ABSTRACT
The following is an attempt to outline some of the major developments in biblical exegesis over the past few decades and to give an initial indication of their relevance to Bible translation. Particularly noteworthy are the increasingly interdisciplinary nature of biblical exegesis, especially with regard to the contribution of social sciences, the importance of literary studies, and the overlap of exegetical methods. While there still are of course the traditional fields of textual and language studies, the current situation has been well characterized as ‘eclectic’ (Exum and Clines 1993:12), with most scholars moving freely from one critical approach to another depending on their focus. Although for the sake of convenience I have used headings to identify different exegetical methods, they should not be thought of as discrete methodologies or approaches.
