Paradoxically, in his exposition of the law, Philo follows the letter more closely as the expression of justice, while the later rabbis often allegorize it in order to support their humaner interpretation.
To treat as allegorical; to understand in an allegorical sense; as, when a passage in a writer may understood literally or figuratively, he who gives it a figurative sense is said to allegorize it.
To form or turn into allegory; as, to allegorize the history of a people.
How Dante himself could allegorize even historical personages may be seen in a curious passage of the Convito (Tr.
All allegorize the Sun, six months above and six months below the equator.
And since Christians count it an abuse to allegorize the first, let them also be ashamed to fantasticalize the last.
