Royal Priesthood, Holy Nation Acts
1:20
Exegesis and Eisegesis
by
Robert T. Cooper
Exegesis:
good! Eisegesis: bad! Say, what?
Acts 1:20 NIV
20“For,” said Peter, “it is written
in the book of Psalms,
“‘May his place of be deserted;
let there be no one to dwell in it,’
let there be no one to dwell in it,’
and,
“‘May another take his place of leadership.’
Acts 1:20 NIV
In the
creation of the event that became part of Holy Scripture, and in the recording
of that Scripture, the Holy Spirit inspired people to say and to write in ways
that are not permissible to us as mere mortals. This verse gives a great
example.
Judas had committed suicide. During the days between the Ascension and Pentecost, the Holy Spirit led the Apostles to understand that Judas needed to be replaced as an Apostle. Peter gave voice to that understanding.
In giving
voice to that understanding, Peter cited two verses from the Psalms. However,
what Peter did with those two verses was something we must not do. Neither of
the verses primarily mean what Peter said they meant. It was only under the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit that Peter could understand and say that God
fully intended a second meaning, the meaning that Judas’ position as an Apostle
should be filled with a replacement.
The first
verse Peter used was from Psalm 69:25. This Psalm had some Messianic
implications in verses 4 and 9. Even verse 21 says “They put gall in my
food/and gave me vinegar for my thirst,” something that causes the Christian
believer to immediately think of Christ’s crucifixion. But as David continues
the psalm, he is praying about his feelings regarding his enemies, plural. He
prays for them to have physical and spiritual consequences to their violent
opposition to David.
In fact, in
the original, Psalm 69:25 uses plural pronouns, not the singular pronouns Peter
uses. It is only because the first part of the verse talks about their place
being deserted that the Spirit causes Peter to see a reference to the apostolic
vacancy caused by Judas’ demise.
The second
verse Peter used was from Psalm 109:8. David is again praying for divine
retribution against his enemy, singular this time. David prays for this enemy
to have an evil man to oppose the enemy. David prays for his enemy to be put on
trial and found guilty. Verse 8 begins, “May his days be few,” something that
was certainly true of Judas. The latter part of the verse refers to another
person taking this enemy’s place of leadership. Now David obviously had a
particular enemy in mind when he wrote this Psalm and certainly not Judas. However,
the Spirit again causes Peter to see a reference to the need to fill the
apostolic vacancy caused by Judas’ death.
Now, we are
all curious about biblical prophecy and the application of Scripture to events
today. However, one has to wonder at those who find in the Bible a prophecy
about every minute news event that occurs. It is quite probable that those
people are reading things into Scripture, that they are eisegeting. Remember,
eisegesis: bad!
It is never
correct to read something into Scripture.
[Before I
quit, let me ask you, humble readers, to carefully consider what I write in
this blog. If I should ever read into Scripture something that isn’t there,
please send me a private e-mail to admonish me and help me see that I have done
so. That’s the Berean thing to do.]
Have you ever known of a
situation in which someone read something into Scripture that isn’t there? Have
you ever done so? I look forward to your comments.
