Exegesis

Definition: an explanation or interpretation of written text

A person who engages in this is an “exegete.”

Not to be confused with exigency.

Why I Looked It Up

Douglas Wilson, in a blog post about Biblical support for the patriarchy, wrote:

As trendy as it may be to rage against the patriarchy, for progressive evangelicals, the key to doing this successfully is to rage against the exegesis, which is to say, to rage against the clear implications of the text.

His point was that the Bible says what it says and we spend a lot of time and energy trying to re-interpret it.