Here I am going with the standard set of questions (see Five W's). However, I think there are two prerequisites that are less than obvious:
- document the Biblical Event Navigator so there is a common understanding of "event" and review the current event list to ensure that they all meet that definition and are not compound events
- review the current handling of unnamed people so that all people who have an active role in the events is uniquely identified.
The guide would contain:
- who - all the people mentioned in the event with detail of semantic role/verb (i.e. clause level)
- what - all the verbs used in the account that are not simply indicating state along with the case frame and elements filling it
- why - can be built partially from semantic role stimulus - but cause may be in a preceding pericope
- how - likely the verb associated with something in the semantic role of instrument
- where - all the places in which the event occurs; link to atlas with places in chronological order
- when - elements of time appearing between the verbs; link to timeline with estimated dates
- with what - grammar and semantics should provide appropriate options starting with the semantic role of instrument
- Information provided by retelling or referring to the event - again, a simple list of references
- Information provided by semi- or pseudo- scripture in the following divisions
- references from books included in some current canon but not in the users
- references from books that have at some time been included in a canon but are not now in any canon
- references from books that considered Gnostic material
- references from other apocryphal/pseudepigrapha material
Information that reflects the cultural milieu of the event ... usually recorded much later:
- Jewish legendary references e.g. Ginzberg, Louis, Henrietta Szold, and Paul Radin. Legends of the Jews. 2nd ed. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2003.
- Jewish Philo and Josephus references
- references from the Talmud
- references from the Quran
Visual art representations of the event(select media)
Literary art representations e.g. links to Jeffrey, David L. A Dictionary of Biblical Tradition in English Literature. Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans, 1992.
Okay, I admit that some sections still require a bit of analysis and I probably haven't utilized the discourse analysis materials to their full potential ... but I think that I have shown it to be useful and doable.
