Hayes and Holladay, Bible Exegesis. Part 2: Exegesis Through the Centuries.

P. 24-26

Bible exegesis can be divided into three broad periods.

Early and medieval period Reformation Period, with roots in late

medieval Jewish Scholarship and the Renaissance

Modern period, focussing a lot on clarifying methods and programs of exegesis.

 

Faith and practices of the original communities thought to be identical with the Bible.

That it was directly and explicitly divinely given. That the people believed and practiced what was

taught. Saw their own interpretation as explaining the will

and mind of God as given to the authors. T Presumed everything was revealed, even the

difficulties and problems Key Jewish and Christian interpreters drew up

guidelines for exegesis. St Augustine (d. 430) recommended basing all

interpretation on loving God and neighbour. Any passage not expressing this was not interpreted on face value, but figuratively.

It often meant ignoring what the author was saying.

Early and medieval period

Eg. Parable of the Good Samaritan: The man on the journey is Adam Jericho as mortality Thieves are the devil Samaritan as Jesus Not all agreed with him, even back then. Some said that

things should be understood more literally, and that spiritual meanings looked for only when it had harmony with the straightforward meaning.

Origen (d. 254) : scripture is to be read at different levels. If the literal meaning of texts did not agree with theology or ethics, then disregard that and consider the spiritual senses.

Eventually the 4 meanings were clarified: Literal, allegorical, moral and anagogical.

Jewish exegetes had worked out something similar.

  Jewish Scholars stressed grammatical analysis and getting to

the plain meaning. Rediscovery of the early classical texts Interpretation was to be plain and simple. The tradition was bypassed: focus on the texts themselves. Translation into languages other than Latin lead to fresh study

of the Hebrew and Greek Protestant interpretations and opinions were many, all

presumed to be good exegesis Science, philosophy, humanities developed. Bible was not seen the last word. Reason was seen as being in conflict with the bible

interpretation, revelation and tradition. History study developed: movement away from seeing

everything as continual present. T he Bible was seen as part of the past.

Reformation Period, with roots in late medieval Jewish Scholarship and the Renaissance

15th and 16th Centuries.

The goal: to study the Scriptures as any other ancient document, understanding the historical context, the writers, the original role and context of the writings.

Studied for religious value, considering revelation (God revealing).

Studied for non-religious reasons: To reconstruct history and religion of Israel and the

Early Christian Church. Literary reflection of ancient cultures. Foundational documents of both Judaism and

Christianity. Aesthetic and artistic value These types of studies take a place alongside the

religious and theological exegesis.

Modern period: clarifying methods and programs of exegesis.