I took my second comp today, the one in Hebrew Bible. (That means my school was open on this snowy day.) I'm not sure what to say about it. A lot of what I studied was not on it. There were some things that I wish I had studied more---which I'll have an opportunity to do if I have to take a part of the test over again, or just for fun. (Blogging through Van Seters and other scholarly books actually can be fun.) But I tried to present what I did know, but I won't be surprised if my professor will be scratching his head as he reads my essay, wondering what point I was trying to make. The translation part wasn't that bad. I had to translate Psalm 50, which is one of the more provocative Psalms---the one where God says he doesn't eat animal sacrifices. I got to bring in some of my scholarly reading on Psalms from my weekly quiet time, which was good.
The translation took some time, and the writing of the essays was like composing a five-hour blog post. At least it was with the way I was writing them! I was happy to be out of there! Whereas, last week, the eight hours went by fast, this week, they went by slowly, and I felt as if I had to spend all the time I could to do the question justice, or to hit points where I was inadequate, or just to arrive at something cogent to SAY!
I think my essay would have been better had I memorized the entire Hebrew Bible, or if reading Hebrew was as easy for me as reading English. But I made due with what knowledge I had while taking the test.
What I learned today is that taking this particular comp is not impossible. Challenging, but not impossible. I'll know that if I have to take it over again, or at least parts of it.
My next comp is the Greco-Roman one, and it worries me.
But I'll keep you all posted!