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Religious Studies & Theology

The subject page for Theology and Religious Studies

What Is Exegesis?

The term “exegesis” can be intimidating. It comes from a Greek term meaning literally “leading out.” It means simply explaining what a biblical text means primarily in its original historical and literary context. 

You will encounter several types of subject-specific resources while working on Biblical exegesis. Some terms to be aware of are:

  • Concordance: A Concordance is a work that lists all the words that appear in the Bible and the verses where they are found. Such a resource is most helpful when studying a particular topic or theme.
  • Commentary: A Bible commentary explains or interprets the Bible or a specific book of the Bible. Some commentaries cover the entire Bible, while others are devoted to individual books of the Bible.
  • Study Bible: Study Bibles provide an excellent resource since they contain introductory essays, introductions to particular books, and notes on particular texts.

Guidelines for Exegesis

Concordances

Biblical Dictionaries

Bible Works

BibleWorks (In-Library Use Only)

Software is installed on 5 computers located on the main floor of the library near our St. John's Bible display. Staff at the Help Desk can assist you in locating these computers.
BibleWorks is a tightly integrated collection of Bible software tools designed specifically for scholarly analysis of the Bible text. More than a mere Bible search engine, BibleWorks comes with a variety of Bible search tools, lexicons, dictionaries, and morphology analysis resources. For all levels of users, it is suitable for Bible study, sermon preparation, and detailed Bible research.

One Volume Commentaries

Study Bibles