Exegesis facts for kids

For other uses, see Exegesis (disambiguation).

A Bible open to the Book of Isaiah

Exegesis (say "EK-sih-JEE-sis") is a fancy word for carefully explaining or understanding a text. Think of it like being a detective for words! People traditionally use this word when talking about understanding the Bible.

But today, exegesis can be used for almost any text. This includes not just religious books, but also philosophy, literature, or any other kind of writing. When we talk about Biblical exegesis, we mean specifically studying the Bible to understand it better.

While Textual criticism looks at how a text was written over time, exegesis also studies the history and culture of the author, the text itself, and the people who first read it. It also looks at the type of story or writing style (like literary genre) and how the words and sentences are put together (the grammar and syntax).

What is an Exegete?
Ancient Commentaries
- Mesopotamian Texts
- Commentaries on Plato
Biblical Commentaries
Christian Exegesis
- Catholic Centers
- Protestant Centers
Indian Philosophy
Islamic Exegesis
Jewish Exegesis
- Midrash
- Mikra
Zoroastrian Exegesis
Exegesis in Modern Times
See also

What is an Exegete?

Someone who practices exegesis is called an exegete (say "EK-sih-jeet"). The plural of exegesis is exegeses (say "EK-sih-JEE-seez"). You might hear terms like "exegetical commentaries," which are books that explain texts.

In biblical exegesis, there's an opposite idea called eisegesis. Exegesis is about "drawing out" the meaning from the text itself. Eisegesis is when someone "draws in" their own ideas or opinions into the text, even if the text doesn't really support them. Eisegesis is often seen as a bad way to interpret a text.

Ancient Commentaries

Mesopotamian Texts

One of the earliest examples of exegesis comes from Mesopotamia (which is modern-day Iraq). This was in the first thousand years before Christ (BCE). There are over 860 ancient writings from this time that explain different texts. Most of these are from 700 to 100 BCE.

These writings explain many types of texts. They include famous stories like the Babylonian Epic of Creation. They also cover medical books, magic spells, old dictionaries, and law books like the Code of Hammurabi. However, most of them explain texts that predict the future. These predictions came from looking at stars and planets (Enūma Anu Enlil) or from examining the liver of a sacrificed sheep (Bārûtu).

Most ancient texts from the ancient Near East were written on clay tablets using cuneiform script. Mesopotamian commentaries were written in the Akkadian language. But because of the influence of Sumerian language lists, they often have Sumerian words too.

These cuneiform commentaries are very important. They give us information about Mesopotamian languages and culture that we can't find anywhere else. For example, the correct way to say the name of Gilgamesh, the hero of the Epic of Gilgamesh, was found in a cuneiform commentary on a medical text. These commentaries also show us what the smart people of Mesopotamia thought about their most important texts. They are some of the first examples of text interpretation ever! Some people believe they even influenced how Jewish scholars later interpreted their texts.

Scholars started studying these texts in the mid-1800s. This happened after royal Assyrian libraries were discovered in Nineveh. About 454 text commentaries were found there. Studying cuneiform commentaries is still an ongoing project for experts in Assyriology.

Commentaries on Plato

Many writings have been created over time to explain the works of the famous Greek philosopher, Plato. This was especially true in ancient and medieval times. Many philosophers who followed Plato tried to make his ideas clearer. During the Roman era, a group called the Neoplatonists wrote many commentaries on Plato's individual dialogues. Many of these writings still exist today.

Biblical Commentaries

A common way to publish biblical exegesis is through Bible commentaries. These are usually sets of books. Each book focuses on explaining one or two books of the Bible. Longer books, like Genesis or Psalms, might be split into two or three volumes. Shorter books, like some parts of Daniel or the Pastoral epistles, are often put together in one volume.

Each book in a commentary usually has an introduction and background section. After that, it gives a detailed explanation of the Bible text, either section by section or verse by verse. Before the 1900s, one person would write an entire commentary. But now, publishers often hire a team of scholars. Each scholar writes a different volume.

A single commentary usually tries to give a consistent view of the Bible. For example, it might be from a Catholic or Reformed (Calvinist) point of view. Or it might focus on textual criticism or historical criticism from a non-religious perspective. However, each author's personal ideas might still show through. So, there can be differences in how deep, accurate, or strong each volume is.

Christian Exegesis

In Christianity, biblical exegesis uses different ways of understanding the Bible.

One idea is the four senses of Scripture. This concept helps explain the Bible in different ways. In the 200s AD, a theologian named Origen suggested three senses: literal (what the words actually say), moral (what it teaches us about how to live), and spiritual (deeper meanings about faith). This was based on Jewish ways of interpreting texts.

The historical-grammatical method is a Christian way to interpret the Bible. It tries to find the original meaning that the Bible's author intended. Many conservative Protestant scholars use this method. They often don't fully accept the historical-critical method. The Catholic Church has accepted some parts of historical criticism since Pope Pius XII.

Historical criticism, also called the historical-critical method, looks at the origins of ancient texts. It tries to understand "the world behind the text." This helps discover the text's first or original meaning in its historical setting and its literal sense.

Another idea is revealed exegesis. This view believes that the Holy Spirit guided the authors of the Bible. So, the words in the Bible carry a divine revelation (a message from God). In this view, the Bible has a "fuller meaning" than its human authors might have known or planned.

Rational exegesis, on the other hand, believes that authors have their own inspiration, like artists. So, their works are completely a product of their social environment and human intelligence.

Catholic Centers

Catholic centers for biblical exegesis include:

The École Biblique in Jerusalem. It was started in 1890 by Marie-Joseph Lagrange from the Dominican order.
The Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome. This is part of the Jesuit Gregorian University. It has influenced Catholic exegesis through teaching and the Pontifical Biblical Commission.

Protestant Centers

For over a hundred years, German universities like Tübingen have been known for exegesis. In the US, the Divinity Schools at Chicago, Harvard, and Yale also became famous.

Robert A. Traina's book Methodical Bible Study is a good example of Protestant Christian exegesis.

Indian Philosophy

The Mimamsa school of Indian philosophy focuses strongly on explaining texts. Because of this, it helped develop the study of philology (the study of language in historical texts) and the philosophy of language. Their idea of "shabda" (speech) as a single unit of sound and meaning came from Bhartrhari in the 600s.

Islamic Exegesis

Tafsir (say "taf-SEER") is the Arabic word for exegesis or commentary, usually about the Qur'an. Someone who writes tafsir is called a mufassir.

Tafsir does not include hidden or mystical interpretations. Those are covered by a related word, Ta'wil. Some Islamic scholars believe that the Qur'an has an inner meaning, and that this inner meaning hides an even deeper one. Followers of Sufism and Ilm al-Kalam were pioneers of this idea.

Jewish Exegesis

Traditional Jewish ways of exegesis appear throughout rabbinic literature. This includes the Mishnah, the two Talmuds, and the midrash literature. Jewish exegetes are called mefarshim (meaning "commentators").

Midrash

The Midrash is a way of explaining the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) through sermons and commentaries. It's a biblical exegesis of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible) and its parts related to the Law or Torah. It includes:

The legal and ritual Halakha, which is the collection of Jewish laws.
The non-legalistic Aggadah, which is a collection of Rabbinic sermons on parts of the Pentateuch not connected with law.

Biblical interpretation by the Tannaim and the Amoraim (ancient Jewish scholars) was a natural process. They had a lot of freedom in how they handled the words of the Hebrew Bible.

Halakha and Aggadah

In both the halakhic and haggadic exegesis, the person explaining the text wasn't just trying to find the original meaning. They also wanted to find support in a Hebrew Bible passage for ideas, rules, and teachings they wanted to establish. The talmudical hermeneutics form called asmachta means finding hints for a specific law.

Midrashic Interpretation

Midrash exegesis was mostly like giving sermons. It explained the Bible not to find its exact meaning or understand old documents. Instead, it aimed to find religious lessons, moral guidance, and support for current thoughts and feelings. The difference between explaining the literal meaning and the Midrash (which didn't always stick to the exact words) was known by the Tannaim and Amoraim. However, their idea of a literal meaning might be different from what we consider literal today. For example, the tanna Ishmael b. Elisha once told another scholar, "Truly, you tell Scripture, 'Be silent while I am explaining!'" because he felt the other scholar was ignoring the plain meaning.

Tannaim and Peshat

Tannaitic exegesis mainly separates two things: actually proving a point from a passage, and just using a passage as a memory aid. This difference was also made later in the Babylonian schools. The Babylonian Amoraim were the first to use the word "Peshaṭ" (meaning "simple" or "face value method"). They used it to describe the primary meaning, contrasting it with "Drash," which was the Midrashic exegesis. These two terms later became very important in the history of Hebrew Bible exegesis. In Babylonia, an important rule was made: Midrashic exegesis could not cancel out the primary meaning. This rule later became a key idea for common-sense Bible interpretation.

However, this rule wasn't always well-known or followed. Kahana, a Babylonian Amora from the 300s, admitted that even though he knew the whole Mishnah by age 18, he only heard about this principle many years later. This shows that for centuries after the Talmud was finished, the primary meaning was often overlooked. It became more common to interpret the text based on what traditional writings said. The desire to investigate the text originally was lost to the strong authority of the Midrash.

Luckily, at the same time the Midrash was so powerful, the Masorites worked hard to study the Hebrew Bible text. They focused on preserving and passing on the correct pronunciation and reading of the text. In the 600s, they added punctuation (like vowel-points and accents) to the biblical text. This protected the tradition from being forgotten and paved the way for an independent Bible study later on.

Mikra

The Mikra, which is the basic part of Jewish learning, was the main subject of early education. It was divided into the three historical groups of the Hebrew Bible: the Pentateuch, the Prophets, and the Hagiographa. In Hebrew, these are called the Torah (the Law or Teaching), the Nevi'im (the Prophets), and the Kethuvim (the Writings). Learning to read and understand the text correctly, by dividing sentences and words properly, was the main goal of Hebrew Bible instruction. Scribes also had to know the Targum, which was the Aramaic translation of the text. The Targum helped people understand the text right away, but it was always influenced by the exegesis taught in the schools.

Synagogues were very important places for learning the Hebrew Bible and its exegesis. Reading the biblical text, along with the Targum, helped scholars learn more about the first part of Jewish knowledge. Scribes found material for their talks, which were part of the synagogue service, in the second part of their traditions. The Haggadah, the third part, was the source for sermons.

Jewish exegesis didn't stop when the Talmud was completed. It continued through ancient times, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance. It is still studied today. Jewish communities around the world have centers for exegetic studies. They see exegesis as a crucial tool for understanding scripture. This method of studying rabbinic texts uses many different literary tools and carefully engages with classical exegetical writings.

Zoroastrian Exegesis

Zoroastrian exegesis mainly involves interpreting the Avesta, their holy book. However, the closest Iranian idea, zand, usually includes Pahlavi texts. These texts were believed to come from commentaries on Avestan scripture, but their current form doesn't contain Avestan passages. Zoroastrian exegesis is different from similar practices in many other religions. This is because it developed as part of a religious tradition that didn't use writing much until the Sasanian era (a long time after it started). This long period of oral tradition (passing down stories by speaking) helped shape the Middle Persian Zand and limited its scope.

Even though later traditions distinguish between "Gathic" (gāhānīg), "legal" (dādīg), and "ritual" (hādag-mānsrīg) Avestan texts, the Pahlavi commentaries on the Gathas (hymns) and on dādīg texts (like the Vendīdād) seem to use similar approaches. Many works by Zoroastrians in the 1800s and 1900s include some exegesis. However, there isn't really a specific type of literature called "exegetical literature" in Zoroastrianism. So, modern Zoroastrian exegesis is discussed as a general practice rather than focusing on individual texts.

Exegesis in Modern Times

Several universities, like the Sorbonne in Paris, Leiden University, and the Université Libre de Bruxelles (Free University of Brussels), teach exegesis in a non-religious way. This is part of the study of religion.

In Australian and British universities, exegesis is also part of the work required for fine arts doctorates, including creative writing. A scholarly text goes along with a creative work, like a film, novel, poetry, or other art created by the student. Together, these two parts form the student's research project.