Bible Word of the Day

Eisegesis (Reading Meaning into Text, Misinterpretation of Scripture)

Meaning
Eisegesis is a symptom of the fallen world we live in, a world which is at enmity with God. Moreover, it has become more and more common in our day as people have lost their understanding of the Bible and who Jesus really is. The word “eisegesis” means “to lead into.” And as it’s used today it means “to read a meaning into the text that wasn’t there in the first place.” Making the text say what you want it to say. And unfortunately it has become very popular today to take Bible passages out of context and claim they mean something, that was never stated in scripture. This means eisegesis is the interpretation of a passage based on a subjective, non-analytical reading where the reader forces their idea on to a passage. And it’s usually based on our personal biases, world view and prejudices.

Therefore, it’s very important for us to understand that the Bible is God’s revelation to mankind regarding His plan of redemption. And it’s not open to our interpretation, we can either accept the Bible or reject it, but we cannot make it say something it doesn’t say. Eisegesis involves no understanding of scripture and no studying of the text. Instead, it’s seeking out pieces of text to support the idea we had before we started reading. Eisegesis is usually marked by a person who approaches scripture with a preconceived notion or bias and then looks for words to fit their perspective. More often than not, those words are taken out of context. Which means they are usually snippets of text taken from a portion of a sentence without leaving the sentence or passage intact. Another form is to take passages out of context without examining surrounding verses or original language text for a proper understanding.