Recently, there has a major burst of interest
in the post on this blog about the messianic prophecy of the Star of
Bethlehem. Christians
traditionally have believed that the Old Testament is full of references to
Jesus and prophecies about Him.
Jewish scholars, of course, deny this and accuse Christians of
misinterpreting scripture. They
say that we take words and phrases out of the context of the surrounding
text. Essentially, they are saying
that we are practicing eisegesis.
Eisegesis (εἰς, eis, Greek =
“into.”) is the process of interpreting a text or portion of text using one's
own presuppositions, agendas, or biases. This is commonly referred to as reading
your prior suppositions into the text.
Christian biblical scholars stress the need to
practice exegesis of biblical texts and not eisegesis. (Exegesis ἐξηγεῖσθαι (exegeisthai) The English meaning of
this Greek word is “to explain,” or “to interpret.” The idea is that the interpretation comes from within the
text. This comes from the etymology of the word: ek (out) plus egeisthai (to
lead), “to lead out.”
So, when Christians search the Old Testament for messianic
prophecies about Jesus, are we guilty of practicing eisegesis? The short answer is no and this is
because Jesus Himself told us to do this.
“Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have
eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.” John 5:39
“For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed
me; for he wrote of me.” John 5:46
“And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he
expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.” Luke 24:27
Listed below are the messianic prophecies discussed so far
on this blog. There will be
others. Click on the link to go to
the post.
The Star of Bethlehem
He Will be Called Out of Egypt
He is the Light of the World
Herod’s Slaughter of the Children of Bethlehem
He Will Be from Nazareth
They Will Give Him Vinegar for His Thirst
A Prophecy Not Yet Fulfilled
He Will be Sold for Thirty Pieces of Silver
He Will Bring Light to the Lands of Zebulon and Naphtali
He Will Die Among the Wicked But be Buried With a Rich Man
God Has a Son
His Body Will Not Decay
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