A DEFINITION OF 'PARABLE'The Greek root of the term translated into English as ‘parable’ παραβολή is found in ‘παρα’ meaning ‘close beside’ or ‘with’ and the verb ‘βάλλω’ ‘I cast’. It means a juxtaposition or comparison and appears already in the 4th century BC writings of Plato[1] and Aristotle[2]. In the New Testament, parable is considered to be a teaching aid, cast alongside the truth being taught for the sake of comparison. Much has been made of the Greek cultural influence on the Gospel writers, sometimes at the expense of the Semitic influence. In the Septuagint, παραβολή is also used to translate the Hebrew term מָשָׁל transliterated as ‘mashal’. The noun has a more wide-ranging meaning than we would typically associate with the word ‘parable’ as we understand it in English and is used around forty times in the Old Testament, having been translated as ‘argument’ (Job 27:1; 29:1), ‘oracle’ (Nb 23:7, 18; Hab: 2:6), ‘byword’, ‘discourse’, ‘parable’ (Ezek 17:2) ‘proverb’ (1 Sam 10:12) ‘taunt’ (Is 14:4). However, when examined, it appears to represent a much broader category of literary devices, including: simile, fable, riddle, allegory, symbol, example and theme. The parable can be a simile developed and expanded into a story. The Hebrew also has a verbal form משׁל, which means to ‘represent’ or ‘be like’. The verb denominative can mean to ‘use a proverb’, ‘speak in parables or sentences of poetry’. The latter is most common in the prophet Ezekiel (12:23; 17:2; 24:3; 17:3 for example). The uses of מָשָׁל will be considered in the next section. This accounts for how, when used in the New Testament ‘parable’ is at times a very loose and general term, as the use of it in Lk 6:39-42 demonstrates. The parables of Jesus share some common traits: the story is made up of basic components that are true to life, although the story itself may be fictitious. The similes used are commonly agricultural regarding seeds and sowing for example or concerned with fishing, but also coins, leaven, lamps are frequently mentioned. An overall message is generally communicated through the story, with any extra details at the service of the main message. PARABLES IN THE OLD TESTAMENT It was while researching the whole area of parables in the Bible in preparation for a dissertation on The Good Samaritan, that I came across the notion of ‘parable’ in the Old Testament. The Old Testament is brimming with metaphorical language and unforgettable imagery. The Jews had many apothegms and perceptive witty sayings, not to mention the Wisdom writings and in particular the Book of Proverbs. Some of the parables told by Jesus can be recognised in familiar Old Testament ones with the new reality of the Kingdom of God set in their heart. The parable of the Wicked Husbandmen, recounted by all three synoptic gospels (Mt 21: 33-46; Mk 12: 1-12; Lk 20:9-19), finds an Old Testament echo in Isaiah 5:1-7, as does the parable of the Mustard Seed (Mt 13:31-32; Mk 4:30-32; Lk 13:18-19) in Ezekiel 17:1-24. But perhaps those stories in the Old Testament that conform most closely to the New Testament version of ‘parable’ as illustrated in the Good Samaritan, even though they are sometimes not actually associated with the word מָשָׁל mashal, are the narratives of the Poor Man’s Ewe Lamb (2 S 12:1-4), the Tekoan Woman (2 S 14:4), the Lost Prisoner (1 K 20:38-42), the Vineyard (Is 5:1-7) and the Ploughman (Is 28:23-29). The Old Testament parables were frequently a tool in the hands of the Prophets, serving as a reminder of God’s Covenant and the Law and they provide some indications of both the moral and social aspects of life in the history and journey of God’s people. The Poor Man’s Ewe Lamb, in 2 Samuel (12:1-4), which continues to have its place in the Lectionary[3], demonstrates very clearly the power of parabolic speech. However, not all scholars agreed about its classification as a ‘parable’. Hermann Gunkel, the influential German Old Testament scholar and founder of form criticism, argued that “it affords no parallel at all to the situation to which it is applied” and consigned it to the stock of ‘fairy tales’ as it did not seem to belong to the context.[4] The parable itself is made up of only four verses and is spoken by the prophet Nathan. It is concise and to the point and stirs up in any heart a sense of anger at the injustice served by the rich man and a deep sense of sympathy and compassion for the poor man, whose cherished and only ewe lamb is seized needlessly by the rich man to furnish his table upon the arrival of a ‘stranger’. It is an extraordinary accomplishment in such a few words and the effect it had on David, who recognised in it the utterly despicable nature of his adultery and murderous crime, was just as striking. The story exemplifies the notion of juxtaposition or casting something alongside the truth being taught for the sake of comparison, that we have come to recognise as ‘parable’. It is the Lord who communicates in this way with David through the intermediary of the prophet Nathan because “the thing that David had done displeased the Lord” (2 S 11:27). By a careful selection of words, Nathan, who has the very difficult task of communicating God’s displeasure to David, leads the king to unsuspectingly pronounce judgment on his own deeds. “You are the man”, Nathan reveals the truth to David (2 S 12:7). In a similar way, the parable of the wicked tenants (husbandmen) (Mt 21:33-45) causes Jesus’ hearers to pronounce judgement on themselves without being aware of it, through the insertion of λέγουσιν αὐτῷ in Mt 21:41. This is also the case in the parable of the Two Sons (Mt 21:31) and in the Sinful Woman forgiven (Lk 7:43).[5] The parable has been described in different ways: Simon categorises it as a ’juridical parable’ in that it “constitutes a realistic story about a violation of the law, related to someone who had committed a similar offence with the purpose of leading the unsuspecting hearer to pass judgment on himself”.[6] For MacDougall, it is a ‘parable of fact’ as opposed to one of ‘fable’ or ‘fancy’[7] although Von Rad regarded it as a ‘fable’ of which many are applied in a political context. “In the fable, there occurs a veiling of something everyday, a kind of alienation in the direction of the unreal and the fabulous. But precisely in this strange dress the truth is more forceful than in the everyday where it is so easily overlooked”[8] In MacDougall’s estimation, the Old Testament parables provided the “scheme, the system, the power and the genius of parabolic teaching.”[9] [1] BURNET, J., Platonis opera, vol. 2. ΣΩ. Ἐρρήθη γάρ που τότε ἐν τῇ παραβολῇ τῶν βίων μηδὲν δεῖν μήτε μέγα μήτε σμικρὸν χαίρειν τῷ τὸν τοῦ νοεῖν καὶ φρονεῖν βίον ἑλομένῳ. soc. Yes, for it was said, you know, in our comparison of the lives that he who chose the life of mind and wisdom was to have no feeling of pleasure, great or small. [2] ROSS, W.D. Aristotelis ars rhetorica [3] The parable of the Poor Man’s Ewe lamb continues to form a part of the Catholic Lectionary and is read on Saturday of Week 3 of Ordinary Time (Cycle II) including David’s penitence (2 S 12:1-7, 10-17). The gospel reading is Mk 4:35-41, the calming of the storm. The psalm is 50: A pure heart create for me O God. [4] SIMON, Uriel. “The Poor Man’s Ewe-Lamb, An Example of a Juridical Parable” p.220 [5] Cf. JEREMIAS, J. The Parables of Jesus, p.28 [6] SIMON, Uriel. “The Poor Man’s Ewe-Lamb, An Example of a Juridical Parable”, pp. 220-221 [7] MacDOUGALL, John. The Old Testament Parables, pp. 9-10. [8] VON RAD, G. Wisdom in Israel, p.42 [9] MacDOUGALL, John. The Old Testament Parables, pp. 9-10. REFERENCES
BURNET, J. Platonis opera, vol. 2, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1901 (repr. 1967): St II.11a-67b. [Online: http://stephanus.tlg.uci.edu/Iris/Cite?0059:010:55521] JEREMIAS, Joachim. The Parables of Jesus, (3rd Revised Edition). London: SCM Press Ltd, 1972 Translation based on that of: S.H. Hooke from German Die Gleichnisse Jesu, 6th edition published 1962 by Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Gottingen. Revised Edition. Chatham: W. & M. Mackay & Co. Ltd, 1963. MACDOUGALL, John. The Old Testament Parables. London: James Clarke and Company, 1934. ROSS, W.D. Aristotelis ars rhetorica, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1959 (repr. 1964): 1-191 (1354a1-1420a8). [Online: http://stephanus.tlg.uci.edu/Iris/Cite?0086:038:326191] SIMON, Uriel. “The Poor Man’s Ewe-Lamb, An Example of a Juridical Parable” Biblica, 1967, Vol 48, No. 2 pp.207-242. [Online https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/23488221.pdf?ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_search_gSIMON, Uriel. VON RAD, Gerhard. Wisdom in Israel. First published in German under title Weisheit in Israel, Neukirchen-Vluyn, 1970. English translation James D. Martin. London: SCM Press Ltd., 1993.
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