RELS 241: Scripture and Script (Leonard-Fleckman): Part 1: Exegesis

Because the text of the Bible has been passed down through many different manuscripts (none of which, of course, were in English!), there is no one version of the Bible, in English or in any other language. Instead, there are many different versions, which differ variously depending on...

• Source: Which original manuscript(s) was/were used. If you're interested in understanding more about how this happens, you can visit our library guide on critical editions. The New Catholic Encyclopedia also has a detailed article about the different manuscripts of which many modern Bible versions are composed. 
   
• Editorial Choices: How the compiler(s)/editor(s) chose to interpret and translate the manuscripts they used (again, see the guide on critical editions).
   
• Canon: Which parts of the Bible the compiler(s)/editor(s) considered valid. The so-called deuterocanonical or apocryphal books, for example, are not accepted as canonical by many Protestant denominations and do not typically appear in such translations as the King James Version. The New Catholic Encyclopedia has a useful (if Catholic-focused!) overview of the different canons.  
   
• Denomination/Authority: Related to the above, who (i.e., which denomination/church body/ruler/etc.) worked on and signed off on this version. In Catholic publications this kind of approval is often called the imprimatur (Latin for "let it be printed") and/or nihil obstat ("nothing hinders it" -- i.e., there are no objections). 
   
• Purpose/Audience: Examples of this might include study Bibles (which may include additional marginalia, contextual information, etc.); red-letter Bibles (in which words spoken by Jesus Christ appear in red); and 'Youth' Bibles (which typically use less-formal or even colloquial language to make the text more accessible to younger readers). 

If at all possible, when you pick up a new version of the Bible, try to examine the introduction, preface, and/or any other explanatory information in the front of the Bible which will give you context for how that particular version was put together. 

Every commentary series is different! You should be looking at multiple commentaries for this project.  Here are some things you might consider when selecting the series (plural) you'd like to work with: 

• Version -- Which Bible version/translation is used? Note that not all commentaries cover the apocryphal/deuterocanonical books of the Old Testament (Tobit, Sirach, Maccabees, etc.). Be aware that different translations of the Bible, even similar ones, may use different English words to convey the original sense of the text, which may in turn affect the language used in the commentary. 
   
• Approach -- Does the commentary focus on the linguistics? Theology? Historical context? A combination of the above? etc. 
   
• Language -- Some commentaries are easier to use if you have some knowledge of biblical and/or classical languages. 
  
  
• Depth, detail, coverage -- Commentaries which devote an entire volume to a given book or portion of a book will provide different kinds of information than commentaries which cover the entire Bible in a handful of volumes. Additionally, consider what you'd like to know, and what kind of commentary would be most appropriate for that. To zero in on a couple of specific verses, a detailed line-by-line commentary will be most helpful. But to get a sense of the chapter or book as a whole, a broader commentary could also provide useful perspective. 

Remember -- you can miss a lot by narrowly focusing on only one commentary. The more commentaries you compare, the more complete picture you will get of the book and passage you are working with, the different interpretations, and the issues and themes involved.