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Editor’s
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EISEGESIS OR
EXEGESIS
The above two Greek words, in the title of this article, describe the profound effect they have had on others in both a proper and improper understanding of Scripture. One has a bad connotation and the other a good one.
Eisegesis is the process of reading into God’s Word something that is not there. It is inserting a thought that the writer never intended to convey. Most times this happens when the context surrounding the passage of Scripture is ignored or when one approaches a passage of the Bible with their own bias and tries to change the meaning of God’s Word to fit their preconceived ideas.
Exegesis, on the other hand, means drawing from the passage of Scripture what the words were intended to convey. It considers the context and seeks to understand the true meaning without bias, personal agenda, or preconceived ideas. Thus, it allows God’s Word to speak for itself as the Holy Spirit supplies enlightenment as to a proper understanding of what is written.
Eisegesis is easy to fall into, especially when one has not approached God’s Word with an open mind. It is quite fearful for some to think about reconsidering what they have believed to be truth for so long with the thought that it might be wrong. Instead, they find comfort in their long-held beliefs and defend them to the end. To venture into the Bible without any bias and consider other possible views of God’s Word is something they are not willing to do. They prefer to rest in their comfortable creedal bed, finding it easier to accept another person’s teachings without carefully checking out the Biblical context and the intent of the author.
E. W. Bullinger in his book, “How to Enjoy the Bible – A Guide to Better Understanding and Enjoying God’s Word,” uses two terms that well describe this problem we are addressing. The first is “Text-Mangling.” This is the practice of extracting a few words without regard to the context in which it is found and assigning an interpretation and teaching that is non-contextual and therefore usually erroneous. The second is “Text-Garbling.” This is the practice of taking part of a verse of Scripture and stringing another verse onto it to teach something that was never intended by the writer or writers.
To correctly understand the Word of God, the context in which it is found is extremely important. Consider the following points:
· If the context is disregarded, then a word, a sentence, or a verse may be taken out of context and interpreted as something quite foreign to the writer’s original intent or meaning.
· Every sentence and every verse has something going before it and something following after it.
· It is essential to our understanding of the words in question to find out why they are where we find them.
· Disregarding context has been responsible for many false teachings and religious traditions of men.
Praying
for the Holy Spirit’s enlightenment before we begin a study of God’s Word is
extremely important. The Apostle John’s exhortation in 1 John 2:27 should make this
point clear to us. He says, “As for you, the anointing you
received from Him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But
as His anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real,
not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.” Why did the Apostle John write these words?
The context and the previous verse give us the answer. Verse 26 states, “I am writing these things to you about
those who are trying to lead you astray.” False teachers were trying to
corrupt the teaching of God’s Word and the Apostle was concerned.
In Acts 17:11, the Bereans were commended for checking out what Paul had said
to them, making sure it was scriptural. “Now the Bereans
were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the
message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if
what Paul said was true.” They adhered to Paul’s own advice given them
in 1 Thessalonians
Let us always exercise “exegesis” and never “eisegesis” when we consider the Word of God. If we do this, God will pour out His blessing upon us as we search out the true understanding of His Word, and we will know His will for us through the guidance of the Holy Spirit through Scripture.
E. Weeks