Origen and Literal Meaning

Let no one suspect that we hold that Scripture does not contain real history, or that the precepts of the Law are not to be observed to the letter, or that what is written of the Savior did not happen in reality...Much more numerous are the truly historical passages than those which are to be taken in the purely spiritual sense.

Origen, On First Principles in George Montague, Understanding the Bible, 35

Allegory of the Fish

The Allegory of 153 Fish, John 21:11 (Compiled by Mark Moore)

The number 153 has had a number of allegorical interpretations attached to it, none of which appear valid:

(1) There were supposedly 153 varieties of fish in the Sea of Galilee. Thus, this is a veiled reference to Mt 13:47-48, showing that all kinds of people will be saved. This estimate comes from Oppian via Jerome. However, Jerome is somewhat "loose" in his counting of Oppian's categories. Besides that, Oppian wrote c. 176-180 and therefore can not adequately account for John's usage of 153.

(2) The total represents the sum of all the numbers from 1-17. 17 = 10 commandments plus the 7 gifts of the Spirit. Or, according to R. Grant, "'One Hundred Fifty-Three Large Fish' (John 21:11)," Harvard Theological Review 42 (1949): 273-75, there are seven Apostles present at the catch and ten who received the Holy Spirit (John 20:24). Thus, 153 functions here as 144,000 does in Revelation 7:4 to represent all God's redeemed.

(3) Peter's name in Hebrew, Simon Iona, numerically is 153.

(4) 153 = 100 (Gentiles) + 50 (Jews) + 3 (Trinity).

(5) The Hebrew word for Mt. Pisgah has a numerical value of 153. This shows how Jn 21 is Jesus farewell adress to the leaders of the New Israel, just like Moses' (cf. Num 11:16-25; 27:17). (O. T. Owens, "One Hundred and Fifty Three Fishes," ExpT 100 (1988): 52-54.)

(6) The Hebrew for "The Children of God" has a numerical value of 153. Hence, Jn 21 is a reference to the new "children of God." (J. A. Romeo, "Gematria and John 21:11--The Children of God," JBL 97/2 (1978): 263-64.)

(7) The 153 fish in the net, plus the one that Jesus had cooked = 154 fish. This matches the numeric value of of the Greek word "day," which was one of the titles for Jesus in the early church. (K. Cardwell, "The Fish on the Fire: Jn 21:9" ExpT 102 (1990): 12-14.)

(8) 153 is gematriacal Atbash. If you reverse the numerical value of the Hebrew Alphabet, then take the numbers 70, 3, and 80, you get the Greek letters "I," "X," and "Th." These are the first three letters of the Greek word "fish" which was, of course, a significant symbol in early Christianity. This word was an accrostic for early Christians which signified: "Jesus Christ, God, Son, Savior." (Cf. N. J. McEleney, "153 Great Fishes [John 21:11]--Gematriacal Atbash," Biblica 58 [1977]: 411-17).

Philo

Let us follow him from the beginning in his book “On the Allegories of the sacred Laws.” “It would,” he tells us, “be a sign of great simplicity to think that the world was created in six days or indeed at all in time.” Six, therefore, is only mentioned because it is a perfect number, being the first which is produced by the multiplication of two unequal factors. On the seventh day God did not “rest,” but, having desisted from the creation of mortal creatures, began the formation of more divine beings; and the word should be rendered “He cause to rest.” Nature delights in the number seven. There are seven stars in the Bear, seven parts of the soul, seven viscera, seven limbs, seven secretions, seven vowels, seven tones of the voice, seven strings to the lyre; and by God’s “causing to rest” on the seventh day is meant that when reason “which is holy according to the number has entered into the soul, the number six is then arrested, and all the mortal things which this number appears to make.” By “the green herb of the field” Moses means “that portion of the mind which is perceptible only by intellect.” The verse “God did not rain upon the earth,” means that God did not shed the perceptions of things upon the senses. To take literally the words “God planted a Paradise in Eden” is impiety; “let not such fabulous nonsense even enter our minds.” The meaning is that God implants terrestrial virtue in the human race. The tree of life is that most general virtue which some people call goodness. Its four heads are the cardinal virtues. Pheison is derived from pheidomai “I spare,” and means prudence, and being an illustrious virtue it is said to compass the whole land of Evilat where there is gold. The name Gihon means “chest” or an animal which attacks with its horns, and therefore stands for courage, and it compasses Ethiopia or humiliation; in other words, it makes hostile demonstrations against cowardice. Tigris is temperance; the name is connected with a tiger because it resolutely opposes desire. Euphrates means fertility and stands for justice. Again, Pheison means “change of the mouth,” and Evilat “bringing forth,” which is an appropriate name for folly which always aims at the unattainable, and is destroyed by prudence manifested by speaking, i.e. by the changing of the mouth! The carbuncle and emerald of the land of Evilat stand for Judah and Issachar. The Euphrates does not mean the river, but the correction of manners. The literal statement that God cast Adam into a deep sleep and made Eve of one of his ribs is fabulous; the meaning is that God took the power which dwells in the outwards senses, and led it to the mind. The serpent means pleasure, which leads Philo into a long disquisition about the rod of Moses, and the tribe of Dan. Dan means “temperance” though he is the son of Bilhah, which means imbibing; he is a serpent in the path that is in the soul; he bites the heels of the horse, because “passion has four legs as a horse has,” and is an impetuous beast and full of insolence, and the soul which is the rider of this horse falls backwards, i.e. falls from the passions when they have been wounded.

Frederic W. Farrar, History of Interpretation, Bampton Lectures 1885 (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1961), 143-144.

Philo

And God says, he “who slays Cain shall suffer sevenfold” (Gen. 4:15). But I do not know what analogy this real meaning of this expression bears to the literal interpretation of it, “He shall suffer sevenfold.” For he has not said what is to be sevenfold, nor has he described the sort of penalty, nor by what means such penalty is excused or paid. Therefore, one must suppose all these things are said figuratively and allegorically; and perhaps what God means to set before us here is something of this sort. The irrational part of the soul is divided into seven parts, the senses of seeing, of smelling, of hearing, of tasting, and of touch, the organs of speech, and the organs of generation. If, therefore, any one were to slay the eighth, that is to say, Cain, the ruler of them all, he would also paralyze all the seven. (Det. 166b-168b).

Philo in Bruce Corley, Biblical Hermeneutics (Nashville: Broadman and Holman, 2002), 62.

Philo's Rules of Interpretation

(From Gary Hall, Lincoln Christian Seminary)
1. The literal sense is excluded if: the statement is unworthy of God, There is a contradiction, or the allegory is obvious.
2. The literal and allegorical sense can be used side by side when: an expression is repeated, a word is superfluous, there is an apparent tautology, there is a change of expression.
3. Words may be explained apart from their punctuation, especially if there is a contradiction.
4. Use of synonyms implies allegory.
5. Plays on words are permissible to get the deeper sense.
6. Particles, adverbs, and prepositions may be given all their meanings in one context; words may be altered; an unusual expression means something mystical.
7. All numbers and names of places that have etymologies are symbols for moral and spiritual things.

Philo

Consider how he handled Gen. 2:14 (A river flowed through Eden and watered the garden. From there the river branched out to become four rivers). He determined that the Edenic River represented goodness, while the other four represented the four great virtues of Greek philosophy – prudence, temperance, courage, and justice. In other words, the number four in the biblical text suggested to him four items from Greek philosophy.

William Klein, Introduction to Biblical Interpretation (Dallas: Word, 1993), 26.

Origen

The infants of Babylon, which means “confusion,” are the confused thoughts caused by evil which have just been implanted and are growing up in the soul. The man who takes hold of them, so that he breaks their heads by the firmness and solidity of the Word, is dashing the infants of Babylon against the rock.

His interpretation of Psalms 137:8-9 from Against Celsus 7.22 in Dan McCartney, Let the Reader Understand (Bridge Point, 1994), 89.

Origen (d. 254)

Assumption 1: Scripture is divinely inspired. Therefore:
1. Its legal precepts are superior
2. It is powerful in changing lives
3. Biblical prophecy comes true
4. Like Jesus, the Bible is divine but in human form
5. The Bible contains hidden secrets

Assumption 2: Scripture should be interpreted according to its nature. Therefore:
1. Not every text has a literal meaning, but every text does have a spiritual meaning.
2. The spiritual meaning is not always plain or easily understood.
3. Scripture has a threefold meaning, a body (literal meaning), a soul (a psychical meaning relating to the will), and a spirit (spiritual meaning which speaks of Christ).
4. The problems in Scripture are there to hinder us from being too enamored of the literal meaning.

From his On First Principles in Dan McCartney, Let the Reader Understand (Bridge Point, 1994), 88.