eksegetiikka

Eksegetiikka, or exegesis, is the scholarly discipline focused on interpreting a text, particularly sacred scriptures, to determine its original meaning in its historical, linguistic, and literary context. The term comes from the Greek exēgēsis, meaning explanation or interpretation.

Scope and aims: The core task is to reconstruct the author's intended message and the text's situation within its original audience and setting, as well as its genre, syntax, and rhetoric. Exegetical work also considers how later readers have understood the text and what implications it holds for faith and doctrine.

Methods: Exegetics employ textual criticism to establish the most reliable wording; philology and linguistics to clarify meaning of words; and historical-critical methods to situate the text in its historical milieu. Other approaches include form criticism, source criticism, redaction criticism, and literary criticism, as well as canonical or theological considerations.

Relation to hermeneutics: Hermeneutics is the broader theory of interpretation, while eksegetiikka is the application of interpretive methods to a specific text.

History: Exegesis has roots in ancient Jewish and Christian interpretive traditions. In the medieval and early modern periods, exegetical methods varied from literal to allegorical readings. In modern scholarship, historical-critical and literary approaches have become central, though many traditions combine exegesis with theological and pastoral aims.

Application: Exegetical work informs preaching, theology, biblical scholarship, and interreligious dialogue, often producing commentaries, monographs, and articles.