How to Write an Exegesis Paper with Library Resources: 4. Offer an Overall Interpretation

Now that you have determined the boundaries of your passage, researched its genre, historical, social, and cultural background, and worked through the meaning of each individual verse, it is time to offer an interpretation of the passage, a synthesis of your research.

You are done with the details of your paper. This is not the place to present new information or arguments. It is the place to move from the low-level details of what each verse means to a higher-level statement about what this passage means. For example, part of the interpretation of Luke 1:26-38 might include the following.

"In this passage, Luke introduces important elements in his gospel. He shows the role-reversal that is crucial to his narrative by showing how a young Jewish girl with very low social status is exalted by God to a very important status in God's purposes. The announcement to Mary of the forthcoming conception and birth of Jesus is modeled heavily on a "call" narrative in the Scriptures of Israel. This indicates that Mary is not a passive tool in God's plan but is called by God to an important role in bringing salvation to Israel, similar to Gideon in the book of Judges."

The Word Biblical Commentary series can help you gain a good sense of what an interpretation might look like. If you look at the first volume on Luke, Luke 1-9:20 by John Nolland (Call number BS491.2 .W67 v.35A), you will see that every passage has three parts: "Form/Structure/Setting," "Comment," and "Explanation." The third of these, the "Explanation," provides a synthesis of the significance of all the details in the previous two sections.

If your passage has two or more major interpretations, this is the place to state the interpretation you are choosing, and your main reasons for doing so. That would not apply to our example passage, Luke 1:26-38, but it would apply to a passage such as 1 Cor 11:2-16. That passage has a traditional view (that women are to pray with head coverings on), asserted in most commentaries on 1 Corinthians, and a more recent view that rejects the traditional understanding (Paul is challenging a Corinthian belief that women should wear head coverings for prayer), first put forward by Alan Padgett ("Paul on women in the church : the contradictions of coiffure in 1 Corinthians 11:2-16", JSNT 20(1984): 69-86). You can state your position on a controversial passage at this point because you have already covered all the data in detail that is needed for making a decision.

After you have written an interpretation, there is only one step left to do: an application.

Click here to learn how to provide an application for your passage.