ABSTRACT
The Book of Kells was produced in a culture where the use and production of exegesis was long-established and sophisticated. This chapter suggests that the layout and decoration of the Lucan genealogy and the Temple picture in the Book of Kells are related and that they are responsive to the theological significance of the gospel text as perceived in patristic and insular exegesis. The growth in knowledge of early insular literary culture, however, does prompt the attempt to view the layout and decoration of the gospel text in the Book of Kells in the context of how Scripture itself was read. Such apparent contradictions and obscurities in Scripture were regarded as pointing to a hidden significance and attracted the particular interest of exegetes. The splendour of the page and the difficulty of deciphering the veiled letter forms of its literal text compel the reader to pause and ponder the significance of the sacred names.
