Augustine’s hermeneutics

Augustine asks exactly the right questions: Why did God do things in the particular way He did, when plenty of other options were open? And, why did the writers of Scripture record just these details, from among the infinite details they might have included, and why specific details that are not at all necessary to the story?

After a series of Why? Why? Whys? he answers: “When all things are considered in that way and apparently superfluous things are found interwoven with those that are necessary, they warn the human mind, that is, the rational soul, first that they signify something and then that what they signify should be investigated.”

It’s hard to imagine a better summary of art of biblical interpretation.