ABSTRACT
As a technique for drawing out signification and truths concealed below the surface of the text, hermeneutics was a part of biblical exegesis. In the distinctive Protestant mode of reading Scripture as hiding a meaning meant for you, the distinction between public surface and private depth installed a tension between immediate objective experience and deferred revelation of subjective meaning. Calling any apparent meaning into question threw the reader back on to themself, casting doubt on any existing interpretation and focusing attention inwardly on the self. Hermeneutics was a novel instrument for transforming the day’s events into the scene of ones possible salvation.
