Ch. 11. The way, then, as it seems to me, in which we ought to deal with the Scriptures and extract from them their meaning is the following, which has been ascertained from the sayings [of the Scriptures] themselves. By Solomon in the Proverbs we find some rule as this enjoined respecting the teaching of the divine writings, “And do thou portray them in a threefold manner, in counsel and knowledge, to answer words of truth to them who propose them to thee” [_cf._ Prov. 22:20 _f._, LXX]. One ought, then, to portray the ideas of Holy Scripture in a threefold manner upon his soul, in order that the simple man may be edified by the “flesh,” as it were, of Scripture, for so we name the obvious sense; while he who has ascended a certain way may be edified by the “soul,” as it were. The perfect man, and he who resembles those spoken of by the Apostle, when he says, “We speak wisdom among them that are perfect, but not the wisdom of the world, nor of the rulers of this world, who come to nought; but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom, which God hath ordained before the ages unto our glory” [I Cor. 2:6, 7], may receive edification from the spiritual law, which was a shadow of things to come. For as man consists of body and soul and spirit, so in the same way does the Scripture consist, which has been arranged by God for the salvation of men. Ch. 12. But as there are certain passages which do not contain at all the “corporeal” sense, as we shall show in the following, there are also places where we must seek only for the “soul,” as it were, and “spirit” of Scripture.