Meaning of PERICOPE

Part of the Bible that is read on certain occasions in worship.
Thus already in the religious services of the Jews, in which, in Palestine, it was customary to read the entire Pentateuch over three years.
Only the great festivities had their own pericopes.

A similar custom was followed in the Christian liturgy. However, here continuous reading was practically abolished because a selection of pericopes had been made in the Roman Catholic Church according to the festivals and their times or according to the "seasons" of the churches.

The pericopes were chosen in part on outdated interpretations of biblical texts, and frequently did not take into consideration the unitary meaning of the passage from which the pericope was taken.

Thus, listeners received the impression that the pericopes were autonomous "biblical units", with full meaning in themselves, with the result that the intention of the book as such was never known.

Luther's Reformation taught the people to read the Bible for themselves, and to read the entire books, so that they could understand what they say, and not just hear certain portions from the lips of preachers.