How To Do Exegesis! Extremely Helpful Handbook!

I think that the best way to describe the purpose of the book is to steal the first paragraph from the author's preface to the first edition: "A former New Testament colleague was once asked by a student how he could learn to do exegesis, intending that his teacher should suggest a book. My colleague answered, 'You will just have to take a course.' That answer is the tacit admission of what all of us who teach NT know to be true: There simply is no book that serves either as a textbook or a guide for students to learn the exegetical process, from the opening of their Bibles to the writing of the paper. This book hopes to fill that lacuna."

This book's target audience is an academic one whose end to exegesis will be a paper (or an expository sermon), but as a layman I have found it to be extremely helpful, even indispensable, in my exegetical endeavors to better learn and therefore accurately apply the Word of God. Also, the book is written primarily for those who know Greek (I do not know enough to even be dangerous); however, in the new edition Fee has made the attempt to provide alternative exercises (such as compare many different versions and maybe use a textual commentary to try to determine as close as possible the original) for the English only student.

CHAPTER 1: Guide for Full Exegesis
Chapter 1 basically organized in outline form, providing first the "initial steps for all genres," first naming the major exegetical step that must be performed and then providing more and more detailed information and guidance on each step. Then moving past the steps that are the same for all genres, Fee gives the steps necessary for various genres (i.e. Epistles, Gospels, Revelation, etc). Finally the chapter ends with a section on moving from interpretation to application.

CHAPTER 2: Exegesis and the Original Text
Also arranged in outline format with the following sections (1) Structural Analysis, (2) Establishing the Text, (3) Analysis of Grammer, (4) Analysis of Words, (5) Historical-Cultural Background, and (6) Analysis of Pericope. Just as in the other chapters, the outline works from very general headings and general paragraphs of information to very specific and technical subheadings.

CHAPTER 3: Short Guide for Sermon Exegesis
I find myself often in Chatper 3 as I study as Fee uses this chapter to show how good, solid exegesis will move into the most powerful, Word-filled sermons. If you teach from the Word (as a pastor, small group leader, youth group leader, whatever) I recommend this book and this chapter in addition to Rediscovering Expository Preaching by MacArthur et al.

CHAPTER 4: AIDS & RESOURCES FOR THE STEPS IN EXEGESIS
Fees ends in referring the student to othe very useful resources organized by type.

I would be amiss if I did not address the one downside to this book which I believe is the temptation to "do the steps" and skip the prayer, the heartsearching, the repentance, the awe, the worship. An unregenerate person can "do the steps" and if done responsibly come up with an exegetical position, maybe even a correct one. We cannot know God through human wisdom (1 Cor 1:21). Fee mentions this temptation, but it is by no means the focus of the book, nor should it be. The temptation to be purely academic in Bible study is a great one, and a "how to" book on the subject could propagate this error in some. However the book should not be condemned simply because the method of presentation (which is a highly effective one) could be taken by the cold hearts of some to their folly. Rather, understand the evil of your own heart which is always beside you (Romans 7:21), crucify your flesh, repent where necessary, and seek the truth of God which is found in the Bible with a disciplined, passionate fervor. It is in this final endeavor that "New Testament Exegesis" is invaluable.

Finally, if you use Libronix Digital Library System, I would STRONGLY recommend you go ahead and buy this along with Stuart's Old Testament Exegesis book for Logos. If not you will find yourself with a dog-eared and bookmarked book as you flip back and forth as Fee makes extensive use of referencing other portions of his text.

A Must Have

Laypeople, seminary students, and even pastors who think they know what 'exegesis' means need to get this book. Fee's contribution here has been recognized for some time as a vital tool for conducting responsible exegesis, and the praises it has received are most warranted.

This book methodically lays out various steps that should be taken in conducting exegesis. These steps include lexical, historical, cultural, theological, genre and text critical analysis that forces the exegete to really do their homework and research. At a time when preaching, teaching, writing, and debating techniques have reduced the Bible to pet proof-texts and inch deep examination, this book provides a much needed corrective that insists on a combination of deep seriousness and thorough study and research when handling the Word of God. I have used many of the steps in this book to conduct some preliminary exegesis on various passages of Scripture, and the result has been that I learned more in a couple months about the passages in question than years of independent and mostly aimless study revealed. This is a book that will help equip the reader with the ability to conduct responsible exegesis, and will also equip the reader to effectively and intelligently critique other books and articles that fail to substantively engage the text.

As others have noted, the suggested sources and reference materials that are listed throughout the book are quite good in giving the reader not only good exegetical steps, but reference works to actually put the steps into action.

In conclusion, while I believe that there are valuable exegetical steps that can be taken in exegesis that Fee does not list here, this book is nonetheless a very good and absorbable resource that will enhance evangelical scholarship and preaching if leaders and teachers, not to mention laypeople, take its contents to heart.

THE Text for New Testament Sermon Preparation

Ask any seminary trained pastor who Gordon Fee is or about this book and you'll get an answer. This has been most important text on this subject for the past couple of decades. There are newer texts. They also need to be read, but this one continues to set the standard.

Who should own a copy of this book?

SEMINARY STUDENTS (if it is the text for your homiletics class)

PASTORS WHO ARE HAMPERED BY LACK OF LANGUAGE SKILLS (The book will help you work around a lack of Greek skills.)

PASTORS WHO HAVE NOT HAD THE BENEFIT OF A SEMINARY EDUCATION (There is an excellent section on sermon preparation with a minimum of 10 hours for study per week.)

LAY PERSONS WHO WANT TO LEARN HOW TO STUDY THE NEW TESTAMENT (Most of the time what we read in books and learn in Bible studies is more inspiration than scholarship.)