SENSES OF THE SACRED SCRIPTURE

LITERAL SENSE The meaning of words in their literary and historical context. Example: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Gn 1:1).

Proper Sense The words understood according to their ordinary meaning. Example: “Male and female he created them” (Gn 1:27).

Improper The words understood figuratively and symbolically. Example: Any of the next five senses.

Metaphor or simile A comparison. Example: Jesus is the Lamb of God.

Hyperbole An exaggeration. Example: Abraham’s descendants will be as numerous as the grains of sand on the seashore.

Parable A story illustrating a moral or spiritual truth. Example: The Prodigal Son.

Allegory A prolonged metaphor. Example: The Good Shepherd and the hireling.

Fable A story with animals or plants as characters that illustrates a moral or spiritual truth. Example: The story in Judges of the trees wanting a tree-king to rule over them.

Spiritual The people, things, and events Scripture describes as signs of something else. Example: The water that flows out of the Temple of the New Jerusalem represents grace and the sacraments.

Allegorical People and events in salvation history pointing forward to other times. Example: The sacrifice of Isaac foreshadows the sacrifice of Christ of the Cross.

Moral How we can use the heroes of Scripture as a pattern for our own lives to do good and avoid evil. Example: Samson lost all his strength because he consorted with a pagan woman.

Anagogical How the events of Scripture point upward to what we will know in Heaven. Example: The garden of Eden and the Promised Land are indicators of what Heaven will be like.