Exegesis

Exegesis or Biblical exegesis is the study or art of interpreting Sacred Scripture.

Exegesis definition

Exegesis means "study" and/or "interpretation"

• from Greek exegeisthai for "explain, interpret"
  • ex (from) + hegesithai (to lead, guide)
  • so "drawing out"
• an exegete is one who interprets or explains scripture

Tools for exegesis

To better understand scripture, we can employ intellectual tools, not just the interpretation of others.

For existing interpretation, start with the Catechism of the Catholic Church (see below for links). Then go to your own Bible for footnotes. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) New American Bible has extensive footnotes and links to related verses (link below) and is very easy to navigate.

The most important tool for Biblical exegesis is the Senses of Scripture, which is an interpretative tool or paradigm for looking at Scripture through its various meanings as seen as

• literal
• allegorical
• moral
• anagogical

Thomas Aquinas taught that faith and reason are both gifts from God, so when reading Scripture we should look at it through both faith and reason and seek how each works with the other. Here for a nice article on

Faith and Reason in Aquinas' Thought: Complementary Paths to Truth • Philosophy Institute

Here for list of pages on this site related to exegesis

Exegesis resources

Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC)

• CCC flipbook from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB)
• Vatican.va publishes the Catechism, of course, although it's not easy to navigate and has not built in search function
  • here for various language versions including Spanish
• a better html version of the CCC from St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in Picayune, MS that seems to be built on the Vatican version but works better
  • excellent search capabilities, including an "advanced search" function for more granular searches
  • since it's in html, allows for cut/paste of text
  • has an excellent, easy-to-read display of the Table of Contents
  • lacks the Glossary that is in the USCCB paper and flip book

Bibles

• New American Bible online by the USCCB
  • has useful footnotes and links connecting passages across the Old and New Testaments
  • super easy to navigate
  • has sortable Table of Contents by canonical or alphabetical order (puts both Testaments together, unfortunately)

• BibleGateway
  • collection of various English translations of the Bible with an excellent search function

Scriptural or Biblical Commentary

• as mentioned above, the CCC offers fantastic scriptural interpretation, but it is not Biblical commentary nor structured or intended to be

• Catena Aurea by St. Thomas Aquinas
  • verse-by-verse interpretation of the Gospels from early teachers
  • collected by St. Thomas Aquinas
• NET Bible
  • defaults to Matthew 1
    • but finding the Books & Chapters is a little awkward, but it works once you get the hang of it
  • has "Notes" by Dr. Thomas Constable, with useful interpretations
    • note that Constable is a Protestant minister so will not provide Catholic interpretations

Greek/ Hebrew words and translations

• the NET Bible has an excellent tool for Greek and Hebrew word origins of English translations