Chapter four Journal In this chapter, the author looks at hermeneutics in a much broader sense, which is much less exact than the exegesis tool. The author again reminds readers that “a text cannot mean what it never could have meant for its original readers or hearers” (Fee and Stuart, 77). That is why the exegesis must come first. So in summary, the basic rule is not to be used alone, but it can always inform the reader as to what a passage cannot mean. The second rule is exploring how God’s word is the same for everyone as it was for the early humans that were facing similar life situations. So in using the exegesis, when studying 1 Corinthians for instance, we are understanding that we too fall under that same word as the Corinthians, especially