  exegesis (; from the greek  from  'to lead out') is a critical explanation or interpretation of a text, particularly a religious text. traditionally the term was used primarily for exegesis of the bible; however, in modern usage "biblical exegesis" is used for greater specificity to distinguish it from any other broader critical text explanation. exegesis includes a wide range of critical disciplines: textual criticism is the investigation into the history and origins of the text, but exegesis may include the study of the historical and cultural backgrounds for the author, the text, and the original audience. other analysis includes classification of the type of literary genres present in the text, and an analysis of grammatical and syntactical features in the text itself. the terms exegesis and hermeneutics have been used interchangeably. ==usage== one who practices exegesis is called an exegete (; from greek ). the plural of exegesis is exegeses (). adjectives are exegetic or exegetical (e.g., exegetical commentaries). in biblical exegesis, the opposite of exegesis (to draw out) is eisegesis (to draw in), in the sense of an eisegetic commentator "importing" or "drawing in" his or her own purely subjective interpretations into the text, unsupported by the text itself. eisegesis is often used as a derogatory term. ==bible commentaries==  a common published form of biblical exegesis is known as a bible commentary and typically takes the form of a set of books, each of which is devoted to the exposition of one or two books of the bible. long books or those that contain much material either for theological or historical-critical speculation, such as genesis or psalms, may be split over 2 or 3 volumes. some, such as the four gospels, may be multiple- or single-volume, while short books such as the deuterocanonical portions of daniel, esther, and the jeremiah (i.e. book of susanna, prayer of azariah, bel and the dragon, additions to esther, baruch and the epistle of jeremiah), or the pastoral or johannine epistles are often condensed into one volume. the form of each book may be identical or allow for variations in methodology between the many authors who collaborate to write a full commentary. each book's commentary generally consists of a background and introductory section
Christian_theology_of_the_Bible Exegesis Religious_terminology