After nearly 2,000 years, how to arrive at the correct interpretation of Scripture is still a contentious issue! The early church accepted the literal, historical sense of the text, but went beyond it guided by the rule of faith.
In Judaism there is both halachah or legal interpretation and aggadah, comprised of stories, comparisons, etc. As you can imagine, halachah is more impersonal and tends toward legalistic hairsplitting. Aggadah, on the other hand, is more affective and personal. Furthermore, Judaism does not see these two approaches to the text as being in competition. Rather than forcing a choice of one over the other–each is seen to have its appropriate uses.
The process of biblical exposition is called midrash in Hebrew, which literally means “searching for something that is hidden.” The Hebrew word for “sermon” is the related term derash, “search.” Halachic midrash is exposition in order to determine how to fulfill one’s religious obligations. Aggadic midrash is intended to inspire faithfulness or delve into esoteric topics such as the creation of the universe.
There also developed in Judaism a four-fold interpretation of Scripture, which could be remembered by the acronym pardes (Hebrew for “garden”).
Peshat (“simple”), the literal meaning.
Remez (“hint”), a layer of meaning less obvious but strongly alluded to.
Derash (“search”), a still more hidden layer.
Sod (another word for “search”), the most obscure meaning.
Midrash is noted for drawing careful attention to the details of the text and asking questions about anything that seems unusual: apparent contradictions (for example, of history or morality), repetitions, etc. It can be rather fanciful in drawing conclusions from the etymology of words, gematria (assigning a numerical value to words and letters), and so forth.
Early Christianity also understood there was more than just the literal sense. (“The letter kills, the Spirit gives life.” 2 Cor 3:6). Several non-literal approaches to the Old Testament were developed from the first century on.
Christological/typological approaches. Up to around AD 200 there was little or no full-blown allegorical interpretation, but the Bible was definitely read in christological or typological terms. Old Testament texts were read through the lens of the Christ event, looking for hints and prefigurings of Jesus’ ministry (cf. Irenaeus’s Apostolic Preaching).
The first Christians read the Bible looking for what it could tell them about Jesus. In other words, Jesus was the criterion of scriptural interpretation. The goal was to read the Bible in such a way that its reference to Christ is made explicit. Luther took a similar approach by insisting that what matters in Scripture is “that which preaches Christ.”
A New Testament example would be the treatment of Melchizedek (Ge 14:17-20) in the book of Hebrews. In Hebrews 7:1-4, the author interpreted the obscure passage from Genesis that spoke of Melchizedek in a christological manner, allowing the details of the Genesis text (titles, etymologies of Hebrew words, etc.) to point to the great high priesthood of Christ.
Later exegetes would mine additional details. In particular, the detail that Melchizedek brought “bread and wine” was interpreted as a foreshadowing of the Eucharist.
Origen (d. 254). Origen is considered the father of the allegorical method of scriptural interpretation. He insisted that, since Scripture is from God, it could not possibly be untrue; hence no errors or contradictions are to be admitted in Scripture. According to Origin, there are imperfections (antilogies, repetitions, want of continuity, etc.), but these imperfections become perfections by leading us to the allegory and the spiritual meaning.
Origen developed the concept of a threefold sense of Scripture:
- The literal sense, corresponding to the body.
- The moral sense, corresponding to the soul.
- The allegorical sense, corresponding to the spirit.
Origen was essentially handling the Bible the same way a contemporary rabbi would. In fact, he was one of the few exegetes to read and interpret the Old Testament from the Hebrew text.
John Cassian (d. ca. 435). It was quickly established that Scripture had both a literal and a spiritual meaning, and that the Old Testament could be read as a Christian document only in a non-literal manner. By the time of Cassian, Christians asserted that the spiritual meaning itself had three senses. According to Cassian, “but of spiritual knowledge there are three kinds, tropological, allegorical, anagogical.”
Cassian made reference to 1 Corinthians 14:6, “Now brothers and sisters, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I benefit you unless I speak to you in some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching?” His fourfold sense comprised the four modes of discourse Paul noted: revelation, knowledge, prophecy, and teaching.
Others connected the three spiritual senses to the three Christian virtues: faith, hope, and love. Combining this conceptualization with Cassian’s, we arrive at the following synopsis:
The literal sense (“revelation”): a face-value reading of the text (e.g., Jerusalem = the historical city in the Middle East)
The allegorical sense (“knowledge”): statements of doctrine in the form of an allegory, corresponding to faith (e.g., Jerusalem = the church)
The tropological or moral sense (“teaching”): ethical guidance, corresponding to love (e.g., Jerusalem = the human soul)
The anagogical sense (“prophecy”): pointers to the promised future consummation, corresponding to hope (e.g., Jerusalem = the heavenly city)
By the middle ages, this schema was called the quadriga (“four-horsed chariot”). A thirteenth-century verse encapsulates this approach:
Littera gesta docet,
Quid credas allegoria,
Moralis quid agas,
Quo tendas anagogia.The literal teaches facts,
The allegorical (teaches) what to believe,
The moral (teaches) what to do,
The anagogical (teaches) whither to aspire.
Although considered necessary for a Christian interpretation of the Old Testament, the quadriga was also deemed appropriate for interpreting the New Testament.
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