Many people over the years have understood the goal of exegesis to be the discovery of the biblical writer’s purpose in writing, what is called the authorial intent. While a laudable goal, this is often difficult to achieve. It can be hard enough to grasp our own intentions in writing something, let alone those of another person from another time and culture.4 Many interpreters today reject authorial intent as the goal of exegesis. A more modest and appropriate primary goal would be to achieve a