Showing papers on "Exegesis published in 1997"

Biblical Exegesis and the Formation of Christian Culture

Abstract: This book challenges standard accounts of early Christian exegesis of the Bible. Professor Young sets the interpretation of the Bible in the context of the Graeco-Roman world - the dissemination of books and learning, the way texts were received and read, the function of literature in shaping not only a culture but a moral universe. For the earliest Christians, the adoption of the Jewish scriptures constituted a supersessionary claim in relation to Hellenism as well as Judaism. Yet the debt owed to the practice of exegesis in the grammatical and rhetorical schools is of overriding significance. Methods were philological and deductive, and the usual analysis according to 'literal', 'typological' and 'allegorical' is inadequate to describe questions of reference and issues of religious language. The biblical texts shaped a 'totalizing discourse' which by the fifth century was giving identity, morality and meaning to a new Christian culture.

Revelation 1-5

Abstract: Dr. David Aune's thoroughness in this definitive commentary on the first five chapters of the book of Revelation is nothing short of monumental. "More is known today about the textual tradition of Revelation than about any other book in the New Testament," he asserts. In an introductory section that could easily stand alone as a book, he presents a comprehensive inventory and evaluation of all categories of textual evidence, and an exhaustive assessment of peculiarities of the syntax in the Greek written by John of Patmos. Scholars and pastors will appreciate Aune's extensively annotated translation of the text, and his insights into the variant readings and nuances of every significant word. An advocate of source criticism, Dr. Aune examines the full range of secular and biblical literature in search of possible sources for the striking literary devices in Revelation. His mastery of an incredibly broad range of ancient writings enables him to compare every pericope of Revelation to the literary traditions of the ages that preceded its writing, and thus to evaluate the possible sources for the forms John employed to write his vision. Although this volume of the Word Biblical Commentary series deals only with the first five chapters of Revelation, Aune's detailed introductory comments scrutinize the entire expanse of this mysterious book. He provides an expanded outline of all twenty-two chapters and focuses on the implications for the book of Revelation of such matters as: * the use of chronological eschatological visions * the recurring sets of sevens * the paired angelic revelations beginning in 17:1 and 21:9 * the scenes in the heavenly throne room with their hymns * possible connections between the scrolls in chapters 5 and 10 All serious students of Revelation will value this latest effort to unravel its mysteries. As he familiarizes his readers with myriad possible ways to see every detail in the text, Dr. Aune stakes out his own ambitious but well-informed theories. He calls his readers to look afresh at a majestic book, a book at once profoundly Jewish and Christian, and to think with him about how this marriage of dissimilar apocalyptic traditions might have taken place.

The Gospel according to John : a theological commentary

Abstract: This excellent commentary by Herman Ridderbos engages seriously the host of twentieth-century interpretations of John while also developing its own integral understanding of John in which the Gospel emerges as a profoundly theological work. Ridderbos presents John in its distinctively apostolic character and includes important criteria for the literary and homiletical exegesis of the Fourth Gospel.

The Gospel of John in the Sixteenth Century: The Johannine Exegesis of Wolfgang Musculus

Abstract: This book is a wide-ranging study of Johannine exegesis in the sixteenth century, centered on the John commentary of Wolfgang Musculus (1497-1563), an influential leader of the Protestant Reformation. Farmer compares Musculus's exegesis of the Johannine miracle stories not only with that of other sixteenth-century commentators but also with ancient and medieval commentaries.

The Jewish Bible and the Christian Bible: An Introduction to the History of the Bible

Abstract: This wide-ranging handbook presents an overview of our current knowledge on the history of the Bible. Divided into three parts, it shows how the collections of canonical and apocryphal books were formed, explains the transmission and translation of the Biblical texts and describes biblical interpretation in Judaism and Christianity. Incorporating the immense amount of information that has become available since the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the author sets out to bridge the gaps between widely different areas and trends in the field of Biblical Studies: canonical and apocryphal literature, written and oral traditions, rabbinic and Christian exegesis and modern critical exegesis, and literal and allegorical interpretation, among others. Uniquely, Trebolle Barrera also looks at the Wirkungsgeschichte of the Bible in relation to the Greek and Roman world, the Renaissance and the Enlightenment. Scholars, students and interested lay persons alike will benefit from the wealth of general information found here as well as detailed discussion on many topics currently under debate, from the significance of Qumran to the influence of the Semitic and Greek world on Christianity.

Tehillah le-Moshe : biblical and Judaic studies in honor of Moshe Greenberg

Abstract: Moshe Greenberg: An Appreciation Bibliography of the Writings of Moshe Greenberg Abbreviations PART 1: Exegetical and Literary Studies Love of Zion: A Literary Interpretation of Psalm 137 - Shimon Bar-Efrat The Meaning of Amos's Third Vision (Amos 7:7-9) - Alan Cooper On Reading Genesis 12:10-20 - Barry L. Eichler Harvesting the Biblical Narrator's Scanty Plot of Ground: A Holistic Approach to Judges 16:4-22 - J. Cheryl Exum Proverbs 2 and 31: A Study in Structural Complementarity - David Noel Freedman Reading Rahab - Tikva Frymer-Kensky Psalm 8 on the Power and Mystery of Speech - Walter Harrelson Two Aspects of the 'Tent of Meeting' - Israel Knohl The Firstfruits Festivals of Grain and the Composition of Leviticus 23: 9-21 - Jacob Milgrom What Did Laban Demand of Jacob? A New Reading of Genesis 31:50 and Exodus 21:10 - Jonathan Paradise A Lover's Garden of Verse: Literal and Metaphorical Imagery in Ancient Near Eastern Love Poetry - Shalom M. Paul Nahemiah 9: An Important Witness of Theological Reflection - Rolf Rendtorff Naboth's Vineyard Revisited (1 Kings 21) - Nahum M. Sarna The 'Aramean' of Deuteronomy 26:5: Peshat and Derash - Richard C. Steiner 'He Begot a Son in His Likeness after His Image' (Genesis 5:3) - Jeffrey H. Tigay Different Editions of the Song of Hannah and of Its Narrative Framework - Emanuel Tov PART 2: Historical, Thematic, and Methodological Studies On the Use of Traditional Jewish Exegesis in the Modern Literary Study of the Bible - Adele Berlin The Genre of the Biblical Commentary as Problem and Challenge - Brevard S. Childs David's Jerusalem: Notes and Reflections - Mordechai Cogan The Berit 'Covenant': Its Nature and Ceremonial Background - Menahem Haran Prophecy and Soothsaying - Yair Hoffman The Next Phase in Jewish Religion: The Land of Israel as Sacred Space - Baruch A. Levine The Methods of Late Biblical Scribes as Evidenced by the Septuagint Compared with the Other Textual Witnesses - Alexander Rofe PART 3: Postbiblical and Rabbinic Studies Rabbinic Mythmaking and Tradition: The Great Dragon Drama in b. Baba Batra 74b-75a - Michael Fishbane A Law and Its Interpretation - Judah Goldin Masorah and Halakhah: A Study in Conflict - Sid Z. Leiman The Akedah-and What to Remember - Michael Rosenak English Abstracts of Hebrew Essays Index of Authors Index of Scripture Index of Ancient and Premodern Sources Hebrew Essays PART 1: Biblical Studies The Countenance of YHWH - Shmuel Ahituv Creation and the Calendar of Holiness - Yairah Amit The Philistine Entity and the Origin of the Name 'Palestine' - Israel Eph'al On the Borderline between Biblical Criticism and Hebrew Linguistics: The Emergence of the Term - Avi Hurvitz 'A Psalm, a Song for the Sabbath Day' - Meir Weiss Fragments of an Ezekiel Scroll from Masada 1043-2220 (Ezekiel 35:11-38:14) - Shemaryahu Talmon New Mari Documents and the Prophecy of Ezekiel - Abraham Malamat The Origin and Development of Languages on Earth: The Sumerian versus the Biblical View - Jacob Klein 'And if Given the Strength-Eighty Years': The Terms for Longevity in Akkadian, Biblical Hebrew, and Mishnaic Hebrew - Hayim Tadmor Part 2: Second Temple, Rabbinic, and Medieval Studies A Semantic Analysis - Moshe Weinfeld 'Was It Not at His Hand the Sun Stopped?' (Ben Sira 46:6): A Chapter in Literary Archaeology - Yair Zakovitch Tradition and Innovation in the Commentary of Rabbi Samuel ben Meir (Rashbam) on Job: The Hymn to Wisdom (Job 28) - Sara Japhet The Pre-70 C.E. Judean Synagogue: Its Origins and Character Reexamined - Lee I. Levine Was Maimonides Influenced by Al-Ghazzali? - Hava Lazarus-Yafeh Peshat Exegesis of Biblical Historiography: Historicism, Dogmatism, and Medievalism - Uriel Simon Additional Fragments of the 'Rhymed Ben Sira' - Ezra Fleischer Midrashic Derivations regarding the Transformation of the Names Jacob and Israel according to Traditional Jewish Exegesis: Semantic and Syntatic Aspects - Simcha Kogut 'Moses Had Written about Many Deeds...and David Came and Explained Them' (Exodus Rabbah 15:22) - Avigdor Shinan Indexes to Hebrew Essays

Judah and Tamar (Genesis 38) in ancient Jewish exegesis : studies in literary form and hermeneutics

Abstract: This exploration of Genesis 38 in three interpretive writings shows how new meanings emerge through encounters between the biblical text and later Jewish communities. A literary reading within the canon suggests that the story of Judah and Tamar points to the morally ambiguous origins of David's lineage. Ancient Jewish exegesis, however, challenges this understanding. The Testament of Judah interprets Genesis 38 as the story of a warrior king's tragic downfall. Targum Neofiti develops it to illustrate the concept "sanctification of the (divine) Name". and Genesis Rabbah portrays it as a series of providential events issuing in the royal and messianic lineage. Esther Marie Menn pioneers a fresh approach to the study of biblical interpretation by analyzing the relation between interpretative genre, altered plot structure, and cultural values.

Holy Scripture in the Qumran Commentaries and Pauline Letters

Abstract: What was the ancient exegetes' attitude to the biblical texts? Did they consider them 'sacred' in the sense that the words were the inviolable utterances of God? Or did they when necessary modify and adapt holy writ for their own purposes? This book examines the question of exegetical modifications from the post-Qumran perspective of textual pluriformity of literalism that runs through ancient exegeses and translations. The Qumran Commentators and Paul complemented their fulfilment-exegeses by paying close attention to the verbal formations of the biblical texts. The hermeneutical principles underlying their exegeses involved a multiplex of competing forces that at the same time sought to make scripture relevant while guarding it from changes. In so far as the label 'post-biblical exegesis' describes a clear separation between the written, authoritative texts and its interpretation, the distinction is overdrawn, for the ancients were not merely commentators, but also in some sense authors of the biblical texts.

Typological Figuration in Theodoret of Cyrrhus's Religious History and the Art of Postbiblical Narrative

Abstract: In the Religious History Theodoret of Cyrrhus makes extensive allusion to biblical figures and events while narrating the lives of fourth- and fifth-century ascetics in northwest Syria. Typological composition imposes an aesthetic of biblical correspondence which attests to the sanctity of his subjects by showing them to be equal to—and even greater than—Old Testament prophets and New Testament apostles. Theodoret’s hagiographical mode shares both the concerns and the techniques of his biblical exegesis in combat with Jews and Marcionites, demonstrating the links not only between the testaments but between the Bible and his own age. His typological system has implications for his own self-understanding, as he configures his act of composition in imitation of biblical writers, the evangelists and Moses, and his understanding of his product as a biblical text. He also calls the reader to conform to biblical models.

Jesus and the Samaritan Woman: A Speech Act Reading of John 4:1-42

Abstract: In this book the style of the Fourth Gospel is elucidated by the introduction of speech act theory into reading John 4: 1-42. It is the first time that speech act theory is comprehensively applied to the text of John, and it not only clarifies style, but also proves to be extremely promising for enhancing traditional exegesis.

Toward Recovering Theological Exegesis

Abstract: Yeago's essay is courageous and bold because it flies in the face of the whole scholarly biblical guild. This is not to suggest that everyone in the guild is doing the same thing or has only one critical agenda. Clearly this is not the case. There are indeed commonly held assumptions shared by most which still allow for different specializations and programs. We are all aware of the tensions between the older historical critics and the newer post-modern literary practitioners. Still the various sub-groups all share the common caricature of the relationship between exegesis and theology in assuming that the former is an independent historical, philological, and literary exercise which follows the established rational rules of critical inquiry, whereas the latter is a dependent, largely subjective construct of a speculative nature. Moreover, it is generally assumed that the interpreter brings to bear on the text his or her own"construal" whether individual or communal is hermeneutically irrelevant by which to render an inert composition meaningful for someone. Of course, by shifting the focus of

Reading and Wisdom: The "De Doctrina Christiana" of Augustine in the Middle Ages

Abstract: Augustine's "De doctrina christiana" has long been recognised as a significant work for understanding the balanced interaction between classical learning and Christianity, as a handbook for spiritual development, and as a guide to the homiletic and exegetical principles of preaching and sacred scripture. More recently, the work has also been interpreted as laying the groundwork for the study of semiotics and hermeneutics. The 11 essays in this volume, which were presented at a 1991 conference held at the University of Notre Dame, address the question of whether "De doctrina christiana" is a classic work of the Western cultural tradition. The contributors approach Augustine's seminal work from various points of view and over the course of the Middle Ages and Renaissance. In particular they examine the exegesis of both scripture and pagan texts, concepts of allegory and aesthetics and art, and Christian humanism. They also discuss the use of classical texts and rhetorical principles in pastoral communication and instruction, as well as the roles of reading, language, and writing within and for a Christian community. The essayists agree on the importance of "De doctrina christiana" for the School of St. Victor, which laid the guidelines for how scholastic authors might read and interpret classical and patristic texts. They conclude that Augustine's text is indeed a classic work.

The book of Genesis in Jewish and Oriental Christian interpretation : a collection of essays

Abstract: This volume consists of sixteen essays, most of which are revised versions of papers read at a symposium held in May 1995 in Jerusalem at the Hebrew University and the Institute for Advanced Studies. Students of various religious and cultural traditions present their research in Jewish and Christian biblical interpretation. Fields covered include the Second Temple Period (Dead Sea Scrolls and the Life of Adam and Eve), Rabbinic literature, Early Greek and Syriac Antiochene exegesis, Syriac literature, Armenian reflections of Greek and Syriac exegesis (esp. the Armenian translations and reworkings of Eusebius of Emesa, Ephrem the Syrian and Jacob of Edessa), Ethiopic commentary tradition. Particular attention is devoted to the interrelationship between various traditions, e.g. Jewish and Christian, Greek and Syriac, Syriac and Armenian. The volume gives some telescoped insight into the cultural complexity of the Near East in Late Antiquity, where dynamic processes of cultural and religious interaction were continuously at work.

From old Revelation to new : a tradition-historical and redaction-critical study of temporal transitions in prophetic prediction

Abstract: From old Revelation to new takes an important step beyond the studies by Robert Carroll and Michael Fishbane in exploring inner-biblical exegesis. Simon De Vries attempts to solve the problem of ideology and technique in the expansion of prophetic prediction by schools of redactors. By analyzing those prophetic predictions that employ temporal expressions as introductory transitions - expressions such as "in that day," "behold, days are coming," and "at the end of days" - De Vries demonstrates how futuristic expectation was expanded and reshaped within the prophetic collection toward an eventual canonical form.

Early Jewish Hermeneutics and Hebrews 1:5-13: The Impact of Early Jewish Exegesis on the Interpretation of a Significant New Testament Passage

Abstract: Early Jewish Hermeneutics and Hebrews 1:5-13: The Impact of Early Jewish Exegesis on the Interpretation of a Significant New Testament Passage, by Herbert W. Bateman. American University Studies; Series 7-Theology and Religion 193. New York: Peter Lang,1997. Pp, xiv + 438. $61.95. This is a revised Dallas Theological Seminary Ph.D. dissertation whose author is currently Associate Professor of New Testament Studies at Grace Theological Seminary in Winona Lake, Indiana. It seeks to contribute to a better understanding of the Scripture quotations in Hebrews 1 by viewing them in the light of selected Qumran documents and the seven exegetical rules attributed to Hillel. Bateman argues that those rules evolved over a long period of Jewish scriptural interpretation and that they were used at Qumran and by the author of Hebrews. Or, as he puts the matter cautiously at the end of his study (p. 245), "shadows" of Hillel's rules may be found in texts such as 4Q Florilegium and Heb 1:5-13. Approximately the first hundred pages of the book are devoted to discussion of Hillel's rules and Qumran data. Bateman's endnotes cite a wide range of scholarly literature, and he often emphasizes disagreements among experts regarding ancient Jewish hermeneutics and the meaning of terms such as "midrash." He clearly defines his own views on controverted matters (sometimes, however, without arguing for them in detail). He differentiates and describes three types of biblical interpretation at Qumran: targum (illustrated by llQtgJob), midrash (illustrated by 4Q Florilegium), and pesher (illustrated by 1QpHabakkuk). Each type involves both a literary genre and a distinctive process of interpretation. Bateman argues that all three types as attested at Qumran interpret Hebrew Bible texts objectively and with respect for original context and meaning, and all three employ Hillel's exegetical rules. At the same time, Qumran exegetes typically "recontextualize" scriptural passages, often explaining them in relation to eschatology, messianic concepts, and the Qumranites' understanding of themselves as God's chosen community. When, in part 2, Bateman turns to a discussion of Heb 1:5-13, he begins by comparing each of the passage's quotations with the corresponding Septuagint and Hebrew texts; like most other scholars, he concludes that the epistle's author essentially relied on the Septuagint but introduced some modifications to express his own convictions. In his sixth chapter Bateman discusses each of the biblical passages cited in Hebrews 1 in relation to both its original meaning and its interpretation in the Dead Sea Scrolls and some other intertestamental literature. …

The Religious Art of Jacopo Bassano: Painting as Visual Exegesis

Abstract: Introduction: from text to artist 1. Oxymoron 2. Ipsissima Vox: the parable as picture 3. Genre scenes 4. The Paschal night Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index.

The Wiles of Women/The Wiles of Men: Joseph and Potiphar's Wife in Ancient near Eastern, Jewish and Islamic Folklore

Abstract: The Wiles of Women/The Wiles of Men: Joseph and Potiphar's Wife in Ancient Near Eastern, Jewish and Islamic Folklore, by Shalom Goldman. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1995. xxxiii + 148 pages. Notes to p. 168. Bibl. to p. 177. Index to p. 189. $16.95. Reviewed by Yedida K. Stillman This charmingly written, learned book will interest and delight scholars and educated lay readers alike. It investigates the motif of what may be one of the most often repeated and embellished stories in Near Eastern lore, the tale of the handsome young hero who resists seduction by the older woman-Potiphar's wife-who is mistress of the household in which he lives. He then is falsely accused by the spurned temptress, suffers unjustly, and is ultimately vindicated, rising to power, glory, and in some versions even to godhood. This romantic tale is best known today as part of the Joseph story in the Bible and the Quran and their homiletic literatures; but, as the author demonstrates, it is a universal tale with parallels and counterparts in many cultures outside the Near East and the Mediterranean. The author, Shalom Goldman, deftly wends his way through ancient Egyptian and Greek mythology, Biblical and Midrashic literature, the Quran, tafsir (exegesis of the Quran), and qisas alanbiya' (stories of the Prophets) literature. He applies the analytical methodologies not only of Biblical and Quranic studies, but of folklore, comparative literature and women's studies. While attempting to sort out the complex, intertwined relationships between variations of the Potiphar's wife motif in different civilizations and traditions, Goldman is careful to avoid the arid and futile task of trying to establish who borrowed what from whom and what is "original," "borrowed" or a "direct influence." Instead, he analyzes the principal narratives in their specific cultural context and demonstrates that they serve different functions for their respective audiences. For readers of the Bible, the Joseph story in Genesis is part, indeed a pivotal part, of the divinely planned historical epic of the Israelites. For readers of the Quran, on the other hand, Surat Yusuf (the chapter on Joseph) is an exemplum, a didactic narrative of example. For readers of the Iliad, the story of Bellerophon embodied Hellenic notions of honor, heroism and tragedy; while for readers of the Tale of Two Brothers,' the story reflected upon the Egyptian understanding of the interaction between the gods and men and the ultimate triumph of life over death and good over evil. Although these respective observations have been made by various scholars before (and in his detailed and informative notes Goldman proves his thorough familiarity with the secondary literature), it is to Goldman's credit that he has been able to expand upon them (at times, critique them) and integrate them into a broad and consistent overview. …

The Quran : a new interpretation

Abstract: This new rendering of the Holy Quran into the English language is the first of its kind, since it is a combination of translation and exegesis in which the author 'opens out' the verses of the Holy Book to reveal some of the layers of meaning expounded by the Prophet and transmitted through the ages by the Prophet's companions, family and the scholars who followed them. The fruit of over thirty years of research into the principles of Quranic exegesis and hadith analysis, this work matches a depth of Arabic and Islamic learning with a mastery of English that is lucid and accessible while preserving the integrity of the original text.

Cain and Abel in Syriac and Greek writers (4th-6th centuries)

Abstract: The main part of this work is a detailed inventory of interpretations of Gen 41-17 The exegesis related to each verse is presented quoting sources century by century, first Greek, then Syriac texts The book introduces early Jewish, Christian and Gnostic exegesis, and on the basis of the inventory, it studies selected themes in the two genres: commentaries and homilies; Greek as opposed to Syriac exegesis, the use of speeches, especially fictive speeches in the dramatized homilies, main themes related to the character of Cain, and the interrelationship of sources The book will be of interest for students of theology, history of religion, as well as for anyone studying the history of exegesis, art and literature

The ‘Mystery’ of Rom 11.25–6 Once More*

Abstract: One of the theses submitted in my book, The Origin of Paul's Gospel, was that Paul obtained the ‘mystery’ of Rom 11.25–6 from an interpretation of his Damascus revelation chiefly in the light of Isa 6 and 49. Some critics have objected to it by pointing to 1 Thess 2.14–16 or Rom 9.2–3; 10.1, and others have attempted to explain the origin of the ‘mystery’ solely in terms of Paul's scriptural exegesis in the light of his actual missionary situation. However, I find neither these attempts adequate nor the objections to my thesis substantial. Hence this new attempt to strengthen my thesis and develop it further.

Redrawing the line between hermeneutics and application

Abstract: Faculty Associate in Old and New Testaments Bernard Ramm foresaw the hermeneutical problem among evangelicals that would arise through the advent of the New Hermeneutic. Hermeneutical theorists have departed from grammaticohistorical principles and embraced the subjectivism of the New Hermeneutic. They are recommending a system that incorporates the step of application into the hermeneutical process, thereby confusing definitions of hermeneutics, exegesis, meaning, and interpretation. Dangers that the confusion brings include those of encouraging a man-centered interpretation, allowing cultural application to change meaning, and advocating a reader-response type of interpretation as well as others. To overcome those dangers, interpreters must be sure of their goal, determine what is normative, develop doctrine, and put into practice the lessons dictated by the meaning of a passage. The only way to achieve this is to redraw the line between hermeneutics and exegesis. * * * * *

Oral Exegesis: Local Interpretations of a Bengali Folk Deity

Abstract: Oral Exegesis: Local Interpretations of a Bengali Folk Deity 1 " 'They had a lot of tests, you know....' '...they said a wise man could catch the wind in a net.' '....It was a metaphor for understanding what could be felt but not seen, but of course not many people understood"' (Davies 1983: 53, 54). Returning to the Local through Oral Exegesis The current interdisciplinary climate in academe has led to a call for broader, more transnational, studies of culture (e.g., Appadurai 1991; Basch et al. 1994). A similar call has recently gone out in folkloristics as well (e.g., Shuman 1993). Although I am in sympathy with this analytical shift (Korom 1997a), a methodological need to return to the local remains. While it is true, as Amy Shuman (1993:357) has suggested, that localized phenomena serve "larger-than-local" interests, it is equally true that these broader concerns have important ramifications in the local contexts within which translocal concerns are initially generated. Kirin Narayan (1996:182) has recently asserted that the potential ramification of focusing too exclusively on transnational cultural flows "is frequently to ignore the socially marginalized," those people or groups of people referred to as subalterns by a select group of interdisciplinary cultural critics based mostly in India (cf. Pandey 1995). Indeed, to recover the voices of such marginalized people is to empower them, to a certain extent, by allowing the victimized, the outcast and the poor to speak for themselves about their own traditions. Elsewhere, Narayan (1995a, b) has also indicated the need to make better and more extensive use of what Dundes (1966) once referred to as "oral literary criticism," those statements made by our indigenous consultants to explicate the implicit meanings of the items of verbal art recorded in the field. While not abandoning the general theoretical framework initially described by Dundes, I prefer the term oral exegesis in the case of religion, since it suggests the hermeneutic dimension of oral statements about orthodoxy and orthopraxy (cf. Korom 1992:61-77). By utilizing oral exegesis, we correctly move away from idealized and edited religious texts, thereby allowing us to look more closely at individual beliefs within a localized "galaxy" of meanings (Brown 1994:75-83; Gill 1987:147-172).2 In so doing, we place ourselves in a better position to uncover what Wittgenstein (1976) called "family resemblances" within a cumulative tradition (cf. Korom 1997b).3 My data from Goalpara, a small, all-Hindu village located in the Birbhum district of West Bengal, suggest that many of the individual beliefs concerning the elusive deity named Dharmaraj, as well as the multiple components of his annual puja (ritual service), are fairly constant. However, we find a great amount of exegetical variation in the subtle ways people talk about the deity. Because religious texts and oral utterances generate the possibility of many interpretations by a local community, an inquiry into individual understandings can enable a move outward from the individual to the community in order to address the larger question of the interdependence between "local knowledge" (Geertz 1983), worldview (Smart 1983; 1985:74-75) and belief systems (Kopytoff 1981; Skorupski 1978).4 Taken together, these three engulfing cognitive domains dynamically inform and construct the indigenous conceptions that underlie religious practices associated with Dharmaraj in Goalpara. In essence, the study of oral exegesis is a return to an earlier emphasis on privileging the particular over the general because "specificities have an explanatory value" (Raychaudhuri 1988:345), which is, of course, the purpose of exegesis. Further, Karl-Heinz Kohl has suggested that the study of interpretation in small oral communities might enable us to account better for religious change, since significant transformations may occur in very short spans of time (1988). …