Standard:

Biblical exegesis played a central role in the theoretical construction of ?orthodoxy? throughout the Middle Ages, even as it was progressively formalized into an independent genre separate from theology. Medieval interpreters of Sacred Scripture legitimized their own contributions by linking them to the tradition of early Christian writing, building upon the authoritative legacy of the church fathers and gaining for themselves a place as authorities. While reinforcing Catholic doctrine, exegetes also provided complementary reflections on erroneous, distorted, and deceptive interpretations of the divine word. They sought in Scripture prefigurations of the church's enemies, gleaning from the Bible and the patristic tradition the characteristics of a dangerous population of sinners, dissidents, infidels, and heretics. Alongside polemical, canonical, homiletic, judicial, and hagiographic writings, biblical commentaries made a key contribution to the shaping of the antiheretical discourse of the central and later Middle Ages.