REL 110: The Bible: Step 1: Researching the Text

You’ll need to know the passage’s genre (poetry, narrative, epistle, law, etc.) and context. For example, is it part of a prophetic oracle? Is it a law from the Covenant Code, that is, the law collection received by Moses on Mt. Sinai?  Is it one of Jesus’ parables? Let your professor know if you need help.

Some of these sources also provide info on the world behind the text with respect to a specific issue (poverty, abortion, etc.)--eg, poverty during Jesus’ time.

• Carvalho (for HB/OT passages). You can look up passages pp viii-xiii.

• ATLA Database

  • Conduct research into specific scripture by clicking the Scriptures tab at the top left once inside the database.

• Footnotes or introductory essays to biblical books in your Study Bible. 

  • Make sure they are relevant and that you understand them, or find something else. 

• Essays on the text in bibleodyssey.org. Try looking up a passage by its informal name if you know it (e.g., “The Good Samaritan”), or by the biblical book it’s in (eg, Isaiah). Sift the results: just because it’s in Bible Odyssey doesn’t mean it’s relevant.

  • For the Good Samaritan, for example, you would want:
    https://www.bibleodyssey.org/passages/main-articles/good-samaritan 
    not
    https://www.bibleodyssey.org/tools/image-gallery/g/good-samaritan-rossano

• Not all passages have specific Bible Odyssey essays written about them.

• Many of the books on the reserve list have an index of scriptural references, often followed by other ancient writings. You may need to use the list of abbreviations for biblical books (Ox p xxi) to see if your passage is listed. *Some indexes use slightly different abbreviations for biblical books.