Exegesis is what? Biblical Exegesis

Exegesis is a special branch of theology. It reads biblical or any other sacred texts. By and large, this is the doctrine of the interpretation of texts, most often ancient, which formed the basis of a particular religion. The peculiarity of these texts is that their original meaning, as a rule, is not obvious due to the large number of years that have passed since their writing, and incomplete preservation.

Definition of term

Exegetics is a science that takes the grammatical study of the text. The historical realities, in which the text was created, are also studied without fail. Often this helps to establish the true meaning of the written. Psychological researches are also conducted.

Exegetics has revealed to us another, more popular science - hermeneutics. Often these terms are mistakenly used as synonyms, but this is not so. Hermeneutics, unlike exegesis, deals with the interpretation of all types of communication - both written, verbal, and non-verbal. Exegesis works exclusively with the text.

Exegesis in Christianity

Biblical exegesis is very common. Many Christians interpret the Bible differently. Hence the division into Orthodox and Catholics, as well as the emergence of other branches from the main church - reformism, Anglicanism. But nevertheless, basically all the interpretations of the Holy Scripture come down to only two concepts.

According to the first, the Bible itself is the revelation of God. The one who wrote it, was inspired from above. As a consequence, exegetics must find in each text a double meaning, a deeper and not always pronounced.

There is another point of view. The so-called rational exegesis is a teaching that proceeds from a conclusion that the authors of the Bible were ordinary people. So the meaning of what is written in it must be sought among the realities of the era when the text was created. And also from the features of the properties and individualities of the characters of the people who created these texts.

Comments on the Holy Scriptures

The most common form of exegesis for Christianity is the commentary on the Bible. As a rule, they are a multi-volume work, which more closely resembles an encyclopedia, than an explanation to the main book of one of the world religions.

Each of the volumes of such comments is dedicated to one or more biblical books. Until the 20th century, one author created and interpreted the commentary, he scrupulously and in detail described his ideas about the sacred texts. Nowadays, such a comment is created by a group of authors, each of which has to analyze one of the books.

Comments differ from each other in ways of interpreting individual biblical books. Usually it depends on the confession that the author adheres to. They are also distinguished by the accuracy, depth, strength of critical and theological thought.

In Catholicism, even there are special centers in which the exegesis of Scripture is the main thing that their members are engaged in. In the Protestant tradition, the interpretation of the Bible is taught in universities. Most scientists in this field work in the US and Germany.

Exegetical work

Among the Orthodox the work is considered to be the main one, the author of which is Andrey Desnitsky - "Introduction to biblical exegesis".

In this work he tries to bring to a common denominator different ideas about the sacred texts that exist in all sorts of spiritual schools and seminaries, Bible circles. The idea to write such a work was born when Desnitsky was busy translating the Bible into other languages. Then he noticed that many people perceive this book in completely different ways.

All the Orthodox educational institutions study the text of the Bible in detail, but they do not teach anywhere how to interpret it.

Originally it was supposed to be a practical guide for translators of the Bible, but Desnitsky realized in time that there are very few such specialists, so writing a book aimed at a very small circle of readers is inexpedient.

Therefore, a benefit has been received for all who wish to know the true meaning of biblical texts as accurately as possible. After all, in a broad sense, everyone who reads religious texts translates, trying to explain to themselves what was invested in certain words.

Great popularity is also enjoyed by the Exegesis of the New Testament. Its author is Gordon Phi. With its help, students of religious schools and pastors can better understand the meaning of sermons. Get practical advice and guidance.

Exegetics of the Old Testament attracted more ancient authors and thinkers. Works on this topic can be found in John Chrysostom, the blessed Augustine, Philo of Alexandria.

Exegesis in Judaism

Extremely widespread exegetics in Judaism. There even exists an own term for this science - meforeshim. Interpretations of sacred texts are devoted to several literary works.

For example, the Mishnah. This is the earliest text in Judaism, which includes the basic religious provisions of the orthodox direction of this faith. The Mishnah includes the Oral Law, which, according to legend, was transmitted by Moses on Mount Sinai. With the passage of time, serious fears arose that the oral doctrine will be forgotten and lost from the memory of the people, so it was decided to write it down.

There are numerous comments on the Mishnah, which form the basis of Jewish exegesis. The most popular are written by the traveler and rabbi Rabbi Ovadius, who lived in the 15th century. It is also called Bartonura or Bertinura. In his writings he described all the treatises included in the Mishnah, trying to give a detailed and exhaustive interpretation of each of them.

Talmud

Perhaps the most popular book on Judaism is the Talmud. It consists of dozens of volumes, which describe in detail the legal and religious-ethical provisions of Judaism.

Scientists who work on commentaries on the Talmud are still active and prolific. The text is constantly adapted in accordance with the surrounding era in which the author lives. So exegesis is a science that can change its basic positions from time to time, if commentators of later ages discover new information about time and mores, at the time when the creators of sacred texts lived.

Also, new versions of manuscripts are regularly published, which were the basis of the first volumes of the Talmud. Perhaps the most significant comments on the Talmud were written by Rabbi Eliyahu.

New comments on the Talmud appear every year. And in different languages. One of the most ambitious works in the XX century was done by the famous Israeli researcher Adin Steinsaltz. He has a titanic work on translating and maintaining corresponding comments to the Talmud not only in Hebrew, but also on the most popular world languages - English, Russian, French and others. His main goal was to make Judaism understandable and accessible to the general public.

The Talmud published by him explains the meaning of many obsolete words and concepts. At the same time, from the side of orthodox authorities, his publications were repeatedly criticized for being overly free, according to some, interpretation and translation.

Midrash

The Midrash is another very popular section of the Oral Torah, which embodies the tradition in exegesis. It includes the analysis and interpretation of the main provisions of the Jewish teachings, which are contained not only in the Oral, but also in the Written Torah.

The researchers note that the authors of the Midrash paid special attention to the stylistic and semantic features of the text. Everything unusual that they met was perceived by them, as a hint at its sacred meaning. They try to isolate it, interpreting the text in all possible ways.

From here even a special verb appeared, which is extremely common in Judaism - "darash". It means the search for a special sacral meaning in the sacred text, the desire to master the knowledge that the authors of the text have invested many centuries ago.

Exegesis in Hinduism

Exegetics are also widespread in Hinduism. For the interpretation of Hindu sacred texts there is even a special philosophical school - mimansa. Exegesis in philosophy is an opportunity for Hindus to study their sacred texts. It was mimansa that served as a serious impetus for the development of philosophy and philology in ancient India.

A great role in this belongs to the Sanskrit author Bhartrihari, who lived around the 5th century AD. His teaching is based on the idea that the sound and meaning that it bears are inextricably linked.

His main works are a work on Sanskrit grammar and linguistic philosophy, as well as a collection of Sanskrit poetry. They became the main for the development of scientific works in this part of Asia.

Exegetics in Islam

Exegetics are also widespread in Islam. The most famous and complete comments on the Quran are combined in collections called tafsir. Their authors, who are engaged in commenting and interpreting the book sacred to Muslims, are called mufassirs.

In tafsir you will not find mystical or esoteric interpretations of Muslim texts. The authors seek to give a deeper and fuller understanding of the Qur'an. Thus, the hadeeth of the prophet Muhammad (that is, the traditions of his speeches and actions that Muslims are guided today in daily life) claim that the Quran has much more meanings hidden than it seems at first glance. And the levels of understanding of the holy book are seven.

In the modern world there are Islamic sects that strictly prohibit esoteric interpretations of the Koran, trying not to reveal the double meanings of texts.

Principles of Exegesis

Exegetics is based on several fundamental principles.

It is the belief that the creation of the sacred text of the author was inspired by God himself, the idea of religious literature as an integral part of the sacred sacred tradition, the unity of the knowledge of the sacred book and the acquisition of spiritual experience.