Krista Mournet

“If you want to be a better exegete, you must become a deeper person.” I read this quote from Brevard S. Childs a few days ago, and it has been rattling around in my heart and mind ever since. I can’t get it out of my head. What’s ‘exegesis,’ you may ask (because chances are if you’ve never been to Bible college or seminary, you’ve never heard this word)? ‘Exegesis’ is really a fancy-pants Bible college way of saying “interpretation.”

The word comes from the Greek language and means, literally “to lead out.” When someone exegetes something, be it a word, a text, a culture, their dog, whatever, they are interpreting that thing or person; trying to figure out what it means, turning it over to look at it from other angles and perspectives–getting outside themselves long enough to get inside of whatever is being interpreted.

So does this practice require depth of character? This is what I’ve been thinking about. And this is what has occurred to me. In order to interpret something, anything, you have to be able to understand that something first. And you can’t understand something well until you know the language. I remember before I had my son I could listen to a toddler babble on and have no idea what the kid was saying–it all sounded like slobbery gobbledy-gook to me; and I was always awed to see the kid’s mom walk over, listen to a few nonsense syllables and say; “Oh, you would like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on whole grain bread with milk? Okay, honey, let me get it for you!”

Now that I have a little one, I understand it. You see, I live with my son. I observe him, watch him, listen to every little sound that comes out of his mouth. I know what he likes and doesn’t like. I know what he is afraid of and what makes him happy. I know his language. So even though probably most people couldn’t catch a word he was saying a year ago or so, when he was two and just learning to speak, I could. Because I knew him so well.

I think it’s the same thing with exegeting (interpreting) something; be it a text, a person, a culture, whatever. You need to live with it; observe, learn the language, watch, pay attention, get over yourself…and maybe that’s where the depth comes in. It takes patience, time, and enough self-confidence to put your own perspectives, biases, assumptions, needs, desires down on the table, for a while, so that you can clearly listen to what or whoever it is that you are trying to understand. Because in reality, interpretation is conversation. You bring all of yourself, your experiences, intellect, interests, passions, biases and assumptions, and lay it out on the table, expecting the person or text across from you to do the same. You respect the other; listen, learn, observe, question, probe, and eventually you are able to interpret.

So maybe it is true that “to be a better exegete you must become a deeper person.” Maybe the world needs better exegetes…