At first glance a Bible story may seem like just that, a simple story; however, when you do more than simply read the story, you can find numerous underlying meanings. Reading the Bible for its meanings can sometimes be confusing, which results in different interpretations and raises a lot of discussion among readers. When reading the Bible, "it is necessary to apply critical reading tools to discover what God wants to communicate to us" (Smith-Christopher, 28). To understand what God wants to communicate we must use hermeneutics, the science of interpretation. Hermeneutics helps point Bible readers in the correct direction by presenting methods that serve to assist their interpretation. Exegesis, a method of interpretation, is the process of determining the meaning of a text in the context of its composition. “Analyzing something by its context involves looking at the circumstances in which it occurs” (Smith-Christopher, 34). By understanding the circumstances under which the story was written you can deduce what the author may have been thinking and what effect these thoughts may have had on the story. An additional method in hermeneutics is the historical-critical method, the method of interpretation that asks critical questions about the text regarding history, language, genre, etc. The historical-critical method helps advance one's interpretation of the Bible by asking what the story was like, what language the texts were originally written in, and what the genre of the story is. As a reader, you must also take into account what God intended when He inspired the author to write the stories. “In order to correctly interpret Scripture, we must pay… half the paper… Exodus: History or Mythical Tale? - My Jewish culture." Judaism and Jewish life - My Jewish culture. Web. November 16, 2011. .4) Shane. "Was Moses really the writer of Exodus? :: July :: 2009." CEE Blog. July 11, 2009. Web. November 16, 2011. .5) "Introduction to Exodus." Home | ESV Study Bible | Crossway. Web. November 17, 2011. .6) Friedman, Richard. Who Wrote the Bible? HarperSanFrancisco, 1997.7) Dozeman, Thomas Walter J (1998)..