism seminar in graduate
school where we only read two chapters of Micah in all the versions for the
entire semester! We cannot do that. My goal is to expose you to the complex
ways the text has come down to us.

2. Grammatical Criticism
Be sure you understand all of the grammatical issues and forms found in the
text. If you use BibleWorks, then check the grammatical references for your
passages in the indices of Gesenius, Jouon, and Waltke & O'Connor to see if
they cover the passage you are studying.

Also do you recognize any other passages in which important vocabulary in

your passage appears? When you look up a word in the dictionary, see where
else that word appears. Does it appear in the Prophets? Is it mostly pre-
Exilic? Is it particularly found in hymns? For this you need a complete diction-
ary (BDB, HALOT, etc.) and not a small student edition.

3. Literary, Source, Redaction, Form Criticisms, etc.

At this point check a couple good up-to-date analytic commentaries (some on
reserve) to see what they say about the passage. Here you should find infor-
mation about history (historical criticism), possible sources and redaction,
about the genre or form. You will also find a discussion about interpretations.
Reading two commentaries, will allow you to have a broader view point. I be-
lieve in studying together. So when you study in a group, you can each study
a different aspect of the text and share your insights.

The book by Michael Floyd, Minor Prophets, Part 2, which is on reserve, has
excellent treatment of the different genres (form criticism) in Nahum.

Also look for intertextuality. Here a good commentary (or Floyd) would help
point out similar language in other biblical books. Does Nahum 1 cite or refer
to other biblical texts? What might be the purpose of this intertextuality? The
book on my reserve shelve by Gerlinde Baumann has an excellent treatment
(somewhat philosophical at times and in German) of intertextuality.

Pay attention also to the poetics of a line, its parallelism, alliteration, ono-
matopoeia, etc. Never forget that these books are written in elegant poetry.

OUR CLASS

After 2-3 classes during which we get used to the text, we will proceed differ-
ently. Clearly we cannot cover 4 books at the rate of 4 verses a class. We will look at
the hymn 1:1-10 more carefully, but then I shall turn the class over more to you. We
will then cover about a chapter a class. I might call on somebody and ask him/her to
discuss any important textual variants (4-5 in a chapter) in the chapter assigned.
Others can add their examples to that discussion. I will call on somebody else for
observations on important vocabulary or grammar. Others can add their own contri-
butions about form, intertextuality, theologies, etc., say from different commentaries.
 Exegesis

Some students have asked me, "Where do I start? There seems so much to do" Let
me start by giving you a "schedule" or program to follow when reading a passage, for
example Nahum 1. Here is what I do and the order with which I do it.

1. Preliminary Reading
First I would read through the entire Book of Nahum in my own language.
Then I would read the Hebrew of Nahum 1 all the way through to get a sense
of the passage. I would not get caught up in Masoretic notes, versions. I just
want to read the text so that I can do more detailed work later. Here of course
BibleWorks can be very helpful. (At this stage you might be following the text
in a translation in your own language; that is fine but be sure that the Hebrew
text is in control not the translation! Let me give you a hint I was told years
ago: Do not write translations above the Hebrew text. Or if you do be sure that
you do most of your reading from a text without translation, so that you can be
sure you are reading Hebrew and not your notes.) But even at this early point
you should note the main ways the rabbinic text has divided up a line (main
disjunctive accents 1 & 2).

2. Text Criticism
Now I shall read the BHS differently and in more detail. At this point I want to
find out if there are any textual issues that might suggest a Hebrew text differ-
ent than the B 19A or Leningrad text (BHS). Here is how I would do that:
a. Read the Biblica Qumranica to see if there are different readings
in the Qumran or the Dead Sea manuscripts.
b. Read the masorah parva and understand it; many of their ob-
servations were done to preserve the text from change. A good intro-
duction to the Masorah is Kelley & Mynatt, The Masorah of Biblia
Hebraica Stuttgartensia (Grand Rapids, 1998). The masorah parva is
particular to a specific manuscript. The masorah for the Aleppo Codex
would be slightly different than the Leningrad Codex.
c. Read the notes at the bottom of BHS which are usually of a tex-
tual nature. See if you can understand why the BHS suggests a differ-
ent reading.
d. Look at the difficult places discussed by Barthélemy in his Cri-
tique textuelle de l'ancien Testament. Tome 3.
e. Instead of Barthélemy, you could also use the translation and
notes of Sandro Carbone and Giovanni Rizzi (on reserve). They pro-
vide a translation of the Hebrew (MT), the LXX, and the Targum (in Ital-
ian). Each of these has abundant notes.
All of these would give you a good sense of not only the text but also the wit-
ness of the versions. If you saw a text problem in these books that caught
your eye, you could follow that up in the particular version it appears in (LXX,
Vulgate, Targum, etc.)

Occasionally, I would read several verses (5-6) in the Old Greek (LXX), the
Targum Jonathan, and in the Vulgate---at least every other week. I shall intro-
duce you to reading the critical edition of the Old Greek which you should at
least be introduced to. The Old Greek has a very complex manuscript tradi-