English 201
C. Knight

TWO VERSIONS OF PSALM 114

Alleluia!
When Israel came out of Egypt,
the House of Jacob from a foreign nation,
Judah became his sanctuary
and Israel his domain.

The sea fled at the sight,
the Jordan stopped flowing,
the mountains skipped like rams,
and like lambs, the hills.

Sea, what makes you run away?
Jordan, why stop flowing?
Why skip like rams, you mountains,
And why like lambs, you hills?

Quake, earth, at the coming of your Master,
at the coming of the God of Jacob,
who turns rock into pool
and flint into fountain.

B. The King James Version

When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language;
Judah was his sanctuary, and Israel his dominion.
The sea saw it and fled: Jordan was driven back.
The mountains skipped like rams, and the little hills like lambs.
What ailed thee, O thou sea, that thou fleddest? thou Jordan that thou wast driven back?
Ye Mountains, that ye skipped like rams; and ye little hills like lambs?
Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob;
Which turned the rock into a standing water, the flint into a fountain of waters.

For the elucidation, therefore, of what we have to say, it must be understood that the meaning of this work is not of one kind only; rather the work may be described as "polysemous," that is, having several meanings; for the first meaning is that which is conveyed by the letter, and the next is that which is conveyed by what the letter signifies; the former of which is called literal, while the latter is called allegorical, or mystical. And for the better illustration of this method of exposition we may apply it to the following verses: "When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language; Judah was his sanctuary, and Israel his dominion." For if we consider the letter alone, the thing signified to us is the going out of the children of Israel from Egypt in the time of Moses; if the allegory, our redemption through Christ is signified; if the moral sense, the conversion of the soul from the sorrow and misery of sin to a state of grace is signified; if the anagogical ["anagogy" is the interpretation of a text in its ultimate spiritual or mystical sense], the passing of the sanctified soul from the bondage of the corruption of this world to the liberty of everlasting glory is signified. And although these mystical meanings are called by various names, they may one and all in a general sense be called allegorical, inasmuch as they are different (diversi) from the literal or historical; for the word "allegory" is so called from the Greek alleon, which in Latin is alienum (strange) or diversum (different).

This being understood, it is clear that the subject, with regard to which the alternative meanings are brought into play, must be twofold. And therefore the subject of this work [i.e., Paradiso] must be considered in the first place from the point of view of the literal meaning, and next from that of the allegorical interpretation. The subject, then, of the whole work, taken in the literal sense only, is the state of souls after death, pure and simple. For on and about that the argument of the whole work turns. If, however, the work be regarded from the allegorical point of view, the subject is man according as by his merits or demerits in the exercise of his free will he is deserving of reward or punishment by justice.

(From The Letters of Dante, ed. and trans. Paget Toynbee. Second Edition. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1966. Pages 199-200.)

ST. AUGUSTINE ON READING THE SCRIPTURES

Those who read indiscreetly are deceived by numerous and varied instances of obscurity and vagueness, supposing one meaning instead of another. In some passages they do not find anything to surmise even erroneously, so thoroughly do certain texts draw around them the most impenetrable obscurity. I am convinced that this whole situation was ordained by God in order to overcome pride by work and restrains from haughtiness our minds which usually disdain anything they have learned easily. There are holy and perfect men by whose lives and example the Church of Christ rids those who come to her of superstition and incorporates them with herself through the imitation of these good men. These good and truly faithful servants of God, ridding themselves of worldly cares, have come to the holy laver of baptism, and arising from it, produce by the infusion of the Holy Ghost the fruit of a two-fold charity: a love of God and their neighbor. Why is it, then, I ask, that, when anyone asserts these facts, he affords less charm to his listener than when he explains with the same interpretation the text from the Canticle of Canticles where the Church is alluded to as a beautiful woman who is being praised: "Thy teeth are as flocks of sheep, that are shorn, which come up from washing, all with twins, and there is none barren among them"? Does one learn anything more than when he hears that same thought phrased in the simplest words, without the aid of this simile? But, somehow or other, I find more delight in considering the saints when I regard them as the teeth of the Church. They bite off men from their heresies and carry them over to the body of the Church, when the hardness of heart has been softened as if being bitten off and chewed. With very great delight I look upon them also as shorn sheep that have put aside worldly cares as if they were fleece. Coming up from the washing, that is, the baptismal font, all bear twins, that is, the two precepts of love, and I see no one destitute of that holy fruit.

    But it is hard to explain why I experience more pleasure in this reflection than if no such comparison were derived from the Sacred Books, even though the matter and the knowledge are the same. This is another question. However, no one is uncertain now that everything is learned more willingly through the use of figures, and that we discover it with much more delight when have experienced some trouble in searching for it. Those who do not find what they are seeking are afflicted with hunger, but those who do not seek, because they have it in their possession, often waste away in their pride. Yet in both cases we must guard against discouragement. The Holy Ghost, therefore, has generously planned Holy Scripture in such a way that in the easier passages He relieves our hunger; in the ones that are harder to understand he drives away our pride. Practically nothing is dug out from those unintelligible texts which is not to be discovered to be said very plainly in another place. . . . .

    Things which have been written fail to be understood for two reasons: they are hidden by either unknown or ambiguous signs. These signs are either literal or figurative. They are literal when they are employed to signify those things for which they were instituted. When we say bos we mean an ox, because all men call it by this name in the Latin language, just as we do. Signs are figurative when the very things we signify by the literal term are applied to some other meaning; for example, we say bos and recognize by that word an ox to which we usually give that name; but again, under the figure of the ox, we recognize a teacher of the gospel. This is intimated by Holy Scripture, according to the interpretation of the Apostle, in the text, "Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treads out the grain" . . . .

    The obscurities of figurative words . . . require extraordinary attention and persistence. First of all, we must be careful not to take a figurative expression literally. What the Apostle says has reference to this: "The letter kills, but the spirit gives life." When a figurative expression is understood as if it were literal, it is understood carnally. And nothing is more appropriately named the death of the soul than that which causes the quality in the soul which makes it superior to the beasts (that is, its intelligence) to be subjected to the flesh by a close conformity to the literal sense. A man who conforms to the literal meaning considers figurative words as if they were literal and does not transfer what is signified by a literal word to its other sense. If he hears about the Sabbath, for example, he thinks only of one day out of the seven which are repeated in continuous sequence. When he hears of sacrifice, his thoughts do not rise above the usual sacrifices of victims or the flocks and the fruits of the earth. It is wretched slavery of soul, indeed, to be satisfied with signs instead of realities, and not to be able to elevate the eye of the mind above sensible creation to drink eternal light. . . .

    He who produces or worships any symbol, unaware of what it means, is enslaved to a sign. On the other hand, he who either uses or esteems a beneficial sign, divinely established, whose efficacy and meaning he knows, does not worship this visible and transitory sign; he worships rather that reality, to which all such symbols must be ascribed. Besides, such a man is spiritual and free even during the period of his slavery, when it is not yet advisable to unveil to his mind, carnal as it is, those signs by whose yoke it is to be completely subdued. Such spiritual men as those were the patriarchs. prophets, and all these among the people of Israel, through whom the Holy Ghost gave us the remedies and comforts of the Scriptures. At present, since the evidence of our freedom has been made so clearly apparent in the Resurrection of the Lord, we are not burdened with the heavy labor of even those signs which we understand now. The Lord Himself and the apostolic tradition have transmitted a few observances, instead of many, and these are very easy to fulfill, very venerable in their meaning, and most sublime in practice. Examples of these are the sacrament of Baptism and the celebration of the Body and Blood of the Lord. When anyone who has been instructed observes these practices, he understands to what they refer, so that he does not venerate them in a carnal slavery, but rather in a spiritual liberty. Besides, as it is a humiliating infirmity to conform to the letter and be satisfied with symbols, instead of the realities represented by them, so it is a sad delusion on our part to interpret symbols in a useless way. However, a person who does not understand what what a symbol means, but still knows that it is a symbol, is not oppressed with slavery. It is preferable even to be subject to unknown but useful signs, rather than, by interpreting them incorrectly, to release one's neck from the yoke of slavery only to entangle it in the snares of delusion.

    To this precept, in accord with which we are careful not to consider a figurative or transferred form of speech as if it were literal, we must add another: That we are not to attempt to interpret a literal expression as if it were figurative. Therefore I must first point out the method of making sure whether a passage is literal or figurative. In general, that method is to understand as figurative anything in Holy Scripture which cannot in a literal sense be attributed either to an upright character or a pure faith. Uprightness of character pertains to the love of God and of our neighbor; purity of faith to the knowledge of God and our neighbor. Further, everyone's hope is in his own conscience, so far as he knows that he is advancing in the love of God and his neighbor. . . . In figurative expressions, therefore, a rule like this is to be heeded; to reflect with careful consideration for a long time upon what is read until the interpretation is drawn over to the sway of charity. If it now has this meaning literally, it is not to be regarded as a figurative expression.

    If the passage is didactic, either condemning vice, or crime, or prescribing utility or kindness, it is not figurative. But if it appears to prescribe vice or crime, or to condemn utility or kindness, it is figurative. The Lord said: "Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His blood, you shall not have life in you." This seems to prescribe a crime or vice; therefore it is a figure of speech directing that we are to participate in the Lord's passion and treasure up in grateful and salutary remembrance the fact that His flesh was crucified and wounded for us. Scripture says: "If thy enemy is hungry, give him food; if he is thirsty, give him drink." This undoubtedly prescribes a kindness, but the part that follows--"For by so doing thou wilt heap coals of fire upon his head"--you might suppose was commanding a crime of malevolence. So, do not doubt that it is a figurative expression. Although it can have a two-fold interpretation, by one intending harm, by the other intending good, charity should call you away from the former to kindness, so that you may understand that the coals of fire are the burning lamentations of repentance by which that man's pride is healed and he grieves that he has been the enemy of the man who relieves his misery. And so, when the Lord said: "He who loves his life, shall lose it," He must not be interpreted as condemning the utility with which everyone ought to preserve his life. He must be interpreted, instead, as saying figuratively: "Let him lose his life"; that is, let him cut off and lose the bad and irregular use of his life which he is now making and by which he is inclined to temporal things and kept from seeking eternal goods. It is written: "Give to the merciful and uphold not the sinner." The end of this sentence seems to condemn kindness, for it says: "uphold not the sinner." You should understand that "sinner" is set down figuratively instead of "sin," so that it is his sin that you are not to uphold. . . .

    We must discover, first of all, whether the expression which we are trying to understand is literal or figurative. When we have made certain that it is figurative, it is easy, by employing the rules concerning things which I explained in the first book, to reflect upon it under all its aspects until we reach the idea of truth, particularly when practice, invigorated by the idea of piety, is added to it. We can discover whether an expression is literal or figurative by considering the principles mentioned above.

    When the expression is seen to be figurative, the words of which it is composed will be discovered to be either derived from similar things or derived from those which are related by some affinity.

    But since things appear similar to each other in many ways, we should not imagine there is any precept that we must believe that, because a thing has a certain analogical meaning in one place, it always has this meaning. For example, the Lord represented leaven in a condemnatory fashion when He said: "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees"; and as an object of praise when He said: "The kingdom of heaven is like a woman who hid leaven in three measures of flour, until all of it was leavened."

    The rule for this diversity, therefore, has two forms. Anything that is a sign of one thing and then another is such that it signifies either things that are contrary or else things that are only different. They indicate contraries, for instance, when the same thing is expressed by way of analogy at one time in a good sense, and at another in a bad sense, like the leaven mentioned above. . . . Similarly, other things are not single in their meaning, but each of them signifies not only two but sometimes even many different things, according to its relation to the thought of the passage where it is found.

    Moreover, we must learn from passages in which they are expressed more plainly how we are to interpret them in obscure passages. The best way for us to have a clear understanding of this passage addressed to God: "Take hold of arms and shield and rise up to help me," is to read from that other passage: "O Lord, thou has crowned us, as with a shield of Thy good will." Yet, we are not to interpret it only as the good will of God, for there is this passage: "The shield of faith, with which you may be able to quench all the fiery darts of the most wicked one." Again, for the same reason, we should not attribute faith to the shield alone, in speaking of spiritual armor like this, since in another passage the breastplate of faith is mentioned: "Let us put on the breastplate of faith and charity," says the Apostle.

    Besides, not only one but perhaps two or three interpretations are understood from the same words of Scripture. And so, even if the meaning of the writer is unknown, there is no danger, providing that it is possible to show from other passages of the Scriptures that any one of them is in accord with truth. A man who thoroughly examines the Holy Scriptures in an endeavor to find the purpose of the author (through whom the Holy Ghost brought Holy Scripture into being), whether he attains this goal or whether he elicits from the words another meaning which is not opposed to the true faith, is free from blame, if he has proof from some other passage of the Holy Scripture. In fact, the author perhaps saw that very meaning too, in the same words which we are anxious to interpret. And, certainly, the Spirit of God who produced these words through him also foresaw that this very meaning would occur to the reader or listener; further, He took care that it should occur to him because it is also based upon truth. For, what could God have provided more generously and more abundantly in the Holy Scriptures than that the same words might be understood in several ways, which other supporting testimonies no less divine endorse?

    When such a meaning is elicited that its uncertainty cannot be explained by the unerring testimonies of the Holy Scriptures, however, it remains for us to explain it by the proof of reason, even it the man whose words we are seeking to understand were perhaps unaware of that meaning. This, however, is a dangerous practice. It is much safer to walk by means of the Holy Scriptures. When we are trying to search out those passages that are obscured by figurative words, we may settle the question by employing testimonies that have been discovered everywhere in the same Scripture. . . .

    Wherever we say one thing, intending another to be understood, we have a figurative expression. . . . When this occurs in a customary place, the intellect perceives it without any trouble, but, when it occurs in an unusual place, we must exert ourselves to understand it, either more or less, according to the greater or lesser gifts of God in the manner of human talents or the helps that are given. Accordingly, in literal words, which I discussed above, things are to be understood as they are said, but in figurative words, which cause figurative expressions, one thing is to be understood from another, and I have dealt with these matters as far as seemed sufficient. Students of these revered writings should be advised not only to learn the kinds of expressions in the Holy Scriptures, to notice carefully how they are customarily expressed there, and to remember them, but also to pray that they may understand them, and this is chiefly and especially necessary. Indeed, in these books which they are studying earnestly, they read that "the Lord giveth wisdom; and out of his mouth cometh prudence and knowledge." It is from Him that they have received that zeal for study, if it is endowed with piety. But these things are enough to say about signs, so far as words are concerned.

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