The Exegetical Summary Series from SIL International summarizes scholarly interpretation of the Greek or Hebrew biblical texts, helping the spectrum of students and translators with a range of exegetical skills to produce a meaningful translation of the original Biblical text.

Each volume in the Exegetical Summaries series works through the original text phrase by phrase. English equivalents are provided for all Hebrew and Greek words, making this an excellent reference for exegetes of all levels.

Questions that occur to exegetes as they study the text are stated and then answered by summarizing the ways many scholars have interpreted the text. This information should help translators or students in making their own exegetical decisions.

As a basis for discussion, a semi-literal translation of the text is given. The first question to be answered is the meaning of key words in context. Information from standard lexicons is given and then translations of the word are cited from a dozen major Bible versions and from commentaries that offer their own translations of the text.

Questions about the grammar and discourse structure of the original languages are answered by summarizing the views of many commentators. When exegetical disagreements appear in the commentaries and versions, the various interpretations are listed.

Jim Pohlig is a linguist and a translation consultant for SIL International. He is the author of two volumes on Joel and Malachi in this series and many other articles. He also writes translation helps.