One of the most important questions we can ask when reading Scripture is surprisingly simple:

Am I discovering what the text says, or am I looking for the text to confirm what I already believe?

The difference between those two approaches is the difference between exegesis and eisegesis.

Most Christians have heard these words before, but many have never explored why they matter so much, and perhaps more importantly, why they matter even more when trauma, fear, grief, or strong convictions are involved.

Exegesis: Drawing Meaning Out of the Text

The word exegesis comes from a Greek word meaning “to lead out.”

Exegesis seeks to understand what a passage meant to its original audience, what the author intended to communicate, and how that truth applies today.

It asks questions like:

• What is the historical context?
• Who was the audience?
• What literary genre is this?
• What do the original words mean?
• How does this passage fit within the larger story of Scripture?

Exegesis requires patience, curiosity, and perhaps most importantly, it requires the willingness to discover that a text may not say what we expected it to say.

In many ways, exegesis is an act of submission. Rather than asking Scripture to serve our conclusions, we allow Scripture to shape them.

Eisegesis: Reading Meaning Into the Text

Eisegesis is the opposite. Rather than drawing meaning out of the text, we read our own assumptions, experiences, preferences, fears, or agendas into it.

Sometimes this happens intentionally, but more often it happens unconsciously. We approach a passage already convinced of what it must mean, and then we interpret the words through that lens. The result is that we stop listening to Scripture and begin listening primarily to ourselves.

The danger of eisegesis is not that it always produces obviously false conclusions. The danger is that it can make us increasingly confident while becoming increasingly disconnected from what the text actually says.

Trauma and the Way We Read Scripture

As a trauma therapist, I’ve come to appreciate something important:

None of us come to Scripture empty-handed.

We arrive carrying the experiences that have shaped us: the families who raised us, the churches that influenced us, the relationships that nurtured or wounded us, and the circumstances that taught us what to expect from life and from God.

Those experiences do not remain outside the pages of Scripture when we begin to read. They often influence what captures our attention, what feels comforting, and what feels threatening.

A person who has lived under constant criticism may find it difficult to read passages about judgment without anticipating condemnation. Someone who has experienced betrayal may struggle to trust promises of faithfulness. A believer who has been wounded by spiritual authority may approach certain passages with understandable caution. This does not mean God’s Word changes according to our experiences. It means that we are human. We all read through lenses shaped by our own stories.

That reality is one reason humility is so important in the Christian life. We are not simply asking, “What does this passage mean?” We are also asking, “Are there assumptions, fears, or wounds influencing what I think it means?”

The goal is not to distrust ourselves. The goal is to hold our conclusions with enough humility to allow God’s Word to challenge, correct, comfort, and transform us where needed.

This does not mean that trauma prevents someone from understanding Scripture. God’s Word is not inaccessible to those who have been wounded.

What it does mean is that our experiences often influence what captures our attention and what we expect to find. We tend to notice the themes that resonate with our own stories. We may be drawn toward certain passages while struggling to fully receive others.

A person who has spent years anticipating criticism may find warnings easier to recognize than grace. Someone who has experienced deep loss may linger over promises of comfort while wrestling with passages that speak of trust. In counseling, we often observe that people see the world through the lens of what they have learned to expect. The same can sometimes be true when we read Scripture.

This is one reason humility is such an essential part of faithful Bible study. We are not only seeking to understand the text itself. We are also learning to recognize the assumptions, experiences, and expectations we bring to it.

The goal is not suspicion of our own hearts, but openness before God. It is the willingness to ask, “Lord, am I hearing what You are saying, or only what I expected to hear?”

The Example of Jesus

One of the most striking realities in the Gospels is that some of the people who knew Scripture best were also among those who struggled most to recognize what God was doing in their midst.

This was not because they lacked knowledge. Many of them had devoted their lives to studying, teaching, and preserving God’s Word. Yet at times their expectations became so firmly established that they had difficulty recognizing the Messiah standing before them.

Again and again, Jesus challenged assumptions that people held with great confidence. He invited them to look beyond tradition, beyond certainty, and beyond the interpretations they had come to accept without question.

His challenges were not primarily about intelligence or education. They were about the condition of the heart. The issue was not whether people knew the Scriptures. The issue was whether they were willing to let the Scriptures lead them somewhere unexpected.

That same temptation remains with us today. We can become so certain that we know what a passage must mean that we stop asking what God may actually be saying. The challenge of faithful interpretation has never been merely acquiring knowledge. It has always involved cultivating a posture of humility before God’s Word.

Why This Matters Today

We live in a culture that often rewards certainty. Strong opinions attract attention. Quick answers are frequently valued more than thoughtful questions. Whether in politics, on social media, or even within the church, there can be subtle pressure to speak with confidence long before we have taken time to listen carefully.

Yet throughout Scripture, God consistently honors humility, not a humility that lacks conviction, but a humility that remains teachable. A humility that recognizes the difference between confidence in God and confidence in our own understanding.

Such humility acknowledges that sincere people can sometimes be mistaken. It recognizes that our experiences, traditions, and assumptions can influence the way we interpret what we read. Most importantly, it leaves room for God to show us something we may not have seen before.

Perhaps one of the most faithful questions a believer can ask is, “Have I understood this passage correctly, or is there more here for me to learn?”

That question is not a sign of weak faith. It is often evidence of a heart that genuinely desires truth. After all, if our goal is not merely to defend our interpretations but to know God more fully, then humility is not an obstacle to faith. It is one of the pathways through which faith grows.

A Trauma-Informed Approach to Reading Scripture

A trauma-informed approach to Scripture does not seek to change the meaning of the Bible. Rather, it acknowledges that we never come to God’s Word as detached observers. We bring our experiences, our assumptions, our questions, and sometimes our wounds.

Because of that, it can be helpful to pay attention when a passage evokes a particularly strong emotional response. Fear, shame, grief, anger, or anxiety do not automatically mean we are misunderstanding the text. They may, however, invite us to pause and consider whether we are responding only to what the passage says or also to what it reminds us of.

Such reflection is not a departure from faithful Bible study. It is often an expression of humility. It recognizes that our experiences can influence what we hear and encourages us to remain open to what God may be saying.

Most importantly, a trauma-informed approach trusts that God is not threatened by honest questions. The God who meets us in our suffering is also willing to meet us in our uncertainty. He is patient with our questions, gracious with our misunderstandings, and faithful as He leads us into truth.

A Final Thought

Every person who opens the Bible faces a choice.

We can approach Scripture primarily seeking confirmation of what we already believe, or we can approach it with a willingness to be shaped, challenged, and transformed by what we find there.

That is one reason exegesis requires humility and courage. It asks us to listen before we speak, to learn before we conclude, and to remain open to the possibility that God may want to correct, deepen, or expand our understanding.

Eisegesis often feels easier because it allows us to remain in familiar territory. Rather than submitting our assumptions to the text, we subtly ask the text to submit to our assumptions. Yet the goal of discipleship has never been merely to accumulate biblical knowledge. The goal is to become more like Christ.

Perhaps, then, the most important question is not simply whether we know Scripture well. Perhaps the deeper question is whether we are willing to allow Scripture to search us, challenge us, and reveal what is true within us.

For in the end, faithful reading begins not with certainty, but with humility before the God who speaks through His Word.