What’s the difference between EXEGESIS and EISEGESIS?

#Eisegesis #BibleStudy #TheBible

There is something that we all do subconsciously while reading the bible. Eisegesis.

What is Eisegesis?

Let me illustrate:

In Matthew’s infancy narrative, if you think that there are three kings that visit baby, you are doing Eisegesis!

In Genesis 3, if you view the forbidden fruit that exiles humanity from the garden as an apple -- you’re doing Eisegesis!

In Luke, if the identity of the woman who anoints Jesus’ feet using her hair is Mary Magdalene, who in turn is a prostitute. Again… you’re doing Eisegesis.

What is Eisegesis?

Well, if Exegesis means to “Draw the meaning out” of the text, Eisegesis is to put meaning into the text.

In other words, rather than letting the original author tell us what he means in Scripture, we are applying our own meaning.

I mention that we do this subconsciously all the time -- the reason, we are surrounded by Tradition and traditional interpretations that make it VERY DIFFICULT for us to critical.

We are so used to hearing these stories and what they mean that we often passively read them. Exegesis requires active reading!

When I taught high school on occasion I would have a concerned parent tell me at the beginning of the semester that they were concerned that their child wouldn’t do well in my scripture class because they have no background in the Bible. I reassured the parent that when doing exegesis, a clean slate can actually be an advantage -- because you’re not going to bring your own preconceived notions to the text. You’re not going to fall into the trap of eisegesis.

To give you some perspective on how easy it is for us to fall into this approach to Scripture, last week when I was recording an audio dub on the story of Nicodemus , although the verse clearly said “Kingdom of God”, my mind kept telling me to say "Kingdom of Heaven." This happened four times even though I was trying to be an active reader! How often do we make these mistakes without even thinking about it?

Eisegesis is not only unfair to the original authors, but it can also be detrimental -- just look at poor Mary Magdalene who gained a reputation beginning in the Middle Ages of being a prostitute. Nowhere in the Bible is that ever referenced, yet how many of us view her that way while reading the Gospel stories?

Whether we believe that the Bible is God’s literal words or God’s inspired words, it is essential that we let the author tell us meaning, rather than impose our own meaning onto the author.

Today’s discussion topic: What are some other stories that people tend to impose their own meaning onto? Please comment below.

[ThatTheologyTeacher]

Can you name some other typical examples of scriptural eisegesis?

[Gospelogian]

This is a very helpful video! I’m pretty passionate about this topic as a pastor myself!

[glasguitar]

You hit on the Mary Magdalene misconception! First time I've heard anyone else say this. Thanks.

[terrysmith]

Thank you for this explanation. Scarily I don't think I have heard anyone use Eisegesis as a word before, despite there being plenty of people doing it.

[praiselujahradio-show]

Sir! Thank you for the explanation. Thank you for going directly to the point...with a splash of nuance! We are following you guys now! #PraiseGOD

[JackmeriusTacktheritrix-]

Makes sense. My wife eisegetes what I say all the time because she knows what I really meant better than I do

[zyuh]

Just found out about these two words after starting my bibe study and I gotta say I’m glad I caught it early before falling into the trap obviously ! 🙈
Thanks for the easy explanation and funny video :)

[TheAccessibleFaithProject]

Good stuff. It even covers things like having various farm animals in the infancy narrative from Luke... or cramming the Magi into Luke's account on Christmas eve. Thanks for this. :)

[ThoughtsofHutch]

For me, its one thing Bishop Barron brought up about Matthew 16:8, where it says "the gates of hell will not prevail", which is interesting because most people take it as an offensive action. Gates dont move, its supposed to be an offensive action against hell. Loving your lessons btw! Will you do a lesson about the strong influence culture has on biblical interpretation and how it leads to the various denominations?

[livingfreefiretestimonies]

That also happens a lot when you read different translations of the Bible and they use specific phrases and stuff. Good video! Thanks for sharing. It's also really hard to get the real mood of the author which can change soooo much!

[stephennapier]

Perfect. Well said sir. There are so many people not living a full and truly meaningful Christian life because of the "Ministry Malpractice" going on in pulpits across the globe. Proper extrapolation of the messages from the Bible is so necessary.

[technopriest]

Fascinating, and a great word to add to my vocabulary that makes sense of a bad habit we know all too well. On the topic of eisegesis, this convo really gets me thinking about the danger of a lot of translations out there. I wish it was as common place to learn and know Aramaic and koine greek in Christianity as it is to know Arabic in Islam. Would make life a lot easier. Gets you thinking about the limitations of culture and how intricately woven religion is with spoken language.

[lagart]

Hi,
I'm currently studying the historical Jesus and would love to see a video on how to conduct critical text exegesis and turn it into a theological message.

[gracegeek]

I just spent 28 classroom hours at a "Seminary" in Ohio, where the "professor" taught esigesis as exegesis. Literally said this..."people determine the meaning of words"...and this...."there is never one right interpretation of any text"..."people can create their own interpretations" this guy was teaching 18 pastors. I wanted to cry.

[paultrosclair]

The entire body of "Reformed Theology" aka Calvinism ( of which Arminianism is just another form ) is a classic example of this, reading a philosophy into scripture rather than observing what it actually says and removing it from it's context.

[jmh]

Matthew 24:44 “..be ye also ready.” People use this for being caught off guard in services to do anything! And for a myriad of other reasons! Eisegesis

[timbawangu]

Jeremiah 1:5....before "you" were formed in your mother's womb.... For the longest time I read it as such.


Until I actually read what it says....before I formed you in your mother's womb.


The first one takes away the creative power of God, though in subtlety... I am learning. Thank you

[ThePhilosophicalINFP]

EXEGESIS and EISEGESIS are like YIN and YANG and you cannot do one without the other. One must embrace the eisegetical to access to truly exegetical--and nothing is read without context of tradition and history, realized or unconscious.

[chad]

So if someone claimed that Jonah 1:17 is about the messiah rising from the dead after three days, or that Jeremiah 31:15 is about the slaughter of infants in Bethlehem by Herod, or that Psalm 41:9 is about the messiah being betrayed by a close friend, would those be examples of exegesis or eisegesis?

[JoshAlicea]

My church tells us to “pray the scriptures over your children.” Isn’t it eisegesis to interpret the scriptures to meet their needs?