f men and giants, and such like fancies, which from the point
of view of reason are obviously absurd. A very similar story I read in
Ovid of Perseus, and also in the books of Judges and Kings of Samson,
who alone and unarmed killed thousands of men, and of Elijah, who flew
through the air, and at last went up to heaven in a chariot of fire,
with horses of fire. All these stories are obviously alike, but we judge
them very differently. The first only sought to amuse, the second had a
political object, the third a religious object. We gather this simply
from the opinions we had previously formed of the authors. Thus it is
evidently necessary to know something of the authors of writings which
are obscure or unintelligible, if we would interpret their meaning; and
for the same reason, in order to choose the proper reading from among a
great variety, we ought to have information as to the versions in which
the differences are found, and as to the possibility of other readings
having been discovered by persons of greater authority....

... The difficulties in this method of interpreting Scripture from its
own history, I conceive to be so great that I do not hesitate to say
that the true meaning of Scripture is in many places inexplicable, or at
best mere subject for guess work; but I must again point out, on the
other hand, that such difficulties only arise when we endeavor to follow
the meaning of a prophet in matters which cannot be perceived, but only
imagined, not in things, whereof the understanding can give a clear and
distinct idea, and which are conceivable through themselves: matters
which by their nature are easily perceived cannot be expressed so
obscurely as to be unintelligible; as the proverb says, "a word is
enough to the wise." Euclid, who only wrote of matters very simple and
easily understood, can easily be comprehended by any one in any
language; we can follow his intention perfectly, and be certain of his
true meaning, without having a thorough knowledge of the language in
which he wrote; in fact, a quite rudimentary acquaintance is sufficient.
We need make no researches concerning the life, the pursuits, or the
habits of the author; nor need we inquire in what language, nor when he
wrote, nor the vicissitudes of his book, nor its various readings, nor
how, nor by whose advice it has been received.

What we here say of Euclid might equally be said of any book which
treats of things by their nature percepti