obscure, as when we do not know the nature of the animals,
CHAP. XVI.] IXTEEPKETATION OF METAPIIOES.
must of course yield to tlie Greek, especially those that are found in the churches of greater learning and research.
CuAP. XVI.—The hioioledge both of language and tilings is helpful for the understanding offigurative expressions,
23. In the case of figurative signs, again, if ignorance of any of them should chance to bring the reader to a stand-still, their meaning is to be traced partly by the knowledge of languages, partly by the knowledge of things. The pool of Siloam, for example, where the man whose eyes our Lord had anointed with clay made out of spittle was commanded to wash, has a figurative significance, and undoubtedly conveys a secret sense ; but yet if the evangelist had not interpreted that name,^ a meaning so important would lie unnoticed. And we cannot doubt that, in the same way, many Hebrew names which have not been interpreted by the writers of those books, would, if any one could interpret them, be of great value and service in solving the enigmas of Scripture. And a number of men skilled in that language have conferred no small benefit on posterity by explaining all these words without reference to their place in Scripture, and telling us what Adam means, what Eve, what Abraham, what Moses^and also the names of places, what Jerusalem signifies, or Sion, or Sinai, or Lebanon, or Jordan, and whatever other names in that language we are not acquainted with. And when these names have been investigated and explained, many figurative expressions in Scripture become clear.
24. Ignorance of things, too, renders figurative expressions obscure, as when we do not know the nature of the animals, or minerals, or plants, which are frequently referred to in Scripture by way of comparison. The fact so well known about the serpent, for example, that to protect its head it will present its whole body to its assailants—how much light it throws upon the meaning of our Lord's command, that we should be wise as serpents ; ^ that is to say, that for the sake of our head, which is Christ, w^e should willingly ofier our body to the persecutors, lest the Christian faith should, as it were, be destroyed in us, if to save the body we deny our God
! Or again, the statement that the serpent gets rid of
1 John ix. 7. 2 jy^^tt. x. 16.
52 ON CIiniSTIAN DOCTRINE. [BOOK H.
its old skin by s(|ueeziii^ jtself throu^^h a narrow hole, and thus acquires new strength^how appropriately it fits in wiili tlie direction to imitate the wisdom of the serpent, and to put oir the old man_, as the apostle says^ that we may put on the new;^ and to i)ut it off, too, by coming through a narrow place, according to the saying of our Lord, " Enter ye in at the strait gate !" ^ As, tlicn, knowledge of the nature of the serpent throws light upon many metaphors which Scripture is accustomed to draw from that animal, so ignorance of other animals, which are no less frequently mentioned by way of comparison, is a very great drawback to the reader. And so in regard to minerals and plants : knowledge of the carbuncle, for instance, which shines_ in the dark, throws light upon many of the dark places in books too, where it is used metaphorically; and ignorance of the beryl or the adamant often shuts the doors of knowledge. And the only reason why we find it easy to understand that perpetual peace is indicated by the olive branch which the dove brought Avith it when it returned to the ark,^ is that we know both that the smooth touch of olive oil is not easily spoiled by a fluid of another kind, and that the tree itself is an evergreen. !Many, again, by reason of their ignorance of hyssop, not knowing the virtue it has in cleansing the lungs, nor tlie power it is said to have of piercing rocks with its roots, although it is a small and insignificant plant, cannot make out why it is said, " Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean."
25. Ignorance of numbers, too, prevents us from understanding things tliat are set down in Scripture in a figurative and mystical way. A candid mind, if I may so speak, cannot but be anxious* for example, to ascertain what is meant by the fact that Moses and Elijah, and our Lord Himself, all fasted for forty days.*^ And except by knowledge of and reflection upon the number, the dilficulty of explaining the figure involved in til is action cannot be got over. Yov the number contains ten four times, indicating tlie knowledge of all things, and that knowledge interwoven with time. For both the diurnal and the annual revolutions are accomplished in periods numbering
' Eph. iv. 22. » Matt. vii. 13. ^ Goii. viii. 11.
Ps. li. 7. ^ E.\. x.xiv. IS ; 1 Kings xix. S ; Matt. iv. 2.