see, many Fathers do not regard the metaphor as a literal sense.) As Penna reminds us the question of subjective intention is a modern problem, and one not directly considered by the ancients;9 however, “On the whole, antiquity conceived of the literal sense in a very narrow manner, limiting it really to what the moderns would call an obvious sense.”10 For an example, we might note that studies of St. Jerome and St. Cyril of Alexandria place these two influential exegetes among the ranks of those