2.14 - Interpretation of Allegories
February 04, 2005 | Comments: 2Biblical Hermeneutics Part Second Chapter 14
The author now addresses the interpretation of allegories. As parables are extended similes, so allegories are extended metaphors. Therefore like a metaphor, the association of an allegory is implicit within it, unlike similes and parables where the comparison is formal and explicit. Normally an allegory has but one correspondent meaning.
Therefore the same principles of interpretation that apply to metaphors and parables, apply also to allegories. The interpreter’s first task is to determine major thought intended by the allegory, and then to interpret all the minor points with reference to it. As with parables, he must guard against the tendency to ascribe specific significance to all the incidental details of the figure. Studying the context, the occasion, circumstances, and any application given usually leave little doubt as to the main purport of any allegory in Scripture. In the interpretation, literal and allegorical meanings should not be mixed unless necessary.
Terry devotes the bulk of this chapter demonstrating the right handling of allegories in his customarily balanced and insightful manner with biblical texts including the wife of one’s youth in Proverbs 5.15-18, old age in Ecclesiastes 12.3-7, the work of building in 1 Corinthians 3.10-15, the soldier’s panoply in Ephesians 6.11-17 and the door of the sheep in John 10.1-16, among others.
Comments
very good. How would you present an allegory in preaching? Why is the story of Jonah NOT an allegory? Nathan.
nathan on February 09, 2005 at 07:27 AM
Given that the human mind is created so that it naturally and readily makes figurative associations, I would want to make sure that in preaching an allegory I didn’t diminish its force by excessive analysis. If one takes the disection approach to interpretation, he is often left with a cadaver and not a living thing.
For example, when Jesus says “I am the door” I would let the figure of speech work for itself. All that I need to do is to point out in what ways Jesus is the door, what he is the door to, what it means to enter though him, etc. Then I would explore how these sayings apply in the immediate context to his audience, and by extension, to us.
The narrative of Jonah is manifestly NOT an allegory, because it is just that, a narrative. There is nothing in the account which begs not to be taken literally, as in the aforementioned statement of Jesus “I am the door.” Normally an allegory has a an obvious unreal element, e.g. “You are God’s building” etc.
andrew on February 19, 2005 at 07:23 PM
