depend on the transmission of linguistic usage and of grammatical and morphological forms; on the absence of lexical ambiguity, figurative usage, restriction of general terms, and ellipsis; and on the absence of conflicting rational or textual evidence. Each of these premises is presumptive, and whatever depends on presumptive premises is all the more presumptive. Thus, it is established that no textual proof can be conclusive.

As for the other argument—that one of the two proofs conveying apparent meanings is stronger than the other—on this assumption, abandoning one apparent meaning to uphold the other becomes a presumptive premise. Presumptions cannot be relied upon in rational matters requiring certainty. What we have said therefore establishes that diverting an expression from its apparent meaning to its less likely meaning is permissible only when conclusive evidence establishes that its apparent meaning is