Take Home One - Biblical Judaism- Fall 2009

Due October 2, 2008 by 1:30 PM in my mailbox in the Philosophy Office on the fourth floor of Morrill Hall or via email attachment.  If you use email, copy yourself to make sure the email and attachment went through. If via email, must be in Word 2007 or below, WordPerfect X3 or below, or a pdf file readable by Adobe Acrobat Reader.  

Requirements:

1. Your research project questions and the essay should be word-processed, double-spaced, one-inch to one and one-half inch margins. They should be spell-checked. Pages Numbered. Font no smaller than 12 point.

2. You should staple the research report and the essay separately with a cover page  (title, date, Phil/RelS 302, and your name) for each.

3.  For the essay:  Number each paragraph.  Bold your thesis.  After the end of the essay, attach an OUTLINE of the essay with the thesis clearly stated and at minimum a line for each paragraph.

4. The research project questions will likely take about four to six pages.  The essay should be approximately three pages long (not including the title page or Works Consulted page).

5. You must include a Works Consulted/Cited Page for the research report and a separate one for the essay.  Any sources you consult must be included in your Works Consulted/Cited and cited in-text or in footnotes/endnotes. CAREFUL AND CORRECT CITATION IS REQUIRED. WHEN IN DOUBT, CITE. Remember that simply paraphrasing or changing every third word is not OK. Quote and cite or radically summarize and cite. Use quotation marks when quoting or indent if quote is five lines or longer. Guessing at where your information comes from is not OK. Use page numbers in your in-text citations, footnotes or endnotes. Book or journal titles are italicized or underlined.  You may consult Citation for Biblical Studies for information related to citing biblical studies sources.

6.  I will grade both the research project questions and the essay for both form and content.  Click here for the Grading Rubric for the essay.  Most of the same criteria will apply to the research project questions with the exception of the argument/interpretation section.  For the research project questions following directions carefully, accurate reporting of the text critical/translation, historical/social scientific, literary/rhetorical, and theological/philosophical information available in the sources, and your evaluation of the sources will be key.

A. Required Research Report- 60 points

1.  Select a single passage (an identifiable unit, approximately one to ten verses long) from Genesis, Exodus, Levitcus, Numbers, or Deuteronomy that you would like to research.  Paste the passage in at least one translation on the page. Describe in a few sentences questions you have about the passage that will guide your research. (2 points)

2.  Look up at least one key term from your passage (or look up the biblical book involved if that appears more promising for your passage) in two bible dictionaries/encyclopedias/companions listed on Biblical Studies Reference Resources.  Only works on that list are acceptable.  Entries might be concepts such as covenant, persons such as Sarah, geographical locations, objects such as olive tree, literary genres such as parable, or biblical books.   I highly recommend photocopying the title page and reverse of the reference plus the pages involved. This helps because if you need to look something up, re-read the material, or get information to cite, you do not need to return to the library.   Most dictionary entries have an author. The author is usually listed at the end of the entry or at the beginning.  Sometimes initials are given. You can look up the full name of the author in the Table of Contributors.  The authors’ affiliations are often given in the list of contributors as well such as where he or she teaches or whether he or she belongs to a Roman Catholic order. S.J., for example, stands for the Society of Jesus–the Jesuits.  These reference works are located in the first floor reference section of the library.

Summarize for each dictionary/encyclopedia entry the following types of information that it contained on your chosen passage.  If it did not cover one or more of these types, you should note that as well.  (24 points)

i. textual  criticism, translation, word study (meaning of word)

ii. historical and social scientific background

iii. literary and/or rhetorical analysis (e.g., genre, ring composition, typology, charaterization, puns, repetition,  reception history, etc.)

iv. theology/philosophy 

If you are wondering what falls under each category, check out the Interpreting a Passage Handout. If the entries have no information in one of the four categories, you should note that. 

3.  Research the passage in at least two one volume commentaries listed on Biblical Studies Reference Resources. The recent twelve volume New Interpreter's Bible and JPS Torah Commentaries (on regular reserve) are also OK.  Only works listed there are acceptable. I would highly recommend photocopying the title page and reverse of the reference plus the pages involved. This helps because if you need to look something up, re-read the material, or get information to cite you don’t need to return to the library.  [NOTE:  In these commentaries there is often general information at the beginning of the discussion of that book as well as information on the particular passage.   So even if there isn't information about the historical background, for example, in the verse by verse commentary on your passage, there may be historical background at the beginning of the entry on that book of the Bible.  As with the dictionary entries the author of the entry is sometimes listed at the end of the commentary or at the beginning.  Sometimes initials are given. You can look up the full name of the author in the Table of Contributors.  These reference works are located in the first floor reference section of the library except as noted.

Write several paragraphs for each commentary detailing the following types of information that it contained on your chosen passage.  Begin with bibliographical information for each commentary entry as a heading for this question. (24 points)

i. text criticism, translation, word study (meaning of key words)

ii. historical and social scientific background

iii. literary and/or rhetorical analysis (e.g., genre, ring composition, typology, part of Pauline letter form, judicial rhetoric, diatribe form such as address to an imaginary dialog partner, etc.)

iv. theology/philosophy   (you can include reception or interpretation history here or under literary)

4.  Write several paragraphs evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of each of the four sources you used in exploring the passage you chose and answering questions you had about that passage. (10 points)

B.   Forty Point Essay.  Choose ONE of the following questions:

The theme of the Pentateuch is the partial fulfillment–which implies also the partial non-fulfillment–of the promise to or blessing of the patriarchs. The promise or blessing is both the divine initiative in a world where human initiatives always lead to disaster, and a re-affirmation of the primal divine intentions for man. The promise has three elements: posterity, divine-human relationship, and land. The posterity-element of the promise is dominant in Genesis 12-50, the relationship-element in Exodus and Leviticus, and the land-element in Numbers and Deuteronomy.

6. *Wild Card. Write your own question, but have it approved by the instructor.  Be sure the topic is narrow enough to cover in about three pages.