Esoteric versus Exoteric

  Esoteric (adjective) is defined as “private; an epithet applied to the private instructions and doctrines of Pythagoras; opposed to exoteric, or public.” Esoteric truths are “designed for or understood by the specially initiated alone; requiring or exhibiting knowledge that is restricted to a small group.” From the Greek esōterikos, from esōterō, comparative of eisō, esō within, from eis = into; akin to Greek en = in.
  The opposite of esoteric is exoteric, which is defined as “suitable to be imparted to the public; the exoteric doctrine; b: belonging to the outer or less initiate circle.”
  In our discussion of most of the topics on The Via Christa, we include both the exoteric and more esoteric meanings of the terms we use. The following definitions, drawn from the Jewish approach to learning, most accurately show the scale of degree and kind of our depth of study or explanation.
  ‘Pardes’ refers to types of approaches to biblical exegesis in rabbinic Judaism, or to interpretation of text in Torah study. Pardes, sometimes rendered PaRDeS, is an acronym formed from the initials of the following four approaches:
  Peshat (פְּשָׁט): ‘surface’ (‘straight’) or the literal (direct) meaning.
  Remez (רֶמֶז): ‘hints’ or the deep (allegoric: hidden or symbolic) meaning beyond just the literal sense.
  Derash (דְּרַשׁ): from Hebrew darash: ‘inquire’ (‘seek’)—the comparative (midrashic) meaning, as given through similar occurrences.
  Sod (סוֹד) (pronounced with a long O as in ‘lore’): ‘secret’ (‘mystery’) or the esoteric/mystical meaning, as given through inspiration or revelation.

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