biblical interpretation using raw text

[skedward]

I have purchased the Bibleworks.. and I am currently finding some online
material/ courses for learning biblical interpretation using raw text (Biblical hebrews, biblical Greek...) What i mean is with using the latest software tool such as bibleworks, what kind of methodology/ interpretation rules/ grammar pts should i learn? i know that it is still a long way to go and it is still very difficult/ time-consuming/ long process but i believe that it becomes easier than before... right? Any resource/ guidelines? Thanks.

Best regards,
Edward

[pingpongjedi]

Do you know Greek or Hebrew? If not, I'd suggest Bill Mounce's Greek Kit from www.teknia.com. It includes a text book, workbook, flashcards, etc, for $162. I'm going through it right now and am enjoying it very much. I suppose you could use some of the resources in BW to learn Greek, but I think that would be much harder.

Once you finish Mounce, get Dan Wallace's Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament: Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics.

As for rules of interpretation, I would strongly suggest checking out The Theology Program at www.bible.org. There are six courses you can take, but the first two are absolutely foundational. The first course is an intro course (don't skip it!) and the second is Bibliology and Hermeneutics. All the material (student notebook, vidoes/mp3s) is available for free to download).

You might also be interested in a couple of other books that I have found helpful: Wegner's Journey from Texts to Translations and Textual Criticism of the Bible (very new, I just got it yesterday), and Keith Matheison's The Shape of Sola Scriptura. Wegner's books deal with transmission of scripture and Matheison's book deals with ecclessiastical interpretation of scripture.

That's where I'd start.

[Dale A. Brueggemann]

Do you know Greek or Hebrew? If not, I'd suggest Bill Mounce's Greek Kit.... Once you finish Mounce, get Dan Wallace's Exegetical Syntax.

Or if you wanted to start at the beginning, you might start with Futato, Basic Hebrew, and then move on to Waltke-O'Conner, Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax.

For systematic help on OT exegesis, check out Douglas Stuart, Old Testament Exegesis: A Handbook for Students and Pastors (Knoxville, Ky: Westminster/Knox, 2001). On NT exegesis, check out Gordon Fee, New Testament Exegesis: A Handbook for Students and Pastors (Knoxville, Ky.: Westminster/Knox, 2003).

[skedward]

Dear Sir,

Thanks for your precious experience sharing and good resources.. for me to start with.. Maybe let me describe what my background is and you can tell me what i need to proceed on... Thank you..

Actually, I have taken a basic course about Hebrews from a seminary
already... Of course, it is very basic....
And I believe that learning the languages (hebrews/ greek) are the things
which we cannot avoid if we want to understand the Word of God in a raw text... However, I believe that just learning the language without the
application would not be so effective... With using the current technology, dynamic way with using the tools and sound scholar experience (of course, it should be carefully selected) would be easier than centuries ago.... what do you think?

And let me briefly describe what I has studied such that you can know more background and give me some concrete advice...
I have attended several courses about biblical interpretation... (from your
seminary also...)
Then, I listened the tapes for the course about hermeneutics....
At the same time, I am reading articles about modern inerrancy debate, bible contains different sources according to the traditionals (JDEP... on the first five chapters on old testament... some concepts of biblical textual criticism.... literal analysis....)
So, i want to ask if the following path would be a reasonable one...
i) basic principles of biblical interpretation
-> ii) hermeneutics.. (i believe that it is quite similar to i) )
-> iii) understand the process how biblical has been translated...(e.g.,
different sources according to the traditionals...)
-> ??? I am not sure if the next step would be biblical textual criticism
... i.e., according to multiple sources from different traditions, we can
learn the process how the famous scholar/ Rabbi chooses the appropriate
version and meaning....
-> OR ??? i should proceed on finding some literal analysis on a specific
book (Genesis) from a famous scholar ....
-> OR ??? something else... i knew that knowing only the literal meaning of
the text is not good enough... because we need to know what the cultural
(history, belief, geographical) of the book is... what kind of the scripture
is (narrative...) sometimes, i believe that we focus too much on the details but we left a lot of big picture...
i believe that with studying those kinds of topics, i must have chance to
practice the languages (hebrews/ greek)... what i am afraid is if I have
been jumping steps... => things should not be studied in this way/ path...
Please give me some of your opinion....

Thank you so much.

Best regards,
Edward