Study Basics

Exegesis vs Eisegesis

Exegesis means "to lead out of" (ex), while Eisegesis means "to lead into" (eis). Exegesis is the objective process of drawing the original, intended meaning out of a text based on context, grammar, and history. Conversely, eisegesis is the subjective practice of reading personal biases, agendas, or preconceived ideas into a text. Exegesis seeks to understand the author, while eisegesis forces the text to fit the reader's view.

The Bible is the Word of God, and He has a very specific point He’s making in His text. He has a plan. When we read the Bible in the context of ourselves first, we are sidelining God’s plan and prioritizing ourselves. This is a difficult mindset to get out of and requires practice to improve our study habits.

Here is a quick comparison of each approach:

What does this look like in practice? Let’s use both methods on a single passage to try it out.

Have you been reading your Bible like this? When you do Bible study books, do they often ask questions like this that relate more towards your life experiences and how you should change the way you do things? This is Eisegesis, and unfortunately, this method often causes misinterpretations of verses, like the one above. If you've ever been exposed to things like the "Prosperity Gospel," they will use verses like this out of context to support their message and agenda.

Now, lets look at the proper way to approach this passage.

Do you see the process of how we approached that verse? Eisegesis was a very quick question and answer without much thought to the real context in which it was written. Our sin nature told us want we wanted (“I want more stuff!”), and then we supported that sinful desire with the verse we read.

However, when we used Exegesis, we tried first to understand the writer and the context in which it was written. We saw there was a problem with evildoers oppressing the faithful and depriving people of land, but God is asking His people to trust Him and He will take care of them. In that context, there’s a stark contrast between the faithful and the evildoers, indicating that verse 4 is emphasizing that Israel should rely solely on Him and not resort to the methods of the world to solve their problems. Diving deeper into it, we see that the rest of the Bible has a theme of what happens to us when we focus on our faith and relationship with God, and how that will transform us and help us walk aligned to His will. This verse, therefore, is not about God giving us what we want. It’s about people aligning themselves to the will of the Father.

And that is Exegesis. The process takes a bit longer to study, but it will offer a richer experience with God's Word.

Law of First Mention

The Law of First Mention is a biblical hermeneutic (interpretive technique) suggesting that the first time a word, doctrine, or concept is mentioned in Scripture, it sets a foundational, often unchanging pattern for its meaning throughout the Bible. It is often applied to key words, with the idea that God introduces topics in a basic manner first.

By utilizing this law, we can expand on the meaning of later verses by applying the standards and patterns set by the first instance. These patterns tend to flow throughout the entire Bible story and give a richer meaning to passages we oftentimes overlook.

How do we apply this to our studies? Let’s look at an example.

In this passage, we’re told that the New Jerusalem is adorned like a bride for her husband. Our first question should be: Where is the first instance of a bride in the Bible? That will take us back to Genesis 2, with Adam and Eve.

If we use Exegesis with this passage, we’ll discover a few things.

• Eve (Adam’s Bride) was taken from Adam’s side.
• The words used to describe the creation of Adam and Eve are different. Adam is “formed” but Eve is “built”, the word typically used to describe the construction of a building or a city.
• Adam and Eve are symbolically one body.

If you apply this rule to the church, we see a few things that match up:

• The Church was born out of Jesus’ pierced side (John 19:34), just like Eve was taken out of Adam.
• Christians are called “living stones” (1 Peter 2:4-10) with Jesus as the cornerstone. We are being built into a dwelling place for the Lord (Ephesians 2:19-22), which will be the New Jerusalem on the New Earth.
• The Church is also one with Jesus, being called the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12-27).

You can continue on with analyzing this pattern, but this imagery should help expand the meaning of the verses we see in the New Testament. God set a pattern for the “Bride” through Eve and followed that pattern all the way through Revelation.

Using the Law of First Mention will help you understand the layers behind different patterns. One verse might simply mention a single word, but the story behind that word is rich and meaningful. It's your job to uncover those patterns and symbols to expand your understanding.

Word Studies

When you only read the Bible in your chosen language and translation, you’re missing out on a lot of the original meaning. Especially if you’re reading it in English. The majority of the Bible is written in Hebrew and Greek (there’s some Aramaic), and those languages are extremely layered and nuanced. English, however, tends to have very narrow meanings for each word. That’s why there’s so many different translations and variations in verses and interpretations from Bible to Bible or denomination to denomination.

We face three key challenges in word studies:

• Translation challenges: Scripture was originally written in languages other than English.
• Comprehension challenges: Language is constantly changing. What a word meant two hundred years ago might not be what it means today. Our culture and experiences also drive us to understand words differently as well.
• Interpretive challenges: Language is more than words. Language is context, culture, history, personal experience… Understanding a single word doesn’t always guarantee an accurate interpretation. Notice that even today people speak the same language and yet still misunderstand each other?

To combat this problem, we should be utilizing something like Strong’s Concordance when we are reading. This assigns a unique number to every word and matches it up the original Hebrew or Greek from the manuscripts, giving you definitions, alternate meanings, commentaries, historical context, and cross-references to every verse in the Bible that uses that word. This will allow you to get a deeper understanding of what the essence of the word is and how it should be interpreted in the verse you’re currently analyzing.

Let’s practice with an example together.

Let’s look at the word “love” here. Here’s the steps we need to follow:

1. First read other translations of the verse to see how it’s been interpreted in the past.
2. Look at the word in its original language.
3. Understand the definition of the original language word.
4. Examine how that word is used in the context of other passages in the Bible.

See? It's not that hard. It just takes a little extra time and some curiosity to explore the words behind the verses. But this extra step will help you understand the real meaning behind the text. If you need tools to do a word study, you can purchase a Strong's Concordance physical book and manually spend the time searching the text. Or, we recommend using online tools, such as Biblehub.com, to quickly see references and definitions. Find more resources to help with this on the Resources page.

Context

Understanding Bible context requires looking beyond single verses to examine surrounding text, historical background, and literary genre. Key methods include reading entire chapters/books, studying the original audience, and using tools like commentaries to determine what the author meant, rather than just interpreting it for today. This is a key component of Exegesis.

When you pull out a single verse and read it alone, you can make it mean anything you want it to. However, it’s best practice to read the entire passage from where it came to understand what is being talked about.