RT Article
T1 Reader Response: Demythologising the Text
JF New Testament studies
VO 34
IS 2
SP 232
OP 237
A1 Brown, Schuyler 1930-
LA English
YR 1988
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1785733435
AB The Greek word έξήγησις means ‘explanation’ or ‘interpretation’. When applied to the Bible, it would appear to mean ‘explication de texte’. However, Biblical exegetes are often in the habit of contrasting what they do with ‘eisegesis’, i.e. the imposition of ‘subjective’ meanings onto the text. This contrast suggests that the meaning derived by exegesis is gotten ‘out of’ the text, where it is thought to reside, by means of the ‘correct’ exegetical methods, of which the exegete is the master. Like Philip the Evangelist, the exegete responds to the plea for help implied in the reader's befuddled question, ‘How can I [understand], unless someone guides me?’ (Acts 8.31).
DO 10.1017/S0028688500020026