Garry Brantley therefore concludes: “It is improper exegesis to force pagan beliefs into the biblical text simply because of linguistic similarities.”

The late Frederick F. Bruce, professor of Biblical criticism and exegesis at the University of Manchester, England, stated: “It is not usually possible to demonstrate by historical arguments the truth of every detail in an ancient writing, whether inside or outside the Bible.

a New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology & Exegesis, Volume 4, pages 205-7.

Thus we find legend and history, contemporary science and folklore, Biblical exegesis and biography, homily and theology woven together into what, to one unfamiliar with the ways of the academies, would seem to be a curious medley of unorganized data.”

Dr. Cottrell urges Adventists to make “a careful reexamination of the basic assumptions and the principles of exegesis on which we have based our interpretation of this—for Adventism—indispensable passage of Scripture.”

It is said to stand for “the central part in general, the inside, and so for the interior man as manifesting himself in all his various activities, in his desires, affections, emotions, passions, purposes, his thoughts, perceptions, imaginations, his wisdom, knowledge, skill, his beliefs and his reasonings, his memory and his consciousness.” (Journal of the Society of Biblical Literature and Exegesis, 1882, page 67)

Not according to F. F. Bruce, a retired professor of Biblical Criticism and Exegesis at the University of Manchester, who writes: “It is not usually possible to demonstrate by historical arguments the truth of every detail in an ancient writing, whether inside or outside the Bible.

He was one of the earlier believers in the millennium, that is, the personal reign of Christ on earth for a thousand years after the resurrection of the dead, and was the author of five books of commentaries on the sayings of the Lord (Lógōn Kyriakôn Exegesis), a few fragments of which are extant.

Rather, exegesis, or Bible interpretation of the meaning intended by the original writer, will have to govern.

Consequently on page 20 of the Foreword the New World Bible Translation Committee says in the second paragraph: “To avoid overstepping the bounds of a translator into the field of exegesis, we have tried to be most cautious about rendering the divine name, always carefully considering the Hebrew Scriptures.

A similar allegoric exegesis of the creation of Eve (Genesis 2:20-23) makes even this passage reasonable to the modern reader.