In the Latin West during the 12th and 13th centuries the goal of commentary was to explain the author’s intention. However, until the end of the 13th century, commentators worked on the assumption that the author intended to express the truth; thus every effort was made to bring an author’s text into harmony with the truth as the author understands it from what he takes to be authoritative sources. This attitude toward texts is generally thought to emerge from the tradition of biblical exegesis,