exegesis

American  

[ek-si-jee-sis] / ˌɛk sɪˈdʒi sɪs /

noun

• exegeses
  plural

1. critical explanation or interpretation of a text or portion of a text, especially of the Bible.

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exegesis British  

/ ˌɛksɪˈdʒiːsɪs /

noun

1. explanation or critical interpretation of a text, esp of the Bible Compare eisegesis

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• exegeses
  plural

Etymology

Origin of exegesis

1610–20; < Greek exḗgēsis an interpretation, explanation, equivalent to ex- ex- ³ + ( h ) ēgē- (verbid stem of hēgeîsthai to guide) + -sis -sis

Compare meaning

How does exegesis compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• exegesis vs. eisegesis
• hermeneutics vs. exegesis

Explanation

If your teacher gives an explanation of a difficult text you are reading, she is giving you an exegesis on it. An exegesis is a critical look at a text. Exegesis comes from the Greek word for interpret and it's often used in connection with the Bible. Often times, religious rules are based on an exegesis of a text. For instance, some Jewish people do not eat meat and dairy in the same meal based on an exegesis of a law in the Torah that says you should not eat a calf cooked in its mother's milk.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

exegesis exegeses

Beckett’s works defy easy exegesis, but as in many of his other plays, “Endgame” presents us with stylized images of the aimless burdens of existence, the isolation that can be little eased by companionship.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2025

One of the inescapable conclusions that came from diving deep into the allure of originalism was the profound and uniquely American connection between theories of constitutional interpretation and methodologies of religious exegesis.

From Slate ● May 8, 2024

Compactness is a hallmark of her writing, made possible by both hard graft and her gifts for exposition and exegesis, which enabled her to digest and repackage huge quantities of material.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 26, 2024

If this were a different movie, say, a straight documentary, you might expect some exegesis to come next — cue the voice-over — but the scene has the quality of a dream, and it’s inviting.

From New York Times ● Sep. 8, 2022

I was surprised by this exegesis, which was at odds with what I knew to be Henry’s frequent and—by my standards of reckoning—extravagant generosity.

From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt

Bradford provides similarly interesting exegeses of autobiographical echoes in other Highsmith novels, but this generally valuable material gets lost in an endless parade of lovers and equally endless litany of Highsmith’s appalling personal conduct.

From Washington Post ● Jan. 19, 2021

Is the Book of Esther amusing enough to warrant seven different exegeses?

From New York Times ● Dec. 1, 2017

You’ll find it in Mad Men exegeses, literary criticism in the New Yorker, all sorts of movie reviews, theater criticism, and music reviews.

From Slate ● Nov. 1, 2015

In the twentieth century, New Critics enshrined Shakespeare’s plays as complex poetic art, unified through patterns of metaphor, irony, and paradox, and generations of students were compelled to write exegeses of his linguistic richness.

From The New Yorker ● Oct. 6, 2015

Then he never spared  him; criticized and sometimes quizzed—for he had great humor—his style, as well as debated and weighed his apprehendings and exegeses, shaking them heartily to test their strength.

From Spare Hours by John Brown