Chapter 8: Understanding God’s Word

Page 8

The Holy Bible, unlike any other book in recorded human history has

been digested and analyzed almost to the point of absurdity. Out of this analytical study of the Holy Bible has come the terms hermeneutics, exegesis and exegete or exegetist. All of these terms refer to the mining of the biblical text for truth. This mining could be concerned with any

particular translation of the Bible or it could be concerned with the original Hebrew and Greek manuscripts.

The Second College Edition of the American Heritage Dictionary1

provides the following definitions:

Hermeneutics (hûr´ ma noo´ tiks) n. The science and methodology of interpretation, esp. of the Bible. The field of hermeneutics is derived

from the base word hermeneutic which means either interpreter or to interpret.

Exegesis (ek´ sa-je sis) n. Critical explanation or

analysis, esp. of a text.

Exegete (ek´ sa-jet) Or Exegetist (ek´ sa-jet´ ist) is a person skilled in exegesis or the critical

explanation or analysis of a written text.

Plainly put, someone who is skilled in critical analysis of any written text would be called an Exegete. His or her critical explanation or analysis

of the text would be referred to as an Exegesis. Part of the methodology he or she used in the Exegesis might be from the field of Hermeneutics, which is the science and methodology of Bible interpretation.

You might surmise that various interpretations might be extreme and wildly opposing of one another. If so, you would be right. Depending upon how you read the Bible, your conclusions can be dramatically different. You can observe this as a fact when you listen to pastors from different

denominations.