Preface; the Definition, Division, and Twofold Sense of Exposition

BOOK THREE

By F. Sixtus of Siena, of the Order of Preachers: On the Art of Expounding the Volumes of the Holy Library.

Preface

Concerning the sacred Scriptures and writers, and concerning the writings and writers that are mentioned in the sacred letters, enough (as I judge) has been said by us in the two preceding books. Now we must speak of those authors who illumined the divine Scriptures by the pious labors of their expositions. But since this cannot be done fittingly enough unless first there be explained the art, the method, and the order which those very expositors employed in expounding the sacred volumes, we have thought it worth the effort to comprehend briefly, in this third volume of the Holy Library, the plan and force of the whole art which the Catholic expositors have followed in explaining the divine letters; for once this has been rightly understood, those things will be grasped more easily and readily which we are to write, in the fourth book of this work, concerning the various explanations of the holy expositors.

The Definition and Division of the Art by which Sacred Scripture is Expounded

First of all, then — that we may begin from the Definition of the Art: we call the art of expounding the sacred letters ¹ that [art] which teaches the precepts and rules necessary for the elucidation of divine Scripture. This whole [art], moreover, is divided into three parts, ² that is, into the Definitive, the Inventive, and the Dispositive. The Definitive ³ enumerates, distinguishes, and defines the senses and expositions of the sacred letters, indicating how many and what are the senses of divine Scripture, and the kinds of its expositions. The Inventive ⁴ teaches [us] to seek out the senses — already defined — that lie hidden in the abstruse discourses of the sacred volumes, and, once they have been searched out by diligent investigation, to find them. The Dispositive ⁵ teaches [us] to bring the discovered senses of divine Scripture into the light by a fitting and duly accommodated arrangement of explanation, and to set them forth in the most apt order through the various modes, formulas, and methods of expounding — so that the greatness and majesty of the divine oracles may, so far as can be done, be nobly expressed according to the dignity of the matter, and that the devotees of the sacred volumes may be made more eager to read those beautifully arranged explanations of them. Approaching, therefore, the first part of this art, which is concerned with the definition of the senses and expositions, let us speak first about the senses themselves of sacred Scripture.

On the Twofold Sense of Divine Scripture

There are two senses of divine Scripture, the Historical and the Mystical. The Historical ⁶ is that which the narration of the deed done, and the series of the words under their common and customary signification — whether proper or metaphorical — represents in the outer bark of the letter. For there is a twofold variety, or mode, of the historical sense, ⁷ namely the proper and the metaphorical. The Proper is that which words and names present according to the first and bare signification of the word: as when by “wolf” and “fox” we understand the animals which are first signified by these words. But the Metaphorical ⁸ is that which words transferred and carried over to a new signification signify; or [that] which a figurative expression circumscribes — as when in common speech we designate some greedy person by the name of “wolf,” and some crafty person by the word “fox”; or as when in the divine letters Christ is called lamb, lion, rock, vine, worm, and many more of that kind, ⁹ all of which are ascribed to Christ not properly, but through a certain likeness. The other sense, however — the Mystical and spiritual — is far more hidden and more sublime, which is not open to all, but lies concealed in the inmost marrow of the words; signified not through the words, but through the very things themselves, ¹⁰ as when by the bronze serpent, hung upon the wood, Christ lifted up on the cross is designated. The difference of the two senses Paul taught us in his second epistle to the Corinthians, ¹¹ saying [that the Jews…]

[continuing from p150] …[that the Jews] read daily and hear the reading of the Old Testament according to the letter, but that a veil is placed over their heart, so that they do not understand the spiritual understanding which gives life; ¹² and, writing to the Romans, he showed that the law concerning circumcision has a twofold sense: ¹³ one according to the letter — signifying the circumcision of the flesh only, whose praise is among men; the other according to the spirit — enjoining the circumcision of the heart, greatly praised by God.