Once again, a post about the Pastoral Epistles. I'm sure you're used to it by now.

I posted an introduction awhile back. That intro was more for myself — it isn't anything I'd ever think about formally publishing — but I thought I'd share it anyway. It was more about thinking on paper to give myself something to be accountable to. As I've thought about it and talked with other folks, I think I've arrived at a basic methodology to use to guide my study (writing) through the Pastoral Epistles.

There are four potential angles to make comments from; the order here is significant:

• Immediate Context: Does the current author (e.g. Paul) use a similar word, phrase, or concept. This is multi-leveled; I'd guess I'd want to look to immediate context first (current book), then look to see if other Pastorals use it, then look outside yet again to other Paulines.
• Larger Context: What about other NT writers? Do they use the term or phrase? Does it jive with PE usage?
• Whole Bible: What about LXX/OT? And how does that compare with the others?
• Contemporary Writers: What about other writers, like the Apostolic Fathers, Josephus, and Philo?

I don't want to do something like this everywhere with every word or phrase; or always work through every point at every spot where I choose to embark on an extended discussion. But where the term/phrase/concept is "important", "exegetically significant", or "infrequently used" (or any combo, as deemed by me) then the above could be used to guide the discussion on the term/phrase/concept.

My primary interest is in the last bit, Contemporary Writers. Thus I'll probably use examples from there more frequently than other authors would. But that's my prerogative; I'm the author. :)

In addition to working at the word/phrase/pericope level, sometimes there are other concepts to work with, like:

• Chronology/Biography: An example is 1Ti 1.3. Where would Paul have been leaving from as he proceeded to Macedonia?
• Cultural References: Are cultural references are appropriate? (e.g. emperor worship?) This will not be used frequently.

Later on, I may get into other things, but this is a long ways off, if at all. I don't view it as essential, but I do view it as interesting. I have a lot of work to do to get to this point.

• Textual Variants: During a second or third pass, I'd like to provide some information on interesting variants; typically stuff in Metzger's Textual Commentary or perhaps Westcott & Hort's Intro volume. Some of this will be done in the first pass; but it won't be comprehensive or systematic in any way.
• Early Versions: This is a bit of a pipe dream, but at some point I think it would be fun to look at the early versions (Syriac, Coptic, and perhaps others if suitable helper resources can be located) and see how significant the variants are.

So, whaddya think? Have I bitten off too much? Will I ever be able to pull it off?