Since the Bible is solidly set in history, Bible interpretation should begin with the literal meaning. When Abraham s visitors told him that Sarah would shortly have a son, Sarah laughed. But with God all things are possible. God foretold that if the children of Israel disobeyed him, they would experience miserable sieges of their cities. Zechariah prophesied that the King of the Jews would enter Jerusalem on a donkey.
Believers accept that.
But some talk as if all the Bible should be taken literally. However, it takes little Bible reading to discover figurative language. The sower, the net, the ten virgins, the vineyard, the pearl of great price. No one believes that Paul was literally a nursemaid or a farmer. The question is how much is literal and how much is figurative.