後現代的聖經詮釋，已經從現代式的浪漫想法，自認可以在文本中找到作者的意圖，轉向後現代式的悲觀，完全揚棄這種觀念。昔日歷史批判學的學者認為，詮釋無非就是「找出文本對於寫作者及最初讀者當時的意涵」，1 但後現代學者直言，要找出已死去聖經作者的意圖，終必無功而返。2 因此，有些持作者意圖論的學者，為要回應後現代詮釋學，紛紛轉向「言語行為理論」（speech-act theory）。

The postmodern era has seen the polarization of authorial intent and reader’s role in biblical interpretation. In the face of the stalemate, some biblical scholars have attempted to bridge the gap by speech-act theory. Drawing on J. L. Austin’s and J. Searle’s ideas of speech-act theory, scholars such as D. Evans, A. C. Thiselton, R. Briggs advance the hermeneutics of self-involvement. Their application of the hermeneutics not only yields new insights on biblical interpretation, but also offers a tenable explanation of what happens between the author and the reader in the reading process. While this is so, there remain issues to be addressed with regard to its application to exegesis. One of such areas is related to Searle’s concept of context. This article will point out that despite its importance to speech-act theory, context also complicates the application of self-involving hermeneutics to exegesis.