The low door

Why read and meditate on the Word of God in the Old Testament? Why, if it sometimes seems so primitive, rocky, or even shocking? Us, used to a very different style of storytelling, from epic poems to great modern novels?
The midrashim, the Jewish commentators of the Bible, elder brothers of Christian exegetes, say that each verse of the Torah (for Christians the first 5 books of the Bible) has 70 meanings: 70, that is, infinite, in the Jewish symbolism of numbers.

It could not be otherwise, because infinity itself contracts in the Torah to speak the language of men, says the Talmud, the most important book of the Jewish tradition. Which is the compendium of a series of discussions between two or more teachers, between two or more schools, between two or more currents of thought, often in opposition to each other: because all opinions are legitimate. In short, if even a single reader fails to read the Bible, he takes on a great responsibility: he takes away from the community the meaning that he and he alone would have brought, depriving everyone of an extra wealth. Everyone is called to interpretation!

For the Christian Fathers it was the same. Ephrem, the "pillar of the Syriac Church, the harp of the Holy Spirit", wrote in the fourth century: "If there was only one meaning for the words of Scripture, then the first commentator would discover it and the other listeners would have neither the hard work. of research, nor the pleasure of discovery. Rather, each word of our Lord has its own form and each form has many members, and each member has its own physiognomy. Everyone understands according to his ability and interprets as he is allowed ”. Therefore, not only should Scripture be read, but it must be read and reread throughout the course of life, because what was closed at 20 can open at 50. There is a relationship between the level of understanding and inner growth. St. Augustine says that when he approached the reading of the Bible he had a very bad impression: "It seemed to me that it could not stand comparison with the elegance of the Ciceronian style".

And later he will understand the reason for his difficulty in entering Scripture: "I was not in a position ... to bend my forehead after his footsteps ... My arrogance shunned those literary forms ... Instead it is of such a nature that it makes itself great with little ones, and I disdained to make myself little and, swollen with vanity, I believed myself who knows what ”.
To enter the lower door of the Bible one must bow one's head. It is the logic of making oneself small that marks the whole parable of the Incarnation, indispensable for entering the mystery of the Word made flesh and the Scriptures. But we only make ourselves small if we love, Ephrem says: "Your fountain, Lord, is hidden for those who don't thirst for you ... Love is the treasurer of your heavenly treasure".

Flaminia Morandi
NP March 2020