Editing Exegesis (section)

==Biblical commentaries==
{{See also|List of Biblical commentaries|Jewish commentaries on the Bible}}
A common published form of biblical exegesis is known as a Bible commentary and typically takes the form of a set of books, each of which is devoted to the [[wikt:exposition|exposition]] of one or two [[books of the Bible]]. Long books or those that contain much material either for theological or [[Historical criticism|historical-critical]] speculation, such as [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]] or [[Book of Psalms|Psalms]], may be split over two or three volumes. Some, such as the [[Four Gospels]], may be multiple- or single-volume, while short books such as the [[deuterocanonical]] portions of [[Book of Daniel|Daniel]], [[Book of Esther|Esther]], and [[Book of Jeremiah|Jeremiah]] (i.e. [[Book of Susanna]], [[Prayer of Azariah]], [[Bel and the Dragon]], [[Additions to Esther]], [[Book of Baruch|Baruch]] and the [[Epistle of Jeremiah]]), or the [[Pastoral epistles|pastoral]] or [[Johannine epistles]] are often condensed into one volume.

The form of each book may be identical or allow for variations in [[methodology]] among the many authors who collaborate to write a full commentary. Each book's commentary generally consists of a background and introductory section, followed by detailed commentary of the book [[pericope]]-by-pericope or verse-by-verse. Before the 20th century, a commentary would be written by a sole author, but in the recent period, a publishing board will commission a team of scholars to write a commentary, with each volume being divided out among them.

A single commentary will generally attempt to give a coherent and unified view on the Bible as a whole, for example, from a [[Catholic]] or [[Reformed Churches|Reformed]] ([[Calvinist]]) perspective, or a commentary that focuses on [[textual criticism]] or [[historical criticism]] from a secular point of view. However, each volume will inevitably lean toward the personal emphasis bias of its author, and within any commentaries there may be great variety in the depth, accuracy, and critical or theological strength of each volume.