The Literal Meaning of Genesis (continued)
produced there, then, if it is symbolic of something, its meaning is either immediately understood by the intellect or sought out; for there can be neither understanding nor searching except by the functioning of the mind.
23. Baltassar the King saw the fingers of a hand writing on the wall,52 and immediately the image of a corporeal object was impressed on his spirit by means of a bodily sensation;** and when the vision was gone, the image remained in his thoughts. It was seen in spirit but not understood. At the time when the sign was produced in a corporeal manner and was presented to his bodily eyes, Baltassar did not understand it, though even then he understood that it was a sign and knew this from the exercise of his mind. For since he was seeking out its meaning, it was his mind certainly that was conducting the search.
When he failed to discover the meaning, Daniel came forward; and, his mind illuminated by the spirit of prophecy, he unfolded to the troubled king the prophetic meaning of the sign. For Daniel, by reason of the sort of vision that is proper to the mind, was more a prophet than the king, who had seen with the eyes of the body a corporeal sign and in thought had beheld within his spirit the image of the object after its disappearance. But the king could do no more than recognize with his intellect that it was a sign and enquire into its meaning.
24. Peter, carried out of himself, saw a vessel, held by four strings and filled with various animals, being let down from heaven; and he also heard a voice which said, Ai/l and eat.>> When, on returning to his senses, he was reflecting on the vision, the Spirit announced to him the arrival of those whom Cornelius had sent, saying, Behold, some men are looking for you; arise, go down, and depart with them, for I have sent them. And when he came to Cornelius he revealed what he understood by the vision in which he had heard the words, What God has cleansed, you must not call common. But God, he said, has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean.5° Therefore, because he was carried out of the bodily senses at the time when he saw the dish, it was in the spirit that he also heard the words Kill and eat, and What God has cleansed, you must not call common. His memory retained all that he had seen and heard; and on his re-