Beyond the Bible's Literal Interpretation

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Did you know that Church tradition allows Scripture to be interpreted not only literally but also allegorically, morally and in terms of their eternal significance? (The technical term for that is anagogically, but I can’t even say the word, much less remember how to spell it.)

Anyway, I never knew about those four senses of Scripture until they were mentioned in theology class. That confirmed what I’ve always known: I miss a lot when I read the Bible or hear the Liturgy of the Word on Sunday. Understanding these different ways to look at a scriptural passage, however, will help with that, as I discovered when I tried to see if I could make them work.

For my experiment I chose the story about the Samaritan woman at the well. I’ve heard that preached often enough that I’m familiar with it, and I studied it when I took a course on the Gospel of John, so I figured it would be a good passage to start with.

The literal interpretation of the story is the one I’ve always understood: A Samaritan woman encounters Jesus, chats with him for a bit, then runs back to town and tells everyone about him. The townspeople go to hear Jesus for themselves, and all come to believe that he is the Savior of the world.

This is a simple conversion story, and satisfying enough, but looked at from an allegorical viewpoint, we see there is more to the tale. Jesus, in offering the woman living water, is symbolically baptizing her, because the living water is nothing other than the Holy Spirit, who is conferred in baptism, which is the gateway of the Spirit. (A thought that struck me while I was pondering the story was that Jesus yet again is offering his saving grace to one of the least of his brethren. The woman was not only a Samaritan, she was living an adulterous life, but through grace she became a powerful evangelizer. I thought that perhaps this story might be a good one for reflection for those who are appalled that Pope Francis is suggesting a way back to communion for Catholics who are divorced. But I digress.)

The woman obviously accepts Jesus’ offer, because with the sanctifying grace bestowed by baptism, she is able to believe in him and to evangelize the townspeople. Here we have both a moral and an anagogical interpretation – the woman acts justly and the townspeople accept her, apparently without judgement, and they all come to believe in Jesus as their savior.

To help me understand all of these interpretations, I read commentary from St. Augustine and St. Aquinas, as well as from Bishop Robert Barron and Pope Francis. There’s even more that I didn’t read. (Just as an example, in his commentary, Aquinas mentions St. John Chrysostom’s interpretation, which sounded interesting.)

I also came across aspects that I hadn’t even considered: The woman leaving her water jug is significant, Pope Francis pointed out in his March 3, 2014 Angelus. “We too can find the stimulus to ‘leave our water jar,’ the symbol of all that appears to be important, but that loses its value before ‘the love of God,’” the pope said. “We all have one, or more than one! I ask you, and I ask myself: ‘what is your water jar, the one that weighs you down and takes you far from God?’ Let’s leave it aside and with our hearts listen to the voice of Jesus who is offering us another kind of water, the water that brings us close to the Lord.”

That is a challenge I accept, and I hope that now I can listen to all the meanings that voice conveys.

Marie Mischel is editor of the Intermountain Catholic.