Exegetics is a special section of theology. It interprets biblical or any other sacred texts. By and large, this is the doctrine of the interpretation of texts, most often ancient, that formed the basis of a particular religion. The peculiarity of these texts is that their initial 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 the term
Exegetics is a science that takes up the grammar of a text. Without fail, the historical realities in which the text was created are also studied. Often this helps establish the true meaning of what is written. Psychological research is also underway.
Exegetics has revealed to us another, more popular science - hermeneutics. Often these terms are mistakenly used as synonyms, but this is not so. Hermeneutics, in contrast to exegetics, is engaged in the interpretation of all types of communication - both written, and verbal, and non-verbal. Exegetics works exclusively with text.
Exegetics in Christianity
Biblical exegetics 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 still, basically all interpretations of 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 result, exegetics must look for a double meaning in each text, deeper and not always pronounced.
There is another point of view. The so-called rational exegetics is a teaching that proceeds from the 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 personality of the characters of the people who created these texts.
Scripture Comments
The most common form of exegetics for Christianity is commentary on the Bible. As a rule, they are a multi-volume work, which is more reminiscent of an encyclopedia than explanations to the main book of one of the world religions.
Each of the volumes of such commentaries is dedicated to one or more Bible books. Until the 20th century, comments were created and comprehended by one author; he meticulously and in detail described his ideas about sacred texts. These days, such comments are created by a group of authors, each of whom will have to analyze one of the books.
Comments differ from one another in the way they interpret individual biblical books. Usually it depends on the denomination that the author adheres to. They are also distinguished by accuracy, depth, power of critical and theological thought.
In Catholicism, there are even special centers in which the exegetics of Scripture is the main thing that their members do. In the Protestant tradition, the interpretation of the Bible is done at universities. Most scientists in this field work in the USA and Germany.
Work on exegetics
Among the Orthodox, the main work is considered to be by Andrei Desnitsky, "Introduction to Biblical Exegetics."
In this work, he tries to bring to a common denominator various ideas about the sacred texts that exist in all kinds of spiritual schools and seminaries, bible circles. The idea to write such a work was born when Desnitsky was engaged in translating the Bible into other languages. Then he noticed that many perceive this book in completely different ways.
All Orthodox educational institutions study the text of the Bible in detail, but they do not teach anywhere how to interpret it.
Initially, this was supposed to be a practical guide for Bible translators, but Desnitsky realized in time that there were very few such specialists, so writing a book aimed at a very small circle of readers was not practical.
Therefore, a manual was obtained for everyone who wants to know the true meaning of biblical texts as accurately as possible. Indeed, in a broad sense, everyone who reads religious texts is engaged in translation, trying to explain to themselves what was invested in certain words.
The Exegetics of the New Testament is also very popular. Its author is Gordon Fi. With its help, students of religious schools and pastors can better understand the meaning of the sermons. Get practical advice and guidance.
The exegetics of the Old Testament attracted more ancient authors and thinkers. Works on this subject can be found in John Chrysostom, Blessed Augustine, Philo of Alexandria.
Exegetics in Judaism
Exegetics in Judaism is extremely widespread. There even exists its own term for designating this science - mephorsim. The interpretation of the sacred texts is devoted to several literary works.
For example, the Mishnah. This is the earliest text in Judaism, which includes the main religious provisions of the orthodox direction of this faith. Mishnu includes the Oral Law, which, according to tradition, was transmitted by Moses on Mount Sinai. Over time, serious concerns arose that oral teaching would be forgotten and lost from the memory of the people, so it was decided to record it.
There are numerous comments on the Mishnah, which form the basis of Jewish exegetics. The most popular were written by traveler and rabbi Rabbi Ovadia, who lived in the 15th century. It is also called Bartonur or Bertinur. In his writings, he described all the treatises included in the Mishnah, trying to give a detailed and comprehensive 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.
The scholars who are working 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 exegetics is a science that can change its main points from time to time if commentators of later centuries discover new information about time and mores, the time when the creators of the sacred texts lived.
New editions of the manuscripts that underlie the first volumes of the Talmud are also regularly published. Perhaps the most significant commentary on the Talmud was written by Rabbi Eliyahu.
New commentaries on the Talmud appear annually. And in different languages. One of the largest works in the 20th century was done by the famous Israeli researcher Adin Steinsalz. He owns the titanic work of translating and accompanying the relevant comments on the Talmud, not only in Hebrew, but also in the most popular world languages - English, Russian, French and others. Its 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. Moreover, on the part of orthodox authorities, his publications were repeatedly criticized for being overly free, in the opinion of some, of interpretation and translation.
Midrash
Midrash is another very popular section of the Oral Torah, which embodies the tradition in exegetics. It includes an analysis and interpretation of the main provisions of the Jewish teachings, which are contained not only in the Oral, but also in the Written Torus.
Researchers note that the authors of Midrash paid particular attention to the stylistic and semantic features of the text. Everything unusual that they met was perceived by them as a hint of its sacred meaning. They are trying to isolate it, in every possible way interpreting the text.
From here even a special verb appeared, which is extremely widespread in Judaism - “darash”. It means the search for a special sacred meaning in the sacred text, the desire to master the knowledge that its authors put into the text many centuries ago.
Exegetics in Hinduism
Exegetics is also widespread in Hinduism. For the interpretation of Hindu sacred texts, there is even a special philosophical school - mimansa. Exegetics in philosophy is an opportunity for Hindus to study their sacred texts. That mimance served as a serious impetus for the development of philosophy and philology in ancient India.
A large 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 carries 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 basis for the development of scientific works in this part of Asia.
Exegetics in Islam
Exegetics is also widespread in Islam. The most famous and complete commentaries on the Qur'an are combined in collections called tafsir. Their authors, who are engaged in commenting and interpreting the holy book for Muslims, are called mufassirs.
In tafsir you will not find mystical or esoteric interpretations of Muslim texts. The authors strive to give a deeper and more complete understanding of the Qur'an. Thus, the hadiths of the Prophet Muhammad (that is, the legends about his speeches and actions that Muslims are guided by in everyday life today) claim that the Quran has much more meanings hidden than it seems at first glance. Moreover, the understanding of the holy book as many as seven.
In the modern world there are Islamic sects that strictly prohibit the esoteric interpretations of the Koran, trying not to reveal the double meanings of the texts.
The principles of exegetics
Exegetics is based on several fundamental principles.
This is the belief that God himself inspired the creation of the sacred text of the author, the idea of religious literature as an integral part of church sacred tradition, the unity of knowledge of the holy book and spiritual experience.