An overall interpretation of your passage answers the question, "What is the significance of this passage?" 

Your research has given you the information you need to form this interpretation and to support it with details regarding its historical, cultural, and literary context and your verse-by-verse exegesis. Your interpretation is not merely a summary or report of the information you found; rather it is higher-level argument of what the passage means in light of what you found. Your analysis should also take into consideration alternate interpretations of the passage and explain the differences. 

A good research process is critical to your overall interpretation.  You cannot successfully complete your commentary without the necessary background, context, and verse-by-verse interpretation of your passage.  

Hover over the title (not cover art) for book description.

The books suggested in this guide are just a starting point for your research and may not be helpful for your particular Psalm.  To find books and articles on your passage, search TOPCAT, the library catalog. Use words (known as "keywords") that represent your topic, as described in the left box, "The all-important keywords."  

Unlike Google, most library resources are subscription products which are not available to the general public.  These resources are sometimes referred to as the "hidden web," because the information is only accessible to those with the proper credentials. These  tools are also designed to facilitate research, by allowing you to limit your results by time period, type of source and subject-matter.  

Library databases contain articles from scholarly journals on every part of your exegesis research, including the historical, cultural and literary context, as well as interpretation and application. Listed below are several databases we recommend for this purpose.