Divino Afflante Spiritus, Pius XII, September 30, 1943
... discern and define that sense of the biblical words which
is called
literal ... so that the mind of the
author may be made
clear. ... the exegete must be
principally concerned with
the literal
sense of the Scriptures.
The definition of the literal sense:
The sense which the human author directly intended
and
which his words convey.