exegesis

See also: exégesis

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ἐξήγησις (exḗgēsis, “interpretation”), from ἐξηγέομαι (exēgéomai, “I explain, interpret”), from ἐξ (ex, “out”) + ἡγέομαι (hēgéomai, “I lead, guide”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ɛksɪˈdʒiːsɪs/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ɛksɪˈd͡ʒisɪs/

Noun

exegesis (countable and uncountable, plural exegeses)

1. A critical explanation or interpretation of a text, especially a religious text.
   • 1885, Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson (original translators and editors), Arthur Cleveland Coxe (editor of American edition), Philip Schaff (also credited as editor), Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series II

     Accordingly Athanasius complains loudly of their exegesis (Ep. Æg. 3–4, cf. Orat. i. 8, 52), and insists (id. i. 54, cf. already de Decr. 14) on the primary necessity of always conscientiously studying the circumstances of time and place, the person addressed, the subject matter, and purpose of the writer, in order not to miss the true sense.

   • 1913, Francis Aveling, “Rationalism”, in Catholic Encyclopedia (1913):

     As with Deism and Materialism, the German Rationalism invaded the department of Biblical exegesis.

   • 1940, Mortimer J. Adler, Two Essays on Docility:

     Historical scholarship bears exclusively on interpretive reading; when it is properly subordinated as a means, its end is exegesis; all of its techniques are of service to the grammatical art. But exegesis is not the end; nor is grammar the highest art. Exegesis is for the sake of a fair critical judgment, grammar for the sake of logic and rhetoric.

2. An explanatory note; a gloss.

Related terms

• eisegesis
• epexegesis
• exegete
• exegetical

Translations

formal written exposition or explanatory essay

• Arabic: تَفْسِير m (tafsīr)
• Bulgarian: тълкувание (bg) n (tǎlkuvanie)
• Catalan: exegesi f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 評註／评注 (zh) (píngzhù), 詮釋／诠释 (zh) (quánshì), 注釋 (zh) (zhùshì)

• Dutch: exegese (nl) f, uitlegging (nl) f
• Esperanto: ekzegezo
• Finnish: eksegeesi (fi)
• French: exégèse (fr) f
• Galician: esexese (gl), exexese (gl) f
• German: Exegese (de) f
• Greek: εξήγηση (el) f (exígisi)

  Ancient: ἐξήγησις f (exḗgēsis)

• Hindi: व्याख्या (hi) f (vyākhyā)
• Hungarian: szövegmagyarázat (hu), exegézis (hu)
• Ido: exegezo (io)
• Indonesian: tafsir (id), eksegesis (id)
• Interlingua: exegese
• Italian: esegesi (it) f, spiegazione (it) f, esplicazione (it) f, chiarimento (it) m, chiarificazione (it) f
• Japanese: 釈義 (shakugi), 釈義学 (skakugigaku), 訓詁 (kunko)
• Latvian: ekseģēze (lv) f
• Malay: tafsir (ms)
• Malayalam: വ്യാഖ്യാനം (ml) (vyākhyānaṁ), ഭാഷ്യം (ml) (bhāṣyaṁ)
• Persian: تفسیر (fa) (tafsir), تأویل (fa) (ta'vil)
• Polish: egzegeza (pl) f
• Portuguese: exegese (pt) f
• Russian: экзеге́за (ru) f (ekzegéza)
• Serbo-Croatian: egzegeza (sh)
• Spanish: exégesis (es) f
• Swedish: exeges (sv)
• Turkish: tefsir (tr)
• Urdu: تفسیر (tafsīr)

See also

• eisegesis
• hermeneutics

Latin

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ἐξήγησις (exḗgēsis, “interpretation”).

Noun

exēgēsis f (genitive exēgēsis); third declension

1. exegesis
2. exposition

Declension

Third-declension noun (i-stem).

	singular	plural
nominative	exēgēsis	exēgēsēs
genitive	exēgēsis	exēgēsium
dative	exēgēsī	exēgēsibus
accusative	exēgēsem exēgēsin	exēgēsēs exēgēsīs
ablative	exēgēse	exēgēsibus
vocative	exēgēsis	exēgēsēs