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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, we should willingly offer 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 its old skin by
squeezing itself through a narrow hole, and thus acquires new strength
how appropriately it fits in with the direction to imitate the wisdom of
the serpent, and to put off the old man, as the apostle says, that we
may put on the new; and to put it off, too, by coming through a
narrow place, according to the saying of our Lord, "Enter ye in at
the strait gate!" As, then, 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
with 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 the 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 that 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 difficulty
of explaining the figure involved in this action cannot be got over.
For the number contains ten four times, indicating the knowledge of
all things, and that knowledge interwoven with time. For both the
diurnal and the annual revolutions are accomplished in periods numbering
four each; the diurnal in the hours of the morning, the noontide, the
evening, and the night; the annual in the spring, summer, autumn,
and winter months. Now while we live in time, we must abstain and
fast from all joy in time, for the sake of that eternity in which we
wish to live; al though by the passage of time we are taught this very
lesson of despising time and seeking eternity. Further, the number
ten signifies the knowledge of the Creator and the creature, for there
is a trinity in the Creator; and the number seven indicates the
creature, because of the life and the body. For the life consists of
three parts, whence also God is to be loved with the whole heart, the
whole soul, and the whole mind; and it is very clear that in the body
there are four elements of which it is made up. In this number ten,
therefore, when it is placed before us in connection with time, that
is, when it is taken four times we are admonished to live unstained
by, and not partaking of, any delight in time, that is, to fast for
forty days. Of this we are admonished by the law personified in Moses
by prophecy personified in Elijah, and by our Lord Himself, who,
as if receiving the witness both of the law and the prophets, appeared
on the mount between the other two, while His three disciples looked
on in amazement. Next, we have to inquire in the same way, how out
of the number forty springs the number fifty, which in our religion has
no ordinary sacredness attached to it on account of the Pentecost, and
how this number taken thrice on account of the three divisions of time,
before the law, under the law, and under grace, or perhaps on account
of the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and the Trinity
itself being added over and above, has reference to the mystery of the
most Holy Church, and reaches to the number of the one hundred and
fifty-three fishes which were taken after the resurrection of our
Lord, when the nets were cast out on the right-hand side of the
boat. And in the same way, many other numbers and combinations of
numbers are used in the sacred writings, to convey instruction under a
figurative guise, and ignorance of numbers often shuts out the reader
from this instruction.
26. Not a few things, too, are closed against us and obscured by
ignorance of music. One man, for example, has not unskillfully
explained some metaphors from the difference between the psaltery and
the harp. And it is a question which it is not out of place for
learned men to discuss, whether there is any musical law that compels
the psaltery of ten chords to have just so many strings; or whether,
if there be no such law, the number itself is not on that very account
the more to be considered as of sacred significance, either with
reference to the ten commandments of the law (and if again any question
is raised about that number, we can only refer it to the Creator and
the creature), or with reference to the number ten itself as
interpreted above. And the number of years the temple was in
building, which is mentioned in the gospel viz., forty-six has a
certain undefinable musical sound, and when referred to the structure
of our Lord's body, in relation to which the temple was mentioned,
compels many heretics to confess that our Lord put on, not a false,
but a true and human body. And in several places in the Holy
Scriptures we find both numbers and music mentioned with honor.
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