Commentary

One interesting thing I’ve noticed over the past year or so is that I would much rather write commentary than read it.  If I know a passage really, really well (like, I’ve memorized it), then I can follow along a commentary quite happily.  Otherwise, I find I’m bored because I can’t follow the arguments of the commentator very well, since I’m not familiar enough with the source text.  However, I love doing a close reading of a passage and commenting on different features, or working carefully through a difficult Greek passage.  It’s fun to see how different things cohere, or how different authors use different features to communicate their message.  And it’s fun to work through the language into the core of what the author is saying (at least as best as one can). And naturally, it’s fun writing about all of these things!