What does anagoge mean?
Anagoge is a noun referring to the mystical or spiritual interpretation of a text, most classically of the Bible, in which the literal words are read as pointing beyond themselves toward heavenly and ultimate realities. The term comes from the Greek anagōgē, meaning 'elevation' or 'ascent', reflecting the idea that this kind of reading leads the mind upward toward God. In medieval Christian exegesis, anagoge formed part of the celebrated fourfold scheme of scriptural meaning alongside the literal, allegorical, and moral senses: where allegory revealed what a text signified for the Church, anagoge revealed what it promised for the soul's final destiny. Dante, in his famous letter to Can Grande, applied the same interpretive method to his Divine Comedy. Today the word survives mainly in theology, medieval studies, and literary criticism, where its precise, scholarly character makes it valuable for discussing how sacred texts can carry meanings that transcend their surface narrative.
nounA mystical or spiritual interpretation of a text, especially Scripture, in which its meaning is understood as pointing toward heavenly or ultimate realities; in biblical exegesis, one of the fourfold senses of Scripture.
- The mystical or spiritual interpretation of Scripture, in which the text is read as pointing toward heavenly or eschatological realities.
- More broadly, any elevated or 'upward-leading' spiritual meaning drawn from a text or symbol.
"For medieval theologians, the anagoge of the Exodus story was the soul's passage from bondage to sin into the freedom of divine life."
"The sermon dwelt on the anagoge of the Good Shepherd parable, seeing in it the soul's final gathering into heaven."
"Dante's letter to Can Grande famously argues that the Divine Comedy should be read polysemously, its literal narrative yielding an anagoge concerning the soul's ascent to God."
Rarely pluralised; the singular is overwhelmingly preferred even when several examples are discussed.
"The lecture compared the anagoges proposed by different medieval schools of exegesis."
Medieval scholars read Scripture on four levels at once — literal, allegorical, moral, and anagogical — and anagoge was the level that lifted the reader's eyes all the way to heaven.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of anagoge
Anagoge derives from the Greek anagōgē ('elevation' or 'leading up'), formed from ana- ('up') and agein ('to lead'), making it a cousin of words such as pedagogue and demagogue, which share the same verbal root. It entered English through late Latin and scholastic usage, becoming established in theological vocabulary during the medieval period as exegetes systematised the multiple senses of Scripture. Its adjective forms, anagogic and anagogical, developed directly from the noun within the same scholarly tradition.
Related word forms
How anagoge is actually used
A scholarly and technical term, used almost exclusively in theology, medieval studies, hermeneutics, and literary criticism. It carries a learned, formal register and would sound out of place in everyday conversation.
Easily confused with anagoge
Anagoge is the noun denoting the spiritual mode of interpretation itself, while anagogic (or anagogical) is the adjective describing something that relates to that mode.
Allegory is a broader literary device in which characters and events symbolically represent other meanings, whereas anagoge specifically refers to the mystical, heavenward sense of a sacred text.