eisegesis means an interpretation, especially of Scripture, that reflects the personal ideas or viewpoint of the interpreter; reading something into a text that is not there. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.
eisegesis is pronounced /aɪsɪˈdʒiːsɪs/.
Why “eisegesis” is a great word
An interpretation, especially of a scriptural text, that projects the reader's own ideas onto it, reading meaning into the words rather than drawing it out. From Ancient Greek εἰς (eis, "into") combined with the ending from English exegesis; a modern coinage (attested 1859) formed in direct contrast to exegesis. Unlike exegesis (which labors to excavate a text's own intent) or hermeneutics (which provides the neutral tools for interpretation), eisegesis is a private import, a smuggling of self into the sacred. It is the zealot finding his own prejudice in a parable, the political partisan discovering their platform in a verse of charity, or the lover reading a promise into a casual line—the quiet, human tyranny of making the world a mirror.
Etymology
From Ancient Greek εἰς (eis, “into”) and English exegesis. Historically unrelated to the Ancient Greek εἰσήγησις (eisḗgēsis, “proposing, advising”).
noun
- An interpretation, especially of Scripture, that reflects the personal ideas or viewpoint of the interpreter; reading something into a text that is not there.“For the benefit of readers who may have been influenced by certain eisegeses of MacCorquodale and Meehl (1948), let us here emphasize: Whether or not an interpretation of a test's properties or relations involves questions of construct validity is to be decided by examining the entire body of evidence offered, together with what is asserted about the test in the context of this evidence.”
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