If, however, the heart of someone among the later generations has deviated until he comes to see in the verse an unsound meaning implying temporal origination or deficiency, then there is no doubt that what appears to this misguided person is not intended. If we see someone understanding the verse in this unsound apparent sense, we first establish for him that this meaning is not conveyed by the verse’s apparent wording. We then establish, secondly, that the meaning itself is unsound. Even if it were supposed to be the apparent meaning of the verse—although this supposition has no basis in reality—it would be necessary to interpret the verse otherwise, just as with other apparent meanings opposed by evidence requiring that something other than the apparent meaning be intended.

Know that one must master the ways in which expressions convey meaning and understand that a meaning may become apparent from an expression in several ways. Sometimes this is through linguistic convention, customary usage, or usage established by revelation, whether in individual words or combinations of words. Sometimes it is through the construction in which an individual word occurs, which alters what the word itself signifies. Sometimes it is through accompanying verbal indicators that make the expression figurative. Sometimes it is through what is indicated by the circumstances of the speaker, the person addressed, and the subject being discussed. Discussion will follow that specifies one of an expression’s possible meanings or clarifies that its figurative sense is intended. These and other factors give an expression its apparent meaning. Without such understanding, one may flounder in these matters.

Certainly, when an expression has no accompanying contextual indicators clarifying the speaker’s intent, but his intent is known through separate verbal evidence, then something contrary to the apparent meaning is intended. An example is a general expression whose scope is restricted by separate evidence. If, however, the evidence diverting the expression from its apparent meaning is an evident rational consideration, there is a well-known disagreement in the principles of jurisprudence over whether the intended meaning should be described as contrary to the apparent meaning.