exegézis

Exegézis is the critical interpretation and explanation of a text, especially religious scripture, with the aim of uncovering its original meaning in its historical and literary context. The term derives from the Greek exēgēsis, meaning explanation or exposition. In scholarly usage, exegesis seeks to derive meaning from the text itself rather than imposing present concerns onto it.

Exegesis is distinct from eisegesis, a term used for reading personal or modern ideas into a text. While hermeneutics refers to the broader theory of interpretation, exegesis is the practice of applying that theory to a specific text. The field encompasses disciplines such as philology, textual criticism, and literary analysis, and it is applicable to religious writings as well as secular literature.

Across traditions, exegesis employs a range of methods. Historical-critical approaches seek the original context, authorship, and intended audience; textual criticism aims to establish the most accurate version of a text; form, source, and redaction criticism examine how a text developed and how its form and sources shape meaning. Rhetorical, literary, and canonical analyses consider style, structure, and how reception over time influences interpretation.

Historically, exegesis has been central to Jewish and Christian scholarship, with developments from ancient Alexandria through the medieval fourfold sense (literal, allegorical, moral, anagogical) to modern historical and literary methods. In contemporary usage, exegesis aims to recover the text’s original meaning and assess its implications for present understanding, while remaining aware of interpretive boundaries and contextual limits.