exegete

A text that could not speak to the present was dead, and the exegete had a duty to revive it.

In Plato's state all three exegetes will be selected by Apollo. This is contrary to the practice of Hellenistic times, according to the evidence so ably marshaled by Oliver, when only two of the exegetes were named by the oracle.

Theophrastus' "superstitious man" finds that a mouse has gnawed a hole in his meal sack and, obviously thinking it a portent, consults the exegete as to what he shall do... The exegete tells him, according to Theophrastus, to take the sack to a leather shop and have it mended. If this is drawn from life, it indicates that the exegetes discharged their functions with humour and common sense.

History, not the dictionary, must exegete this doctrine. When thus exegeted, the secularity of our Government, as shown by the intentions of its founders, the customs of the people, and the continuous decisions of the courts, means simply the separation of church and state.