– It comes from the Greek parabolê , comparison, approximation, similarity, allegory. It is a literary resource used in Sacred Scripture to facilitate the understanding of a message:
Judges 9,8-20 : One day the trees decided to elect a king to govern them and they said to the olive tree: “Reign over us!”.
1Sm 12,1-2 : Samuel said to all Israel: “I have obeyed your voice in all that you asked of me”.
2Kings 14,9-10 : Joash, king of Israel, replied to Amaziah […]: “The thorn of Lebanon sent word to the cedar of Lebanon”.
Is 5,1-7 : I want to sing to my friend his love song about his vineyard.
Ez 17,1-10 : Son of Man, propose a riddle, present a parable to the house of Israel.
Ez 19,1-9 : And you, Son of Man, make this funeral song heard about the princes of Israel.
Ez 23,1-49 : Son of Man, there were once two women, daughters of the same mother.
Ez 24,1-14 : The word of the Lord was addressed to me in these terms: Son of Man, write down today’s date in writing.
Hos 2:20-21 : I will make a covenant for them on that day with the wild animals, the birds of the sky and the creatures that creep on the ground.
Hos 4:16 : Because Israel rebels like an unruly heifer, the Lord will now lead it to pasture.
Am 4,1 : Hear this oracle, you heifers of Bashan, who live in the mountain of Samaria!
– Jesus preferred to preach his doctrine in parables:
Mt 13,3,13,34,35 : And his speeches were a series of parables.
Mt 24,32 : Understand this by comparing the fig tree: when its branches are tender and its leaves are growing.
Mk 4,2.11.13.30.34 : And he taught them many things in parables.
Mc 13,28 : Understand by a comparison taken from the fig tree.
Lk 8:10 : To you it is granted to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of God, but to others it is spoken in parables.
Lc 21,29 : He added this comparison: Look at the fig tree and at the other trees.
– When the disciples ask, Jesus explains the meaning of the parable:
Mt 13,11-17 : Jesus answered: “Because it is given to you to understand the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, but not to them”.
Mk 4,1-20 : To you is revealed the mystery of the Kingdom of God, but to those who are outside everything is proposed to them in parables.
Lk 8,4-15 : This is what this parable means: the seed is the Word of God.
