Book Review: Deep Exegesis
Deep Exegesis:The Mystery of Reading Scripture by Peter Leithart
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Deep Exegesis
I enjoy reading books relating to hermeneutics. This was a particularly interesting book to me.
Peter Leithart, Senior Fellow of Theology and Literature at St. Andrews College, has added to my library a book that has opened my eyes, or opened them anew, to some important truths.
Time and space will not permit an in-depth review. For this reason I shall note what stood out to me as interesting and worthy of consideration:
1.Leithart seems to like essentially literal translations of the Scripture due to the fact that words have meaning and should be translated as such, as opposed to the idea that words are “malleable” (pg 6) and can be changed (in such manners as gender neutral translations, or in dynamic equivalence translations where ancient idioms are changed to present day idioms). He has a point that should be seriously considered. After all, we must have a text which is true to the original text. If not, what is the use of exegesis?
2.Leithart also brings up a very interesting point when he posits that the meaning of a text can change with time. He uses the example of someone who shoots a person and is charged with attempted murder. When the victim dies a few hours later, the circumstances have changed, so the shooter is charged with murder. The point to be seen here, is not the fact that the meaning of a text changes, as Leithart says. The point is that subsequent events give us a different perspective on the text, thus influencing our understanding of the text as well as the text’s significance to us. Leithart’s point, never the less, should be seriously considered, because we must look into backgrounds, etc. if we are to understand a text, and in that he and I agree.
3.Another thing that Leithart mentions is structure and themes in texts. That is important. We need to look at the big picture before we dig into the narrow portion of a few verses. We should see what themes are at play as well as what the structure is, and what we are lead to in latter portions of the text.
One thing that I did not like is that Leithart seems to appreciate a grammatical-historical hermeneutic, but does not seem to confine himself to that; and I believe that one must adhere to that to be true to the text.
In the end, I enjoyed the book and will probably refer to it again. It is a book for readers with advanced reading capabilities, who will take the time to think through what is said, and for readers who have discernment and a will to rightly divide the Word of God.
Thanks to the kind folk at Baylor University Press for providing this copy of Deep Exegesis for review.