LIBRARY ANNEX •^ CORNELL ,, UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Presented by Alfred C, Bameff _ Cornell Unlvaralty Library BT375 .G59 1890 Parables .of .Jesus: a methodica exposltl olln 3 1924 029 312 919 -1* !«'- ■ DATE DUE ^uat&d mmmm 1 *'**■ V«J<, 4 _J[ ccp 1 ,LJ iHMfflt 1 1 1 CATLOIID rttlNTSD IN U.S.A. The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924029312919 T. and 71 Clark's Publications. In demy 8vo, price 10s. 6(2,, THE REDEMPTION -OF MAN. DISCUSSIONS BEARING ON THE ATONEMENT. By D. W. SIMON, D.D., PnOFESSOR or theology, CONGEEGATIONAL THEOLOGIOAL hah, EDINBURGH ; AUTHOR OF 'the BIBLE, AN OUTGROWTH OF THEOOBATIO LIFE.' CONTENTS :— Introduction. Chap. I. Tlie Atonement and the Kingdom of God. II, The Constitution of Humanity. III. Relations of Man to God. IV. Hebrew Sin-Offerinss, with Ethnic Parallels. V. The Anger of God. VI. For- flveness of Sin. VII. Passio Christi. VIII. The Passion of Christ and tlie assion of Man. IX. The Atonement and Prayer : an ' Arguiiientum ad Hominem.' X. The Historical Influence of the Death of Christ. Principal Paikbaikn, Mansfield College, writes — ' I wish to say how stimulating and helpful I have found your book. Its criticism is constructive as well as incisive, while its point of view is elevated and commanding. It made rae feel quite vividly how superficial most of the recent discussions on the Atonement have been.' ' A thoughtful, able, and learned discussion. . . . The author is full of his subject, and handles the literature of it with the facility which comes of sound and laborious application of his mind to it. There is no student of theology who would not be benefited by a careful and respectful study of this volume.' — lAtera/ry Churchman. ' A book of interest and importance. . . Dr. Simon throws his heart into his work, and his book is warmed throughout by deep feeling. ... It is elaborated by Dr. Simon with singular power. Oxford undergraduates, reading for the theological school, will find themselves unable to neglect this work.' — /Saturday Aeview. 'Dr. Simon has produced a series of discussions of great value, vigorous, com- ', prehensive in their grasp, philosophical in tone, and rich in theological scholarship. It I ia lucidly written, and is full of suggestive force.' — BapUgt Magazine. BY THE SAME AUTHOR. In crown 8uo, price is. Gd., THE BIBLE AN OUTGROWTH OF THEOCRATIC LIFE. 'A more valuable and suggestive book has not recently come into our hands.' — British Quarterly Beview. ' This book will well repay perusal. It contains a great deal of learnmg as well as in^enuitv, and the style is clear.' — Giuwdian. ' Dr. Simon's little book is worthy of the most careful attention.'— .Brapiisi. Dr. John Bkown, of Bedford, writes— ' I feel sure that such of your readers as may make acquaintance with it, will be as grateful for its valuable help as 1 have beeii myself.' Just published, in demy ^vo, price 7s. 6d., THE HEREAFTER : 8HE0L HADES, AND HELL, THE WORLD TO COME, AND THE SCRIPTURE DOCTRINE OF RETRIBUTION ACCORDING TO LAW. By JAMES FYEE. 'Mr. Fyfe's book seems to us quite a model of analytical study of Scripture teaching, alike in Its thoroughness and in the calm temperate way in which the results ai-e given. . . . Once more we emphatically commend the work to all who wish to know what Scripture teaches on this most momentous subject.' — Methodist Twies. ' A valuable contribution to the literature of the subject, and one that should be read by all who wish to form just and valid views of it,' — Baptist Magaxiiie. ' His careful, judicious examination of his material is much to he commended, . . Much interesting light is thrown upon the whole subject in this volume.'— A'ccima««tcai Qautte. T. and T. Clark's Publications. GRIMM'S LEXICON. Just published, Secokd Edition, Revised, demy ito, price 36«., GREEK-ENGLISH LEXICON OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, BEINQ ffirttnm's JUSilfee's CClatjta Nobi Ceatamentt. TRANSLATED, REVISED, AND ENLARGED By JOSEPH HENEY THAYER, D.D., BUSSEY PROFESSOR OP SEW TEBTAMENT CRITICISM AND INTBEPBBTATION IN THE DIVINITY SCHOOL OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY. EXTRACT FROM PREFACE. ' nnOWARnS the 3lose of the year 1862, the " Arnoldische Buchhandlung " I in Leipzig published the First Part of a Greek-Latin Lexicon of the New Testament, prepared, upon the basis of the "Clavis Novi Testamenti Philologica " of C. G. Wilke (second edition, 2 vols. 1851), by Professor 0. L. WiLiBALD Grimm of Jena. In his Prospectus Professor Grimm announced it as his purpose not only (in accordance with the improvements in classical lexico- graphy embodied in the Paris edition of Stephen's Thesaurus and in the fifth edition of Passow's Dictionary edited by Rost and his coadjutors) to exhibit the historical growth of a word's significations, and accordingly in selecting his vouchers for New Testament usage to show at what time and in what class of writers a given word became current, but also duly to notice the usage of the Septuagi^ and of the Old Testament Apocrypha, and especially to produce a Lexicon which should correspond to the present condition of textual criticism, of exegesis, and of biblical theology. He devoted more than seven years to his task. The successive Parts of his work received, as they appeared, the out- spoken commendation of scholars diverging as widely in their views as Hupfeld and Heui^stenberg ; and since its completion in 1868 it has been generally acknowledged to be by far the best Lexicon of the New Testament extant.' : i . ' I regard it as a work of the greatest importance. ... It seems to me a work show- ing the most patient diligence, and the most carefully arranged collection of useful and helpful references.' — The Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol. ' The hest New Testament Greek Lexicon. . . . It is a treasury of the results of exact scholarship.' — Bishop Wbstcott. ' An excellent book, the value of which for English students will, I feel sure, be best appreciated by those who use it most carefully.' — Professor F. J. A. Hort, D.D. ' This work has been eagerly looked for. . . . The result is an excellent book, which I do not doubt will be the best in the field for many years to come.' Professor W. Sanday, D.D., in The Academy. ' This is indeed a noble volume, and satisfies In these days of advancing scholarship a very great want. It is certainly unequalled in its lexicography, and invaluable in its literary perfectness. ... It should, will, must make for itself a place in the library of some corrections and improvements of the original, it will be prized by students of the Christian Scriptures.' — Atheiusum. ' It should be obtained even at the sacrifice of many volumes of sermons and horai- letical aids. There is nothing so intellectually remunerative in ministerial life as foundation work of this kind. Without it no ministry can be solid and strong, nor can its results be profound and abiding. Barely have Messrs. Clark laid our British Churches under deeper obligations than they have done by the issue of this noble and scholarly work.' — BwptUt Magazine. ' Its value has long been known to students, and in Prof. Thayer's translation this value is very much enhanced. ... In its present form the book is simply indispensable to the student of the Greek Testament.' — Church Quarterly Review. CLARK'S FOEEIGN THEOLOGICAL LIBRARY. NEW SERIES. VOL. XV. tSil^e ^arabled of Stsni. EDINBUEGH: T. & T. CLAEK, 38 GEOBGE STEEET. 1890. PriHTED BY UOBKISON AND GIBB^ FOR T. & T. CLARK, EDINBURGH. LONDON, DUBLIN, HEW YORK, . HAMILTON, ADAMS, AND CO. GEORGE HERBIilRT. SCRIBNER AND WELFOEll. THE PARABLES OF JESUS A METHODICAL EXPOSITION. BY SIEGFEIED GOEBEL, COUIIT-CHAPLAIN IN HALBEKSTADT. a^tanalateti 6g PEOFESSOE BANKS, HEADINGLET. EDINBUEGH: T. & T. CLAEK, 38 GEOEGE STEEET. 1890. 3 76 -5.^^^ "VV^u-^JlitJ jn. Cui^ c, 6 ^aJUoajta^* PREFACE. THE immediate occasion of the following exegetical work on the Parables of Jesus was a want which I felt in the exercise of the ministerial ofiBce. The homiletio and cate- chetical treatment of the Parables of the Lord is a task to which every minister of the word finds himself ever called afresh. And this not merely because many of them form part of the public lessons, but because the unchanging attraction and popularity of their form, along with the depth and fulness of their contents, necessarily give them unique importance in relation to the edification of the Christian Church and the instruc- tion of Christian .youth. All the more to be regretted is the unlimited caprice with which they are often, and one must almost say traditionally, handled and interpreted. Under cover of an appeal to the infinite many-sidedness of the word of God, exposi- tors think themselves justified in straining the figurative form of the Parables for any purpose and to any extent, and in foisting on them all imaginable references and comparisons. But in reality such a mode of treatment by no means accords with the reverence due to the language of Holy Scripture and the words of our Lord. Not, indeed, that the preacher or teacher is to be denied the right of a free application and many-sided employment of the Parables for the purposes of edification and instruction in general. But he is only justified in doing this, and able to do it, after he has, first of all, assured himself of their true, original, and simple meaning, and thus laid a firm basis for his application, defined the simple bearing of the Parables, and fixed the limits of sobriety. And here the want mentioned above makes itself felt. Any one who desires to avoid the usual arbitrariness in the treatment of the Parables, and to investigate their original meaning under the guidance of a thorough, methodical, and exact exposition, will at present seek in vain in modern exegetical literature for a work VI PREFACE. that meets this desire. At least such is my experience. I there- fore attempted to help myself, and undertook the present work. I publish it in the hope that it may render the same help to one or another of my ministerial brethren which it has rendered to myself, perhaps also that here and there among non-theological readers of the Greek New Testament it may find a friend to whom it may prove instructive, and not without pleasure. Beyond this the design of its publication does not extend. But should it turn out that the work is not without value, even in a scientific aspect, in opening the way to a methodical treatment of the Parables in general, and to greater certainty in their still very divergent interpretation in detail, I shall especially rejoice in this as a welcome addition. It will be self-evident that in what has been just said no disparaging judgment is meant to be passed on the works which have previously treated monographically of the Parables of Jesiis in one way or another. Only they cannot satisfy the need of a methodical and exact exposition, because they do not even pi"o- pose to do this. I quote them here, so far as they are known to me. Older ones are : linger. Be Paraholarum Jesu natura, inter- pretatione, um, 1828 (an elaborate treatise, but without thorough exposition); Lisco, Die Paraheln Jesu, ed. 4, 1841 (" exegetico- homiletic"), in it is also found an elaborate list of still older works, from 171 7 onwards; de Valenti, Die Parabeln des Herrn, 1841 (a practical exposition "for Church, School, and Home") ; Arndt, Die Qleiehnissreden Jesu Christi, 1842 (sermons). In more recent days : Thiersch, Die Gleichnisse Christi nach ihrer moralischen und projphetischen Bedeutung (Bible hours) ; Behrmanii, Die Oleichnissreden des Herrn, first half (Bible hours) ; Mangold, Pcypuldre Auskgung sammtlicher Gleichnisse Jesu Christi (" in cate- chetical order"). The modern exegetes on the synoptical Gospels have been everywhere compared, even wheie not specially quoted by name. TRANSLATOR'S NOTE. THE following work has won considerable favour in Germany. Dr. Weiss commends the "solid exegesis, sound judgment, and soher, skilful interpretation " of the author {Tlieol. Idteraturzei- tung, Aug. 28,1880). His adverse criticism relates to three points. He blames the author for his inadequate discussion of the nature of the parabolic mode of teaching, his disregard of the results of " Criticism," and his diffuse, involved style. The first point might be conceded without detracting from the value of the work as a whole. The author's discussion of the nature of parabolic teaching in the Introduction is quite subordinate to his main purpose. The ' views there expressed on this general question have comparatively little influence on the detailed exegesis of the individual parables. The second fault in the critic's eyes will be a merit in the eyes of many. Until two members of the advanced " Critical " school can be found to agree, the expositor may justly decline their guidance. The truth of the third charge is freely conceded. The translator has done what he could so far to modify this feature as to secure clearness. To English students the absence of all reference to English works of exposition may appear a more considerable defect. On the other hand, this very circumstance gives the work a freshness and independence which it could not otherwise have. The method of interpretation sketched at the close of the Introduction should be especially noticed, as it is the one applied to each parable in succession. TABLE OF CONTENTS. INTRODUCTION. The "Word " Pamble " in the New Testament, The Parables in the strict sense, Distinction between Symbolic and Typical Parables, Parable and Fable, Table and Parable in the Old Testament, Babbinical Parables, . Purpose of Parables, . Distribution of the matter in the Gospels, Classification of the Parables according to their Import, Method of Exposition, .... PAGR 1 3 4 6 9 13 U 17 20 24 PART I. THE FIRST SERIES OF PARABLES IN CAPERNAUM. The Parables to the People by the Sea, The Sower, or Divers Soils, The Tares in the Wheat, The Fruit-bearing Earth, The Grain of Mustard Seed, The Leaven, . Tjie Parables in the Cokvbksation with the Disciples, The Hidden Treasure, The Pearl of Great Price, The Fishing-Net, Review, . . 37 57 80 93 99 Disciples, 106 . 107 . ■ ■ 111 ■ 115 a ■ ■ 122 PAET II. THE LATER PARABLES ACCORDING TO LUKE. Introductory, . The Merciful Samaritan, The Importunate Friend, 124 127 140 TABLE OF CONTENTS. The Eich Fool, The Fig-Tree, The Great Bano[uot, The Theeb Parables in Luke xv. The Lost Sheep, The Lost Coin, The Lost Son, The Unjust Steward, The Rich Man, The Unjust Judge, The Pharisee and the Publican, pAor. 149 159 169 190 191 197 200 215 232 257 269 PAET III. t THE PARABLES OF THE LAST PERIOD. General View, The Unmerciful Servant, The Labourers in the Vineyard, The Wicked Vinedressers, The Royal Marriage- Feast, Tub EsoHATOLoaioAL Discoitesb up to the Eschatological Pakablbs, The Ten Virgins, . . . . . . The Talents in Trust, ..... The Pounds in Trust, ....... Arkakgembnt of the Pakables in Systematic Oebek, List of Sckiptuhe Passages discussed, ..... 281 281 298 324 349 379 382 405 432 457 459 THE PARABLES OF JESUS. INTEODUCTIOK THE word " parable " has in the New Testament, in its applica- tion to the discourses of Jesus, a considerahly •mder meaning than the one in which we speak of the parables of the Lord in the current phraseology of the Church. The designation vapa^oXri, from irapa^aXKetv (therefore = placing side by side, comparing), belongs to every utterance containing a comparison of any kind. Thus, in Luke v. 36 the maxim of the old garment, which does not fit in with a new patch, is introduced as a parable.^ In the same way, in Luke vi. 39, the maxim, "If the blind lead the blind, -will not both fall into the ditch?" is called a parable (etire •n-apa^okrjv). Further, in Mark iii. 23 fF., the appeal of Jesus to tlie impossibility of a kingdom or household at variance within itself standing, is described as a speaking " in parables." And in Matt. xxiv. 32, Mark xiii. 28, Jesus Himself calls His allusion to the budding of the leaves on the fig-tree, which announces the approach of summer, a parable.* All these maxims are called parables, because in a visible fact, belonging to the sphere of physical or human life, they picture a corresponding truth in the sphere of religious life. Thus, in the incompatibility of an old garment with a new patch, they depict the incompatibility of the old Pharisaic legal system with the new nature and life mani- fested in Christ ; in the obvious impossibility of one blind man leading another, the impossibility of one who is himself imper- vious to divine truth guiding others in divine things ; in the notorious impossibility of a kingdom at variance within itself standing, the impossibility that Satan's kingdom, strong as it is, ' 'EXi^t Ti xx) trafxfioXiit -rfos ahrcis ; cf, also the two following maxims of the new wine and old skins (tv. 37, 38), and the old and new wine (ver. 39), which, placed on a parallel with the first, are also clearly parable^ in the same sense as the first. GOEBEL. A. 2 THE PARABLES OF JESUS. should stand, if hostile to itself; and finally, in the infallible certainty with which the bursting leaves of the fig-tree announce the approach of summer, the infallible certainty with which the events foretold by Jesus indicate the approach of His second coming. A stUl more general use of " parable " is seen in the passage Matt. XV. 15, where it refers to the utterance of the Lord in ver. 11 (cf. vv. 16-20): "Not what enters into the mouth (food) defiles the man ; but what proceeds out of the mouth (evil speech), this defiles the man." Here, therefore, it refers to a concrete maxim without a properly figurative character, simply of an enigmatical stamp. A similar use nnder another aspect is found in the pas- sage Luke iv, 23, where the ^proverb, "Physician, heal thyself," is called a parable, and that, as it seems, not so much because of its figurative, as rather merely because of its proverbial character. iBoth passages follow the correspondingly general use of the word, parable as a translation of ^B'o in the Septuagint, where not merely abstract and concrete maxims (Prov. i. 6), but also in general every favourite saying that has passed into popular use is called a parable, whether figurative in form (Ezek. xviii. 2, 3) or not (1 Sam. xxiv. 14; Ezek. xii. 22). But if, passing by this latter use of the word, in which it has departed far from its fundamental meaning as " comparison," we direct our attention merely to all those utterances of Jesus which, as embodying comparison and figure, come under the category of parable, it is self-evident that a separate exegetical treatment of aU Christ's utterances and brief discourses, which might be called parables in this wider sense, of the word, is an impossibility. They are so numerous and, more- over, so interwoven with the structure of Christ's discourses, that an attempt at their complete treatment must inevitably swell into a treatment of His discourses ip general. Let any one, for example, consider the following parables in the Sermon on the Mount merely ; the Salt that has lost its Savour (Matt. v. 13); the City on a Hill (v. 14) ; the Light, not under the Bushel, but on the Stand (v. 15) ; the Two Adversaries on the Way to the Judge (v. 25, 26) ; the Plucking out of the Eye, etc., for the good of the whole body (v. 29, 30); the Treasures which neither Moth nor Eust consume (vi. 19, 20); the Eye the Light of the Body (vi. 22, 23); Serving Two Masters (vi. 24); the Censorious Man (vii, 3-5); the Swine and Pearls (vii. 6) ; the Children asking Bread or Fish (viL 9-11); the Two Gates and Two Ways (vii. 13, 14); the Wolves INTKODUCTION. 8 iii Sheep's Clothing '(vii. 1 5) ; the House built on Eock or Sand (vii. 24-27). Accordingly, we have in the first instance to limit our matter by distinguishing the parables in the stricter sense, known by this name in the phraseology of the Church, from the parables in the wider sense, corresponding to the Biblical use of the word parable. It is incorrect to say that the parables of Christ, so called tcai' e^oxvv, are merely detailed comparisons,^ which would leave no characteristic mark distinguishing them from other figurative dis- courses and utterances of Jesus, For no one, for example, assigns the very detailed figurative discourse of the Good Shepherd in contrast with the, thieves and hirelings (John x. 1—16) to the stricter circle of parables, whereas the parable of the Costly Pearl (Matt. xiii. 45, 46), although consisting of but two brief sentences, without doubt belongs to the circle. Thus, there must be a definite distinguishing element constituting the idea of the parable in the stricter sense. The correct view is as follows : — It is the distinction obvious to the eye, between the figurative language occasionally interwoven and the figurative history expressly imagined, which is the cause of the latter only being called the parables of Jesus by pre-eminence. Accordingly, the character of a complete figurative history or narrative is to be regarded as the distinguishing mark of the parables strictly so called. Not merely an allusion to some fact belonging to the sphere of physical or human life, or to some relation obtaining there, but the invention and narration of a connected series of particular events, combined into a single whole, serves here as a pictorial representation of doctrine belonging to the religious sphere. Certainly there are some among the parables, bearing this name universally in Church usage, to which the narrative-ioim. is want- ing, e.g. the two parables of the Lost Sheep and Lost Coin (Luke XV. 3-1 0). But still both, although merely clothed in the form of a question referring to an imagined case, give in the contents of the parabolic question the matter for a narrative so definite in detail and complete in itself, that the absence of the narrative- form is lost to the consciousness of the hearer and reader. The same is true of the parable of the Importunate Friend (Luke xi. 5-9). Introduced merely in the form of a parabolic question, it still gives as to substance a narrative completely worked out. On the other hand, again, among the parables so 1 Cremer, Biblico- Theological Lexicon, p. 125 (Clark); 4 THE PARABLES OF JESUS. called /car' ef. there are some which, regarded as to their contents, present less the narration of a specially imagined history that once happened under definite conditions, than a descriptive picture of events actually taking place daily by necessity of natural law, or else by a necessity grounded in the nature of the case. This holds good of the parables of the Sower, the Mustard Seed, the Leaven, the Fishing Net. But, nevertheless, in all these, not the descriptive, but the narrative -form is chosen (in that of the Mustard Seed, Matthew drops it in the second part, while Luke retains it to the end). Thus, not the entire body of events of the same kind is comprised in a descriptive picture, but — in order to picture the subject with greater directness to the hearers (for only in the special can the general be contemplated) — out of the series of events of the same kind a particular one is selected, and this is narrated independently as a particular event that somewhere took place. And it is precisely this retention of the narrative-form which in usage has given to this class of parables also a place among the parables in the stricter sense. But by far the greatest number of the parables coming under this head, along with the narrative-form, exhibit also as to their contents the character of a history specially imagined for the didactic purpose present to the author's mind. The incidents of the history, while borrowed from actual life, form in this particular arrangement and combination into a whole, an event, unique in kind, which, as the fiction supposes, once took place somewhere. Accordingly, the idea of the parable may in the first instance be generally defined to this effect : A narrative moving within the sphere of physical or human life, not professing to communicate an event which really toole place, hut expressly imagined for the fit/rpose of representing in pictorial figure a truth belonging to the sphere of religion, and therefore referring to the relation of man or mankind to God. But then, in reference to the manner of the figurative repre- sentation, an essential distinction is observable among the parables of Jesus lying before us in the Gospels. To commence with a definite designation, they are either symbolic or typical. The first class forms by far the greatest number. The general back- ground here is the presupposition of an all-pervading harmony between the entire sphere of the physical world and man's physical life on the one hand, and the higher sphere embracing the relations of man to God on the other, so that in virtue of INTEODUCTIOSr. 5 this divinely-estaMished harmony, states and relations, incidents and operations, belonging to the former sphere of life, mirror something of a like kind in the latter sphere. In this way, not by accidental similarity, but by the inner coherence subsisting, the visible becomes a symbol of the invisible, the earthly of the heavenly, the temporal of the eternal. Viewed from this stand- point, the nature of the symbolic parable is to represent in figure those truths belonging to the religious sphere which it wishes to illustrate, in a narrative freely composed out of sym- bolically significant relations, incidents, and operations in physical or human life. In order, therefore, to ascertain the true meaning, the hearer or reader first needs the interpretation, i.e. the transla- tion of the figure into the thing symbolized, of the image into the counterpart, to which, however, in most cases some interpreting word of the narrator himself gives a clue. Sometimes, again, allegory is mixed with the symbol forming the basis of the symbolic parable, namely, wherever particular features are added to the figurative history, which, without having symbolic signifi- cance in themselves, or at least blending as more precise details with the main symbolic circumstances of the parable, only shadow forth something of like kind in the higher sphere in virtue of an outward similarity. But in such cases the chief circumstances always remain of a symbolic nature, and ^purely allegorical features occur but rarely. It is not allegory, but symbol, when sowing, growth, ripening, and reaping in the field, or the opera- tions of the fisherman in fishing, or the toil of the shepherd about his sheep, are used as figurative representations of similar incidents and operations in the sphere of God's kingdom ; or when earthly treasures are made an image of spiritual blessings, an earthly feast of spiritual happiness, or the relation between king and subjects, master and servants, proprietor and steward, father and son, bridegroom and bride, creditor and debtor, judges and administrators, etc., is made an image of the relation between God and man, or Christ and the people of God, and incidents moving within the lines of such a relation serve as a figurative repre- sentation of what takes place between God and man. On the other hand, it is no longer symbol, but allegory, when (for example) the interpretation of the parable of the Sower places over against the coming of the birds of heaven to devour the seed, the coming of the devil to carry off the word from man's heart ; or when in the parable of the Tares the devil is described 6 THE PAEABLES OF JESUS, as an enemy who of set purpose sows tares among the wheat -, or when in the parable of the Mustard Seed the birds nesting in the branches of the tree are made an image of the nations of the earth entering into the kingdom of God. Many other traits, mostly allegorical, which have been assumed in the parables of Jesus, rest on arbitrary explanations. But alongside these symbolic parables we find a number of others, which we have called typical; "type" here, however, being taken, not in the specific sense of Eom. v. 14, as a pro- phetic representation of something future, but in the usual sense of exemplum, either as a model summoning to imitation (PhiL iii. 17; 1 Tim. iv. 12), or as a warning and terror (1 Cor. X. 6, 11). These are the parables which illustrate the teaching they wish to give, not in the way of symbolical clothing, but in that of direct exemplification. Such are the parables of the Merciful Samaritan, the Eich Pool, the Eieh Man, the Pharisee and Publican (Luke x., xii., xvL, xviii.). In aU these cases a TTapa/SaXXew', or comparative setting side by side, takes place in so far only as the author introduces a particular case in the shape of an artificial history by way of comparison with the general truth meant to be taught. The particular case so confirms the truth that the religious truth in question is intuitively recognised in the history as in a striking example. Thus the narratives themselves as such bear a religious character. Their chief per- sonages, after whom they are named, are not symbolic images^ but are themselves the typical representatives of an ethico-religious disposition. And, on the other, hand, the name and person of God may enter directly into the narrative without figurative clothing ; divine acts, invisible to sense, may form an essential ingredient of the action (both hold good of the parables of the Eich Fool and the Pharisee and Publican) ; or, as in the parable of the Rich Man, the history of human persons may be followed into the next world, — all which is impossible in the symbolic parable by its very nature. Here, what is necessary in order to give expression to the moral of the narrative is not the interpretation of a symbol, but merely the generalizing application of what is said and narrated of a particular case to all cases of a like kind, so that the special events of the history related are traced back to the universally valid law executed and the universally valid truth confirmed in them. In the profane literature of antiquity the .i^Esopian faUe is very INTEOD0CTION. 7 similar as regards rhetorical form to the New Testament parable in the stricter sense.^ Like the parable, the fable also is a history, not professing to communicate an event that really took place, but expressly imagined for the purpose of representing a general truth in pictorial figure. Certainly the form of repre- sentation in the two is for the most part different, but by no means always so. In respect to the form of representation, parable and fable may also perfectly coincide, so that no really decisive distinction exists between them in a formal respect. The following common definition of the distinction is not to the point : The fable moves in the sphere of fantasy, because it introduces irrational creatures (beasts, trees, etc.), thinking, speaking, and acting rationally ; -whereas the parable always borrows its matter from actual life, and never transgresses the limits of the possible.* Here it is overlooked that there are also purely human fables, in which only rational creatures are the actoi's ; ^ that there are other fables which hover, indeed, between man and beast, but without anything being said of the latter but what really lies within the animal nature ; * and finally, such fables as treat, indeed, only of beasts, but without attributing to them other properties than those which they really possess.* Thus the first-named class of fables agrees as respects its means of representation with the numerous parables taken from the relations of man's natural life^ the second with those treating of the relations between man and beast (the Lost Sheep, the Fishing Net), and also a parable corre- sponding to the third class of fables, although not actually met * The distinction drawn by Aristotle {Shetoric, ii. 20) between parable (trxfctfii>x.r) and fable (Aoyw), in contrasting them with each other as two different species of artificial proof-example {^afiiiiyftu), does not come into view here, because his TupafiiiXri, of which for the rest he does not speak, as it is different in his view from iiiyas, is in any case something quite different from the I^ew Testament parabolic narrative. The two examples which he gives of his " paraltle " are the following : «m s' Tis Xiyei Sn ci hi KXnfurcis Sf^tit' cfuin yif uo^if at f7 rts tcvs alXtiTas xXtifaiti fin #? at ^uvuvrat ayuvi^lffSett aXX* cl «> Xu^^uffn^ « vm ^Xurripaiv av rtta iuxu^tpvav itXrifuffuu^ tas Vtov The parallel in St Luke (viii. 4 ff.) gives only the first of the parables, smd according to ver. i represents it as merely addressed to a great crowd of people in general 29 30 THE PARABLES OF JESTTS. language, which culminated in the warning against the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, for which there is no forgiveness, vv. 25-37. And when some of them demanded of Him a special miraculous sign in evidence of His authority, ver. 38, His complaint had extended from them over tKe entire contemporary generation as one which merely asked after signs (in this taking up the keynote of its leaders), more impenitent than the heathen Ninevites in the days of Jonah, and less earnest about salvation than the Queen of the South in the days of Solomon, vv. 39-42 ; a generation, therefore, whose merely superficial and transient awakening from wickedness would end in a far worse state than the one in which it was before, vv. 43-45. But while He was yet speaking to the people, word was brought Him that His mother and brethren stood without desiring to speak to Him, w. 46, 47, which gave Him occasion — in notable contrast with the previous language of rebuke to the people and to His tempters — to acknowledge His disciples (in the wider sense, cf. Mark iiL 33—35) as His mother and brethren, because they did the will of His Father in heaven, vv. 48-50. This glance at the previous events of the day, suggested to us by the evangelist himself by the words " on that day," sets in a clear light the kind of success which Christ's public work had so far met with, and indicates the feelings of Jesus at this time, and especially on the day on which He uttered the following parables. It was a time of division and decision. On the one side stood the Pharisees, who had already well-nigh advanced to the extremest degree of obduracy, and the mass of the people, who, while crowding around Him from curiosity and eagerness after miracles, showed themselves increasingly insensible to His call to .repentance, and increasingly unsusdoptible to His preaching of the kingdom ; and, on the other side, a little band of disciples, separating themselves from the rest and gathering around Him, with whom He knew and felt Himself to be in intimate union, because they were ready to do the will of His Father. We have thus to think of Jesus as under the influence of these circumstances when it is said of Him (xiii. 1) : " On that day went Jesus out of the house {scil. out of the house where He was accustomed to dwell, and where also the events of this day previously related took place*), and sat by the (Galilean) > Cf. the '/?», xii. 46 and Mark iil. 19. THE PARABLES TO THE PEOPLE BY THE SEA, 31 '& sea." This going out, however, is not viewed as followin] immediately on the events related in chap, xii. In that case a different mode of connection with what precedes would have heen chosen from the actual one, which merely notices the identity of the day. Nay, Jesus has meantime dismissed the people, as ver. 2 shows. On going out He is not from the first accompanied and beset by a multitude of people, but at first is only followed by the small band of disciples so intimately united with Him. To give Himself up to friendly converse with them will be a refreshment to Him after the toilsome, exciting work of the day. For this reason He sits down in their midst by the seaside. That we are right in understanding the eKo.O'qTO (ver. 1), not of taking a seat apart in order to rest, but of a teacher sitting amid a circle of hearers, follows from ver. 2 : KaX erw'^'X6r)<7av ttjOO? avrov oy^Xoi iroWol, Sare avrov eh "rrkoiov e/i/3dpTa KaOrjaQai, koX ira,