exegete

An exegete is a person who performs exegesis, the critical interpretation and explanation of a text, especially religious scriptures. In religious contexts, an exegete seeks to determine the original meaning intended by the author and to explain how that meaning was received in subsequent tradition. The term is most commonly used of scholars who study biblical texts, Jewish law, and Islamic scripture, but it can apply to the interpretation of any written work.

Exegesis involves analyzing linguistic features, historical setting, literary form, and the cultural backdrop of the text. Exegetes use methods such as philology, textual criticism, source criticism, and literary analysis to reconstruct meaning. They distinguish exegesis from eisegesis, which is reading one's own ideas into the text, and from hermeneutics, the broader theory of interpretation that encompasses philosophical and theological presuppositions.

Etymology and history: The word exegesis derives from Greek exēgēsis 'explanation, exposition' (from exēgeomai 'to lead out, explain'). In Christian, Jewish, and Muslim scholarly traditions, exegetes have produced commentaries that elaborate legal, theological, or moral implications. Notable exegetes include early church Fathers who interpreted Scripture, medieval scholars who harmonized texts with doctrine, and modern scholars who analyze sources and redaction history. In Islam, the term for exegesis is tafsir and its practitioners are mufassirun (muḥaṣṣirun).

Modern exegesis remains a central activity in religious studies and critical scholarship, balancing historical context, textual criticism, and literary analysis to understand what a text meant in its original setting and how later communities have understood it.