Beef Up Your Bible Reading 10

An allegory is a story that has a hidden meaning. Characters, objects or actions in the story are symbols: they stand for or represent other things. The Pilgrim’s Progress and George Orwell’s Animal Farm are allegories, the Bible is not. Nevertheless, there are lots of allegories in the Bible. John 10:1 – 6, John 15:1 – 8 and Ecclesiastes 12:1 – 7 are examples.

For some people, reading the Bible is all about looking for hidden meanings but if the passage you’re reading is meant to be read as an allegory that will somehow be made clear. It might, for example, say, "This is (represents) this.” (“I am the door”, “My Father is the vinedresser”, This is my body.”) If it’s not clear that your passage is an allegory don’t treat it as if it is. If you do, you’ll make that passage mean something that God never intended it to.

Once you have identified your passage as an allegory make a list of the symbols in it and then decide what each one stands for. You won’t always be told what the symbols represent but it should never be difficult to work it out. The Bible is not a mysterious book full of hidden meanings.

If the meaning behind a symbol is not immediately clear:

Look for an explanation nearby. It may well be there.

Look for places where the same symbol is used in other Bible parts. Be careful though, some symbols represent different things in different places. For example, water mostly symbolises cleansing but it can symbolise destruction.

Think about what best fits the context of your passage.

Look for sensible, unforced explanations.

Remember, every element in an allegory may not be significant: some things are in there just so the story will make sense. Only treat as symbols those elements that clearly are symbols.

Avoid guesswork.

When you’ve compiled your list of symbols and what they represent it’s time to ask, what does the story or action say about each symbol and what can I learn from that about the things they represent?