Pericope

A pericope refers to a specific segment within a longer work that functions as a coherent and meaningful unit. It may consist of a narrative episode, teaching, legal instruction, or dialogue with clear internal structure. In literary and religious studies, identifying pericopes helps explain how texts are organized and how themes develop across sections. Pericopes are commonly used in public reading, instruction, and commentary because they allow focused interpretation of a passage without treating the entire work as a single undivided whole.