Bible Interpretation (Taught)

The information provided on this page was correct at the time of publication (November 2025). For complete and up-to-date information about this course, please visit the relevant University of Oxford course page via www.graduate.ox.ac.uk/ucas.

The MSt in Bible Interpretation is a taught course offering training in reading a range of primary exegetical texts in Classical Hebrew, Aramaic and Syriac and the opportunity to develop research methodologies through the writing of a dissertation.

Course structure
Teaching for the compulsory core course is covered by a combination of lectures, seminars and tutorials covering the principal sources for exegesis of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament.

Set texts in the first Semitic language (or in Latin and/or Greek if chosen) will be studied in classes in all three terms.

If required, intensive elementary language teaching in a second Semitic language followed by textual study is available in the first term, comprising two to three hours per week. Since elementary language teaching will start with the basics of the grammar, classes may be shared with undergraduate or graduate beginners in other appropriate courses (Classical Hebrew, Syriac, and Aramaic). You will be expected to attend such classes regularly, and to complete any homework set in good time. It is also essential to spend time consolidating your knowledge of the grammar and vocabulary of the languages you are studying during the university vacations at Christmas and Easter.

Most teaching for this master’s course will take place in small classes or tutorials, supplemented by recommended lectures, classes and seminars. You will be expected to prepare the set texts in advance of each class, in order to derive the maximum benefit from the intense form of study. Numbers of students on the course are very small (one or two per year) and so teaching is tailored according to the needs and interests of individual students. Classes are sometimes shared with those on other similar courses.

You will also be expected to attend seminars in relevant areas: there are regular seminar series in Jewish Studies in the Greco-Roman Period, Patristics, Late Antique and Byzantine Studies, Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, and New Testament, as well as special lectures given by visiting scholars. An average attendance of two seminars per week in Michaelmas and Hilary terms is advisable, in line with your subject choices and interests.

You may come to Oxford with precise ideas about the subject of your dissertation, or you may have a broader interest in a particular topic that needs to be developed. Either way, you will be able to discuss dissertation ideas with your supervisor or lecturers towards the end of the first term, spend time thinking and reading over the Christmas vacation, and submit your title at the very beginning of the second term (Hilary). You will be required to begin work on your dissertation early in the academic year.