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Exegesis- what it is – why use it – aids understanding
It can be said that understanding the text is of paramount importance as we pin our hopes and expectation on its message. We recognize that the scripture was written in ‘foreign words' of what we have today as the base being: Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. There are gaps in cultural understanding from the Jews in the wilderness till Jesus time. After Jesus was on the earth there has been another period of some 2000 years.
Our cultural today is very different from that of the time the OT or the NT was written. Even some words that we use today would carry a different meaning a mere 100 years back in time. (A good example would be to read the King James Version of 1611, 1839 edition and others. Today we have the “New King James” version.) Explanation of the King James Version use this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_King_James_Version
Note the progression of translations – taken from ‘Wikipedia' site - the LINK: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/21st_Century_King_James_Version
Below is a chart on the progression of the English language translations of the Bible. By clicking on these ‘links' they will take you to pages to give you more information about each version.
English language translations of the Bible
5th–11th century
Wessex Gospels · Old English Hexateuch · Old English Bible translations
Middle English
Wycliffe · Middle English Bible translations
16th–17th century
Tyndale · Coverdale · Matthew · Great Bible · Taverner · Geneva · Bishops' · Douay–Rheims · Authorized King James
18th–19th century
Challoner · Webster's · Young's Literal · Revised · Darby · Joseph Smith · Quaker
20th century
American Standard · Rotherham's Emphasized · Ferrar Fenton · Knox · Revised Standard · Anchor · New World · New English Bible · New American Standard · Good News · Jerusalem · New American · Living · New International · New Century · Bethel · New King James · New Jerusalem · Recovery · New Revised Standard · Revised English · Contemporary English · The Message · Clear Word · New Life · 21st Century King James · Third Millennium · New International Reader's · New International Inclusive Language · God's Word · New Living · Complete Jewish Bible · International Standard · Holman Christian Standard · The Scriptures '98 · Worrell New Testament
21st century
World English · English Standard (ESV) · Today's New International · New English Translation (NET Bible) · New English Translation of the Septuagint · Orthodox Study Bible · The Voice · Common English Bible · Catholic Public Domain · WGC Illustrated · Apostolic Bible Polyglot · Open English Bible (OEB) · Eastern Orthodox Bible · New American Bible Revised Edition (NABRE) · Lexham English Bible
Today we use the newer translations to help us. Translations as the NKV and the NASV (New American Standard Version), the ESV (English Standard Version) and still newer one being the NET Bible of 2006. We utilize reading the different versions to aid in our understanding. Here is an example using 1 John 1:5&6
ESV |
NKJV |
NASB95 |
NIV |
NET |
1 Jn 1:5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. |
1 Jn 1:5 This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. |
1 Jn 1:5 This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. |
1 Jn 1:5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. |
1 Jn 1:5 Now this is the gospel message we have heard from him and announce to you: God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all. |
6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. |
6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. |
6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; |
6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. |
6 If we say we have fellowship with him and yet keep on walking in the darkness, we are lying and not practicing the truth. |
The task of exegesis: to project us back into that ancient world. Without exegesis, we can easily “hear” something completely different from the message first delivered. Thus, in one's exegesis study it needs to begin with the original languages. The objective is to bring forward the message that was given in the past.
One needs to pray for God's Spirit to aid in our understanding. Try to step away from preconceived ideas but let the scripture text speak to you. If you form a ‘conclusion', than verify if others have reached that same idea. If you stand alone, then re-do the process and make sure it supports the rest of the Bible.
The Greek version of the Old Testament is known as the Septuagint (lxx). Using this to help understand many NT verses and they quote or reference an OT account or the words spoken then. Frequently a New Testament writer alludes to an Old Testament text without bothering to provide an explicit reference to it. Concordances can be used to locate the repeating patterns of speech and correlated ideas. Using Greek NT can help by reading the marginal references. Two frequently used Greek NT are: NA 27 (Novum Testamentum Graece: post Eberhard et Erwin Nestle - 1898), - and the UBS 4 - (The Greek New Testament, 4 th ed., ed. B. Aland etal. – 1993)
Dictionaries, encyclopedias and atlases are other sources to aid one in the language. Two frequently used are the so-called Bauer (or BDAG) and the Louw-Nida domain dictionary. It is stated that the Louw-Nida domain dictionary is primarily intended for use by translators, alongside the UBS4 text .
A Bible atlas is most useful for exegesis. They provide cultural understanding. Most Bible have some of these in their content.