Read the text
Psalm 1
Read the primary passage aloud twice. On the first reading, listen for the burden of the text. On the second, mark repeated words, contrasts, commands, promises, causes, and conclusions.
- Proverbs 26:4–5
- Isaiah 6:1–8
- Micah 5:2–5
Week 05 · Hermeneutics & Exegesis
Poetry, Wisdom & Prophecy
Read imagery as imagery without emptying it of truth.
Language desk
Words that clarify—not words that perform.
Confirm each gloss by its use in this context. A lexicon offers possibilities; the sentence, paragraph, author, and canon determine what a word is doing here.
Form the doctrine
The theological claim
Genre shapes how a text communicates truth, not whether it communicates truth.
Defense drill
Say it under pressure.
Answer the charge that poetic language makes doctrine merely symbolic.
- State the opposing claim in a form its adherent could recognize.
- Open the controlling passage and establish the immediate context.
- Make one clear argument before adding supporting texts.
- Ask a diagnostic question, listen to the answer, and return to Christ and the gospel.
Wednesday assignment
Carry the truth into the week.
Identify parallelism, metaphor, contrast, and outcome in Psalm 1.