Allegorical interpretation cannot precede historical interpretation

In his Commentary on Isaiah, St. Jerome rebukes Eusebius of Caesarea for jumping immediately to allegorical interpretation and eschatology when interpreting the fall of Babylon in Isaiah 13. He speaks in his voice sarcastically:

"We do not want to understand what was [= the historical], and we are seeking to hear what was not [= a misinterpretation]."

Jerome then explains he doesn't mean to reject allegorical-spiritual interpretation completely:

"And we say this not in order to condemn tropological interpretation, but in order to say that the spiritual interpretation needs to follow the progression of history, because very many ignorantly wander about in the Scriptures in madness and error." (Commentary on Isaiah 5.19, trans. Thomas P. Sheck [The Newman Press, 2015])

Jerome promises his readers that he will follow the "Hebrew truth" (Hebraica veritas), referring not merely to the fact that he's reading the Hebrew text (proto-MT) instead of the Septuagint (LXX) but also to the literal-historical interpretation he learned from the Jews who taught him the Hebrew language. Unfortunately, most Christians were (and are) ignorant of the literal meaning of the Old Testament and "wander in madness and error."

Jerome continues to be a model for Christians today in keeping the historical sense front and center and then moving to the allegorical-spiritual. We need both! A Christian who wishes to stick only to the historical will also have to abandon their belief in Jesus as Messiah, since he did not perform the literal duties of the Messiah, such as gathering all the Jewish exiles to the holy land, re-establishing the Davidic monarchy, and bringing judgment upon all nations.