The Compositional Approach of John Sailhamer
This book . . . follows an approach that looks for the biblical author's "intention" in the "verbal meaning" of his book.—John Sailhamer, The Meaning of the Pentateuch: Revelation, Composition and Interpretation (Downers Grove: IVP, 2009), 11.
It seeks the meaning of his words, phrases and sentences. How do the individual pieces fit together within the whole?
Central to the aim of this book is the discovery of the compositional strategy of the biblical author.
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But let's be honest, Ched. Much more impressive is Sailhamer's use of "shout out" (pp. 12-13) :)
Much more impressive is Sailhamer's use of "shout out"
Agreed. Great phraseology. It drips with hip.
Dude. You've got a seriously awesome blog. I'm glad to get to know more about you here since my interests pretty much dominated our conversation the other day, but you really ministered to me and I deeply appreciate that.
The succession of posts below this one made me laugh out loud... and then I was so sorry to hear about your dad. He must have been a good one. I'm all the more impressed.
One question about Sailhamer: in looking for "meaning" in "words, phrases and sentences"... approx. what percent of that investigation focused on event-based meaning versus things like intrinsic metaphors, overarching themes or propositional truths?
Really fantastic to have another DFW blogger, btw. Am I right you're also the first from SWBTS? Or who have I missed?
Bill,
Thanks for the hyperbole about the blog! And also for your condolences.
Regarding Sailhamer, he's mostly interested in the textual meaning of the author. So, he acknowledges that the history that occurs in the text is important, but he is mostly interested in discerning/studying the presentation and interpretation of those events by the author.
He develops the distinction I mentioned in our conversation regarding the use of history in apologetics and interpretation.
If you're interested in his reasoning, you might check out chapter three of his book Introduction to Old Testament Theology, pp. 36-85. The chapter is titled "Text or Event," and he presents his argument for focusing on "text." He represents the opposite approach from yours, but his chapter would give you a good explanation of where and why his approach is different.
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