Exegesis has long been characterized by a broad disciplinary diversity but also ambiguity -
combining biblical studies exegesis early Jewish studies early Christian studies Ancient
Near Eastern studies Greco-Roman and classical studies in various ways. This is to say
nothing of the more recent development of contextual and engaged exegesis as reflected in
feminist liberation postcolonial and queer Biblical exegesis. Furthermore how and why
scholars study the Bible varies not only across confessional or cultural contexts but across
institutional-academic contexts. The book engages these complex methodological questions about
the interrelations of context institutions and knowledge production in relation to such
issues as religious belonging ethnicity political identity and postcolonial pasts among
other issues of contemporary importance.
