9. Shore (aiyiandov). Rev., beach, that over which the sea (ars) rushes (aicoe). The word for shore, axtn, on which the sea breaks (dyvups), is never used in the New Testament. Wyce., brink.
74, WORD STUDIES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. (Cu. XIII.
_ 8, Parables (crapaBonais). From apd, beside, and Badrw,
to throw. A parable is a form of teaching in which one thing is thrown beside another. Hence its radical idea is comparison. Sir John Cheke renders 6zword, and the same idea is conveyed by the German Beispiel, a pattern or ewample ; bet, beside, and the old high German spel, discourse or narration.
The word is used with a wide range in scripture, but always involves the idea of comparison :
1. Of brief sayings, having an oracular or proverbial char- acter. Thus Peter (Matt. xv. 15), referring to the words “If the blind lead the blind,” ete., says, ‘declare unto us this par- able.” Compare Luke vi. 39. So of the patched garment (Luke v. 86), and the guest who assumes the highest place at the feast (Luke xiv. 7, 11). Compare, also, Matt. xxiv. 32; Mark xiii. 28.
2. Of a proverb. The word for proverb (mapomia) has the same idea at the root as parable. It is rapd, beside, oiuos, a way or road. Kither a trite, wayside saying (Trench), or a path by the side of the high road (Godet). See Luke iv. 23; 1 Sam. KKIV. LO:
3. Of a song or poem, in which an example is set up by way of comparison. See Micah ii, 4; Hab. ii. 6.
4. Of a word or discourse which is enzgmatical or obscure until the meaning is developed by application or comparison. It occurs along with the words aiviypa, enigma, and mpoBAnua, a problem, something put forth or proposed (po, in front, Barra, to throw). See Ps. xlix. (Sept. xlviii.) 4; Ixxviii. (Sept. Ixxvii.) 2; Prov. i. 6, where we have tapaB8ornv, parable ; oxoTewvov Aoyov, dark saying; and aiviywata, enigmas. Used also of the sayings of Balaam (Num. xxiii. 7, 18; xxiv. 3, 15).
In this sense Christ uses parables symbolically to expound the mysteries of the kingdom of God; as utterances which con- ceal from one class what they reveal to another (Matt. xiii. 11-17), and in which familiar facts of the earthly life are used figuratively to expound truths of the higher life. The un- spiritual do not link these facts of the natural life with those of the supernatural, which are not discerned by them (1 Oor. ii. 14), and therefore they need an interpreter of the relation be-
Cu. XITI.] MATTHEW. One
tween the two. Such symbols assume the existence of a law common to the natural and spiritual worlds under which the symbol and the thing symbolized alike work; so that the one does not merely resemble the other superficially, but stands in actual coherence and harmony with it. Christ formulates such a law in connection with the parables of the Talents and the Sower. “To him that hath shall be given. From him that hath not shall be taken away.” That is a law of morals and religion, as of business and agriculture. One must have in order to make. Interest requires capital. Fruit requires not only seed but sod. Spiritual fruitfulness requires an honest and good heart. Similarly, the law of growth as set forth in the parable of the Mustard Seed, is a law common to nature and to the kingdom of God. The great forces in both kingdoms are ger- minal, enwrapped in small seeds which unfold from within by an inherent power of growth.
5. A parable is also an example or type ; furnishing a model or a warning; as the Good Samaritan, the Rich Fool, the Pharisee and the Publican. The element of comparison enters here as between the particular incident imagined or recounted, and all cases of a similar kind.