PARDES – How to understand more than just the literal text

PARDES is an acronmy for (it’s also means “orchard”)

Peshat (פְּשָׁט) – “plain” and “straight”:  the direct, literal meaning of Scripture;

Remez (רֶמֶז) – “hints”: the deeper, symbolic meaning, going beyond the literal sense;

Derash (דְּרַשׁ) – from Hebrew root “darash” meaning “to inquire” and “to seek”: the comparative meaning, the meaning obtained from a passage by comparing it to similar passages in the Scripture;

Sod (סוֹד) – “secret”, “mystery”: the meaning of Scripture revealed through inspiration or revelation.