Practicing Exegesis | Theological Foundations | Part Two

Definition question: What is exegesis?

Answer: Exegesis is the theological word used to describe the "observation" stage of studying Scripture.

Additional practices (see part one) that support good exegesis include:

• Reading the selected passage the whole way through, preferably out loud (as scripture would have been shared first and fast back when it was first presented)

• Looking for repeated words, keywords, and/or commands (prescriptive phrases) that clarify the meaning of the passage

• Using a dictionary and/or concordance to define any ambiguous or foreign terms (like "grace," "blessed," "atonement," or "propitiation")

• Imagine: try to imagine the scene where this passage is using the information gathered from the text and the "reading the envelope" practice (part one)*

Photo by Sue Hughes on Unsplash

 At the beginning of every solid Bible study, there is a quest for comprehension of the text before proceeding to interpretation and application. By gathering data using the traditional journalism checklist: who, what, when, where, why, and how, proper vantage points around Matthew 5:2-12 can be established (NIV Bible, 2011). Then, using literary tools like keywords, repetition, lists, comparisons, contrasts, etc., the text itself will point to its intended direction, emphasis, and meaning (Duvall & Hays, 2012).

‘Journalism’ Observations

Jesus is speaking to large crowds from “Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan” (who) (NIV Bible, 2011, Mat 4:23). After traveling and healing many (when), he sees the crowds (why) and ascends a mountainside (where), begins to teach uninterrupted (what), finishes, and comes back down the mountain in Matthew 8:1 (Rydelnik, 2014).

The Old and New Testaments were originally recorded in the Hebrew and Greek languages, respectively. However, Jesus likely spoke Aramaic and probably understood Hebrew (he read from Isaiah’s scroll in the Synagogue) (NIV Bible, 2011) [Fee & Stuart, 2014]. However, even when Jesus’ opening words were recorded in Greek, his Jewishness was showcased in his form. The literary style of the Beatitudes was Hebrew parallelism, a distinctive feature of Hebrew poetry. The structure is a pair of lines where the second line emphasizes, contrasts, or develops the first line. In every couplet, the second line elaborates on the first and explains what blessing comes from the condition in the first (how) (Duvall & Hays, 2012). 

Jewish blessing prayers were common; many were routine and began with ‘baruk’ (Hebrew for ‘blessed’). Jesus’ recorded word uses Makarios, however. Both words mean “blessing” or “deep joy” but have distinct audiences. Baruk could bless God or people, but Makarios is only used for people. An indicator of the upside-down kingdom where the tradition uses blessings to bless God daily, but Jesus is blessing society from the bottom upward (what is being said) (Strong, 2010, g3107).

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Literary Observations

In verses 3 and 10, there is an inclusio discourse structure. Verses 3 and 10 end with “for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,” and this structure is meant to frame the parallelism of verses 3-10 and carry through the whole of the book another 31 times. In the verses themselves, the list of beatitudes is divided into two sub-lists wherein verses 3-6 speak of dependent emptiness (v3; poor, v4; mourning, v5; powerless, v6; unjustly treated) (Duvall & Hays, 2012). The second set, verses 7-10, speaks of righteous living (v7; merciful, v8; pure in heart, v9; peacemaking, v10; enduring persecution (NIV Bible, 2011).

Finally, verses 11 and 12 expand the previous couplet by listing out “insult”, “persecute”, and being slandered. In each parallel set, circumstances are paired with contrasting outcomes. Verse 12 keeps the pattern with more words. The conjunction in the middle of 12, “for,” connects the rejoicing and heavenly reward to the faithfulness of the prophets (NIV Bible, 2011, Mat 5:11-12)[Duvall & Hays, 2012]. 

Conclusion 

Thus, the vantage points are established not just for Matthew 5:2-12 but for the whole of the sermon on the mount. Jesus is addressing a vast and wide range of listeners who’ve traveled to be healed and to listen to him. He uses Hebraic poetry to proclaim blessings to the suffering, disadvantaged, earnest worshipers of Yahweh and outlines how the kingdom of heaven will be upside-down from the kingdoms of earth (NIV Bible, 2011, Mat 5:2-12).

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Note: The following document was written in 2025 as part of my coursework in a class called "Theological Foundations for Counseling" at Colorado Christian University in pursuit of a Clinical Mental Health Counseling Master's Degree (CHMC). Brevity was required. There were four parts that all exclusively focus on this small part of the Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew 5:2-12.

*So much of Bible study is geared towards left-brained use, but this step engages the right brain - and when intentionally making both specialized sides of the brain work together (neural integration), memory retention goes up and neural integration will become a pattern that is more habit, less willful exercise the next time Bible study happens.

References

Dunn, James D. G. (ed.); Rogerson, & (ed.), J. W. (2003). Eerdmans commentary on the Bible (1st ed.). Eerdmans.

Duvall, J. S., & Hays, J. D. (2012). Grasping God's word: A hands-on approach to reading, interpreting, and applying the Bible (Third ed.). Zondervan Academic.

Fee, G. D., & Stuart, D. (2014). How to read the Bible for all its worth: Fourth edition (4th ed.). Zondervan Academic.

Mangum, D. (2017). Lexham Bible dictionary. Lexham Press.

NIV Bible. (2011). Zondervan.

Reed, C. J. (2025). Theological Foundations Portfolio [Unpublished manuscript]. Colorado Christian University. https://www.creedcounseling.online/blog

Rydelnik, M. (2014). The Moody Bible commentary (New ed.). Moody Publishers.

Strong, J. (2010). The new Strong's exhaustive concordance of the Bible. Thomas Nelson.

Wilkin, J. (2019). Women of the word: How to study the Bible with both our hearts and our minds (second edition) (2nd ed.). Crossway.