08.2 Main Body of the Essay or Thesis

08.2.1 Quoting

i. All quotations should be accurately reproduced, including original spelling, punctuation and abbreviations. If the quotation contains a misspelling, this should be indicated by typing [sic] immediately after the error.

ii. Quotations must be enclosed within double quotation marks, with single quotation marks for quotes within quotes.

iii. Punctuation in quotations falls into three categories. (1) Full stops and commas always go inside the quotation marks; (2) colons and semicolons always go outside the quotation marks; (3) exclamation marks and question marks go inside the quotation marks only if they are part of the quote.

iv. Raised numerals referring to footnotes must not separate a word from any punctuation that follows it (e.g. quotation marks, commas, full stops). They should be placed, if at all possible, at the end of the sentence.

v. If it is desirable to omit several words from the original text, such an omission (ellipsis) is indicated by three dots, with a space before and after. The remaining words must both make sense and be true to the intent of the original.

vi. Quotations of four or more typewritten lines should be typed as a separate, indented paragraph (a “block quotation”). Quotation marks should not be used around block quotations. If a citation is included, it should be in parentheses and follow the final punctuation mark.

vii. References to biblical texts (e.g., Rom 1:16) should be placed in parentheses within the text of the essay and not relegated to a footnote.

viii. When discussing a particular term, it is best to set it in italics rather than quotation marks.

ix. When citing Hebrew or Greek do not use quotation marks. In the case of Hebrew, vowel points and Massoretic accents are optional.

08.2.2 Commas

Incorrect use—or non-use—of commas is the most common grammatical error made by students. Pay particular attention to points i. and ii. (The next most common error is the insertion of an apostrophe into the possessive word “its”, as in the incorrect example, “it’s use is significant.”) Commas should enable fluent reading. They should, for example, be used in cases of syntactical ambiguity where otherwise the reader would not construe the text correctly on a first reading. Two problematic uses should be noted:

i. When a pair of commas does the job of parentheses, be sure not to omit the second of the pair:

ii. Essential (defining) clauses should not be set off with commas. In the following example the specific book in question is being defined (Metzger wrote many others):

Nonessential clauses (clauses that may be omitted without affecting the meaning of the sentence) should be set off with commas. In the following example the book in question is already fully defined:

08.2.3 Abbreviations, Full Stops, Spaces and Capitalization

Whatever decision is taken about abbreviations, consistency should be maintained. As a general rule, the first word of a sentence should never be abbreviated.

i. Contractions should not be followed by a full stop, unless they end a sentence:

ii. Abbreviations are normally followed by a full stop (“e.g.” has two full stops):

iii. When plural abbreviations are formed by repeating a letter, the full stop appears after the final letter only. When they are formed by adding an s, a full stop is still required. For example:

iv. The full stop is omitted in abbreviations for chronological eras, divisions of the Canon, and Bible versions and editions, which are printed in all caps:

The full stop is likewise omitted in abbreviations for publishing houses and series titles (printed in capitals) as well as journal and reference book titles (italicised capitals):

For abbreviations of secondary sources (journals, periodicals, major reference works and series), see the SBL Handbook, 171–216 (alphabetized by source) and 216–60 (alphabetized by abbreviation).

v. A space is inserted between the initial letters of personal names when occurring before the surname. Likewise, a space is required between a verse, page or chapter number and the abbreviation v(v)., p(p)., or ch(s). For example:

vi. Abbreviations for biblical (and apocryphal) books should follow those used by the SBL Handbook, 124–5. Full stops are not used.

However, if the biblical book is the first word in the sentence, or cited without chapter or verse number, it should be written in full: “First Samuel 2:10 is a key messianic text”; “Paul wrote 2 Timothy near the end of his life.”

A colon separates chapter and verse; a comma and space separates verse and verse; a semicolon and space separates chapter and chapter. Thus: Deut 4:4, 15; 10:20; 11:16, 22–25; 30:20.

For extensive lists of technical abbreviations and abbreviations of Bible texts and versions, apocryphal books, Dead Sea Scrolls, works by Philo and Josephus, Mishnah, Talmud, Targumic and other Rabbinic works, Apostolic Fathers and other classical and ancient writings, see the SBL Handbook, 141–68.

vii. While capital letters should be used for proper nouns such as Bible, Christ, Christology and English, adjectives derived from such nouns only retain the capital letter when the nouns were personal or national names. Hence a Christian woman and an English pub, but a biblical principle and a christological argument.

08.2.4 Hyphens, En Dashes, Em Dashes, Numbers and Dates

i. Hyphens join words whose elements combine to give a single, compound sense, such as:

  pre-emptive strike bias-free language Judaeo-Christian ethics

ii. En dashes join words which retain their separate meanings, such as:

  Author–Date style Jewish–Christian dialogue

En dashes should also be used to indicate a range of page numbers, dates or biblical chapters and verses. Note that, for page numbers only, the second number in a range is shortened where appropriate down to two digits (but not to one digit for numbers greater than 10); but the second number of the range is not shortened if the first ends in a zero:

pp. 65–68, 100–102, 201–2, 309–56, 462–68

  AD 154–157  502–500 BC  1951–1952

  Psalms 1–2; 89 Rom 1:1–2:11 Ezek 16:1–5, 30–33

iii. Em dashes are used to mark strong disjunctions. They are not spaced:

  “Take three—and only three—samples.”