Dr. Randy White

I am unflinchingly dispensational in my approach to interpreting Scripture. The dispensational approach, in short, is the commitment to interpreting every Word of the text as an inspired and meaningful word, with profit for doctrine and training in righteousness found in each word. This commitment has given me a diligence for correctly reading Scripture. In the process, I have discovered that the Christian church is filled to overflowing with eisegesis—reading into Scripture what we think it says (or what we want it to say).  This eisegesis is done by liberals and conservatives, by those who believe in the authority of the Word as well as those who question it.We have an eisegesis epidemic. The sickness has so permeated the Christian culture that it is now institutionalized in our pulpits, seminaries, and even Bible translations.  What follows is just one example of hundreds.

Luke 13:3 and a “likewise” death

I’ve often heard (and used to use) Luke 13:3 & 5 in an evangelistic sense.  The verses simply say that, “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”  Who needs to even stop to think about what that verse says?  It is so clear that we immediately know the verse teaches that a failure to repent will mean a failure to be given eternal life.  Right?Not so fast!  Would you be surprised to learn that the verses teach that a failure to repent would mean the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman Empire? If you are surprised, it is because you’ve done some eisegesis:  reading into the text.

How to avoid eisegesis

When I begin to interpret a passage, I begin with grammar.  The best you can do is start with Hebrew or Greek, but since most are unable to do this, I would encourage you to begin with the King James Version, or perhaps the New King James or the New American Standard Bible.  I know of no other readily available English texts which are as accurate to the original as these.  Then, using the grammar of the text, I begin to dissect the words into subject, verb, modifier, etc. As boring as this may sound, some of most amazing moments of discovery have come in the simple matter of checking out the grammar.Now back to Luke 13:3.  The command is to repent.  The result of disobedience is death. Notice, however, that the word death has a modifier:  likewise.  In that little word is the key to knowing that this passage is a warning about the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman Empire!  Let me explain. First, the word “likewise” is an adverb, not an adjective.  If it were an adjective, it would modify “all” (the group that would perish).  Being an adverb, however, it must modify a verb, and the only verb available is “perish.”  Thus, “likewise” describes the manner of death.  Second, the meaning of the word itself is a word for “in the same way.”  With a few simple Bible tools you can discover this on your own. A Bible or computer program or free Bible study website will show you that the word “likewise” is Strong’s Concordance Word #3668, homoios, which, according to Strong’s, means “likewise, equally, in the same way.” A keen student will even notice the Greek homo and relate that to our English terms for “the same,” such as homogenized and homosexual.But what have Bible translators done with this word?  Here are a few samples:

• “No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as well!” (Luke 13:3, HCSB)
• “I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” (Luke 13:3, NIV)
• “Not at all. Unless you turn to God, you, too, will die.” (Luke 13:3, The Message)
• “Not at all! And you will perish, too, unless you repent of your sins and turn to God.” (Luke 13:3, NLT)

Notice that each of these either drop the modifier altogether, or they take “likewise” (which means “in the same manner”) and make it mean “also.” The NIV translates the word homoios 31 times in the New Testament, and only twice is it translated “too” (also):  Luke 13:3 & 5.  The other 29 times it is translated “likewise” or some close equivalent.

So how does this prove Rome will destroy Jerusalem?

After working the grammar, I’ll check the context.  In this situation, of course, “perish in the same way” only makes sense inside context.  In the passage, Jesus is teaching in Jerusalem and tells them about a group of men upon whom a tower fell, and 18 died. In the same context, He tells the same leaders about a group of Jews who came to the Temple with sacrifices and were killed by Pilate.  The clear message, and the only one allowed by grammar, is “If you do not repent, you will die under the stones of a collapsing building or at the end of Rome’s sword.” And thus, in Luke 13:3 & 5 Jesus is giving a prophetic warning about the destruction of Jerusalem.  We know, looking back, that these religious leaders did not repent.  And, as men who spent their days in and around the Temple, they were undoubtedly the men who died under the stones of the Temple when the Roman government came and “not one stone” was left upon another.  If not by stone, the men died by sword.  History shows that the bloodbath of the Roman siege was like none Jerusalem had ev