We explain what exegesis is in the interpretation of texts and its importance in law. Also, hermeneutics and eisegesis.
What is exegesis?
The exegesis is the objective interpretation of the meaning of a textthat is, its literal and investigative explanation, although in some contexts also philosophical, historical or religious, as occurs with biblical exegesis. Those who put it into practice are known as exegetes.
This word comes from ancient Greek, specifically from the verb exegeomaitranslatable as “guide out”, that is: “expose”, “extract”, in the sense of removing the truth from within a thing. Thus, exegesis is considered as the recovery of the truth of a text, understood as its critical and complete interpretation, without giving room to the subjectivities of the interpreter. In this it is distinguished from the eisegesis.
Commonly, an exegetical exercise involves reviewing the historical and cultural context of the text to interpret, taking into account its translation, its significant or peculiar words, its variables, limits and internal contexts, that is, a rather scientific vision of the text. Therefore, they are usually carried out by specialists in the field.
A very frequent case of exegesis is that which involves sacred books such as the Bible, the Koran or similar, which due to their historical and cultural importance can be interpreted as documents and as literary works, or as the divine word of God on Earth. .
See also: Literal sense
Exegesis and hermeneutics
Exegesis and hermeneutics both have to do with interpretation, but at levels and from very different perspectives.
Exegesis, as we have seen, always revolves around a text, from which it seeks to “extract” the most objective truth, that is, the most complete, scientific and explanatory meaning. On the other hand, hermeneutics is the science of interpreting textsthat is, the discipline that deals with the systematic study of the translation, explanation and understanding of written texts, especially ancient ones.
We could, then, affirm that Exegesis is just one of the possible methods of interpretation that hermeneutics studies.since the latter has a broader vision and field of interests, and also constitutes a discipline, while exegesis is just a practice.
Exegesis in law
In the world of Law, the term exegesis is also used, although no longer to apply it to the interpretation of ancient texts, but to the very text of the lawssince the latter are just general principles gathered in a document, and they need to be interpreted, understood and applied to each case in general that is intended to be judged.
On the other hand, in the 19th century there was a school of law called the School of Exegesis in France, after the publication of Napoleon's Civil Code of 1804. This school exalted written law and proposed its interpretation as faithful as possible to what was written. , giving it preeminence above any other type of considerations.
In that sense, their vision of law was antihistorical, since they understood the norm as an isolated element, and not as the result of a particular journey in the way of thinking about justice.
So, for the Exegetical Schoolthe correct way to interpret a norm was not so much what the text itself said, or what the interpreter could conclude about it, but rather An attempt should be made to reconstruct the very meaning of the will of those who wrote it.that is, from the authorities. The truly important thing about it was that it contained the supreme thought of its author.
Exegesis and eisegesis
The terms exegesis and eisegesis can be considered opposites or antonyms. The difference between one and the other lies in the degree of objectivity that takes place in the interpretation of the text proposed by each one.
Exegesis proposes the contextual, scientific and objective reading of the text, taking into consideration the elements present in the text and those that can be investigated about it. On the contrary, eisegesis proposes the interpretation of the text based on the point of view of the interpretantthat is, reading the texts in relation to a particular topic, whether or not it is directly linked to the text in its original context.
Eisegesis can be understood as an interpretation oriented towards a topic of subjective interest for the reader, or also as a biased reading, which imposes on the text a meaning that, objectively speaking, is not there, but to which it is susceptible.
Continue with: Critical reading
References
- “Exegesis” on Wikipedia.
- “Eisegesis” on Wikipedia.
- “Exegesis” in the Dictionary of the language of the Royal Spanish Academy.
- “Concept of Hermeneutics: Exegesis and Hermeneutics” (video) in Latin American Reformed Seminary.
- “Exegesis” in Legal Encyclopedia.
