Book Review: Deep Exegesis by Peter Leithart

In his book Deep Exegesis: The Mystery of Reading Scripture Peter Leithart asks, “If God is telling us more than one story at the same time, do we not want to hear them all?” This question sums up the general thrust of his book. Following in the tracks of medieval Bible scholars he seeks to apply the Word of God to the totus Christus, the whole Christ.

Leithart is critical of modern conservative Biblical exegetes, not for having an incorrect interpretation and application of scripture, but for having (as the title of the book implies) too shallow an interpretation and application of scripture. He seeks to plumb the depths of scripture for its multiple meanings and applications by examining biblical texts as events, players, jokes, music and ultimately, about Christ.

Leithart will be criticized by conservatives, but he is in no way pushing for a postmodern hermeneutic in which texts can mean whatever they want. In fact he is more critical of those modern Bible scholars who would lead the church down that path. What he does seek to do is find all the meaning that God does intend in the Word. He sees the spiritual gift of teaching as the interpretation and application of texts to the members of the body of Christ which necessarily means there is often more to a text than meets the eye.

Texts are events in a typological sense. Leithart shows how events change and grow over time. For instance, the fact that Rosa Parks sat in the white section of a bus was an event, but it grew exponentially in significance because of the ensuing Civil Rights movement and what her action came to symbolize. Similarly, we cannot look at the life of David and ignore the typological implications fulfilled in Christ. David’s life didn’t find its full meaning until the typological fulfillment in the life of Christ. We cannot fully understand Rosa Parks actions apart from the Civil Rights movement and we cannot understand the life of David apart from Christ. As Leithart writes, “Meaning remains stable; significance changes over time.”

Texts are jokes in that they are dependent on other texts, stories, histories, etc. We can read Matthew 1:1 and understand the sentence, all the words and the structure but we don’t get the meaning unless we understand from earlier texts the implications of phrases like “Son of David,” “Son of Abraham,” and the word “Christ.” This isn’t a simple introductory statement but a bold proclamation of the Gospel with the full weight of the Old Testament canon behind it. Like an inside joke, we cannot understand scripture in its fullness unless we understand the other scripture a given text draws from, the culture and history of the people writing and listening, etc.

Texts are like music in that they are arranged and structured to amplify meaning. Throughout the book Leithart uses the story of the healing of the blind man in John 9 as an example. Here he shows how wordplay, double entendres, literary devices and structure are employed to bring out further meaning in the text. Finally, Leithart seeks to show that application from every text is about Christ and the totus Christus or the body of Christ (i.e. us). For example, he asks if the story of Cain and Abel is about Christ or about the church. First it is a story taken at face value. Second, it is about Christ who suffered and died unjustly but became the better big brother for the body of Christ. Third, it is about the church who will suffer as Christ suffered and become a better big brother as the totus Christus for others.

I don’t always agree with Dr. Leithart’s work and I am sure that this book will stir controversy and criticism as pretty much everything he writes does. However, I was greatly helped by this book and I didn’t find it all that controversial. Leithart isn’t some liberal trying to distort the literal meaning of the Bible but is a pastor and theologian deeply concerned with reclaiming the full depth and meaning of the Word of God as it was intended. This isn’t an introductory text but I would recommend it to any pastor, seminary student or laymen familiar with exegesis and hermeneutics who is looking for something challenging and a little different.