Blood or the appearance of blood? A literal or a metaphorical interpretation of the first Egyptian plague (Ex 7:17-22)

Since antiquity, church tradition has used both the literal and the allegorical methods of interpreting Sacred Scripture. Dramatic theological debates between the Antiochene and Alexandrian schools eventually led to the idea of an “exegetical synthesis”, which is used by Christian commentators when interpreting important passages in the Bible. However, the desire to prefer one method of interpreting the sacred text (the “authentic method”) to another (the “erroneous method”) did not go away. It remains a temptation even today. For example, since the middle of the 19th century, attempts to “rationalize miracles” have become widespread in biblical studies, and, in our opinion, these attempts bear witness to a preference for one method of exegesis even among many modern scholars. In the present article, the author argues against one such incorrect approach to exegesis.