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Parable
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For other uses, see Parable (disambiguation).
For a comparison of parables with other stories, see Traditional story. For a geometrical figure with a
similar name, see Parabola.

The Return of the Prodigal Son, by Rembrandt.

A parable is a succinct, didactic story, in prose or verse that illustrates one or more instructive
lessons or principles. It differs from a fable in that fables employ animals, plants, inanimate objects,
or forces of nature as characters, whereas parables have human characters.[1] A parable is a type
of analogy.[2]
Some scholars of the canonical gospels and the New Testament apply the term "parable" only to
the parables of Jesus,[3][4] though that is not a common restriction of the term. Parables such as "The
Prodigal Son" are central to Jesus's teaching method in the canonical narrativesand the apocrypha.

Contents
 1Etymology
 2History
 3Characteristics
o 3.1Jesus' parables
o 3.2Other figures of speech
 4Examples
 5See also
 6References
 7External links

Etymology[edit]
The word parable comes from the Greek παραβολή (parabolē), meaning "comparison, illustration,
analogy."[5] It was the name given by Greek rhetoricians to an illustration in the form of a brief
fictional narrative.

History[edit]
Parables are often used to explore ethical concepts in spiritual texts. The Bible contains numerous
parables in the Gospels section of the New Testament (Jesus's parables). These are believed by
some scholars (such as John P. Meier) to have been inspired by mashalim, a form of Hebrew
comparison.[4] Examples of Jesus' parables include the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son.
Mashalim from the Old Testament include the parable of the ewe-lamb (told by Nathan in 2 Samuel
12:1-9[6]) and the parable of the woman of Tekoah (in 2 Samuel 14:1-13 [7]).
Parables also appear in Islam. In Sufi tradition, parables are used for imparting lessons and values.
Recent authors such as Idries Shah and Anthony de Mello have helped popularize these stories
beyond Sufi circles.
Modern parables also exist. A mid-19th-century example, the Parable of the broken window,
criticises a part of economic thinking.

Characteristics[edit]

Parable of the Good Samaritan, by Jan Wijnants (1670).

A parable is a short tale that illustrates a universal truth; it is a simple narrative. It sketches a setting,
describes an action, and shows the results. It may sometimes be distinguished from similar narrative
types, such as the allegory and the apologue.[8]
A parable often involves a character who faces a moral dilemma or one who makes a bad decision
and then suffers the unintended consequences. Although the meaning of a parable is often not
explicitly stated, it is not intended to be hidden or secret but to be quite straightforward and
obvious.[9]
The defining characteristic of the parable is the presence of a subtext suggesting how a person
should behave or what he should believe. Aside from providing guidance and suggestions for proper
conduct in one's life, parables frequently use metaphorical language which allows people to more
easily discuss difficult or complex ideas. Parables express an abstract argument by means of using
a concrete narrative which is easily understood.
The allegory is a more general narrative type; it also employs metaphor. Like the parable, the
allegory makes a single, unambiguous point. An allegory may have multiple noncontradictory
interpretations and may also have implications that are ambiguous or hard to interpret. As H.W.
Fowler put it, the object of both parable and allegory "is to enlighten the hearer by submitting to him
a case in which he has apparently no direct concern, and upon which therefore a disinterested
judgment may be elicited from him, ..."[8] The parable is more condensed than the allegory: it rests
upon a single principleand a single moral, and it is intended that the reader or listener shall conclude
that the moral applies equally well to his own concerns.
Jesus' parables[edit]
Main article: Parables of Jesus

Medieval interpreters of the Bible often treated Jesus' parables as allegories, with
symbolic correspondences found for every element in his parables. But modern scholars, beginning
with Adolf Jülicher, regard their interpretations as incorrect.[3] Jülicher held that Jesus' parables are
intended to make a single important point, and most recent scholarship agrees.[4]
Gnostics suggested that Jesus kept some of his teachings secret within the circle of his disciples
and that he deliberately obscured their meaning by using parables. For example, in Mark 4:11–12:
And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those
outside, everything comes in parables; in order that ‘they may indeed look, but not perceive, and
may indeed listen, but not understand; so that they may not turn again and be forgiven.’” (NRSV)
Other figures of speech[edit]
The parable is related to figures of speech such as the metaphor and the simile, but it should not be
identified with them.
A parable is like a metaphor in that it uses concrete, perceptible phenomena to illustrate abstract
ideas. It may be said that a parable is a metaphor that has been extended to form a brief, coherent
narrative.
A parable also resembles a simile, i.e., a metaphorical construction in which something is said to be
"like" something else (e.g., "The just man is like a tree planted by streams of water"). However,
unlike the meaning of a simile, a parable's meaning is implicit (although not secret).

Examples[edit]
Ignacy Krasicki, author of "Abuzei and Tair"

 Akhfash's goat – a Persian parable

 The parables of Ignacy Krasicki:
o Abuzei and Tair
o The Blind Man and the Lame
o The Drunkard
o The Farmer
o Son and Father
 The parables of Jesus
 The Rooster Prince – a Hasidic parable

See also[edit]

 Book: Parables of Jesus

 Amplification (rhetoric)
 Exemplification

 Literature portal
 Bible portal

References[edit]
1. ^ "Difference Between Fable and Parable". DifferenceBetween.com. Difference Between.
Retrieved 13 June 2015.
2. ^ David B. Gowler (2000). "What are they saying about the parables". What are they saying about the
parables. pp. 99, 137, 63, 132, 133, .
3. ^ Jump up to:a b Adolf Jülicher, Die Gleichnisreden Jesu (2 vols; Tübingen: Mohr [Siebeck], 1888,
1899).
4. ^ Jump up to:a b c John P. Meier, A Marginal Jew, volume II, Doubleday, 1994.
5. ^ παραβολή, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus
6. ^ 2 Samuel 12:1–9
7. ^ Samuel 14:1–13
 8. ^ Jump up to:a b Fowler, H.W. (1965). A Dictionary of Modern English Usage. London: Oxford
University Press. p. 558. See entry at simile and metaphor.
9. ^ George Fyler Townsend, in his translator's preface to Aesop's Fables (Belford, Clarke & Co., 1887),
defined the parable as being "purposely intended to convey a hidden and secret meaning other than
that contained in the words themselves, and which may or may not bear a special reference to the
hearer or reader." However, Townsend may have been influenced by the 19th century expression, "to
speak in parables", connoting obscurity.

External links[edit]
Look up parable in
Wiktionary, the free
dictionary.

Wikiquote has quotations

related to: Parable

Wikimedia Commons has

media related to Parables
of Jesus Christ.

 Jewish Encyclopedia: Parable

 Catholic Encyclopedia: Parable
 Spiritual Parables
 Secular Parables

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Traditional stories, or stories about traditions, differ from both fiction and nonfiction in that the
importance of transmitting the story's worldview is generally understood to transcend an
immediate need to establish its categorization as imaginary or factual. In the academic circles
of literature, religion, history, and anthropology, categories of traditional story are important
terminology to identify and interpret stories more precisely. Some stories belong in multiple
categories and some stories do not fit into any category.