Ancient Wisdom Today » Rabbinic Literature

A Parable: The Man with a Fine Beard

Maer — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 01:01:17 +0000

This parable is quite short and, by itself, rather uninteresting. However, the background situation and Rabbi Ishmael’s response to the parable set the stage for a lesson in wisdom. The translation by McArthur and Johnston is given below along with the original in Hebrew. (My goal is to learn a little more of the Hebrew of these parables, when available, and become a little more familiar with the Talmud). I have broken up the text in such a way that will be easier to see some of its structure. After the parable, I will make a few comments.

The Man with a Fine Beard
R. Ekazar b. Azariah; ca. 80; B. Berakoth lla

וקורין ומעשה ברבי ישמעאל ור’ אלעזר בן עזריה שהיו מסובין במקום אחד והיה ר’ ישמעאל מוטה ור’ אלעזר בן עזריה זקוף

A Parable: The Wise and Foolish Invitees

Maer — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 16:44:08 +0000

For this parable, we are going to have the benefit of not only seeing its Hebrew but also two translations. John Hobbins was kind enough to translate the text in two posts entitled “The Parable of the Banquet in the Talmud.” In the first part, he looks at the exchange between R. Eliezer and his students culminating in a quote from Qohelet. Hobbins reminds us of the importance of taking the context of the parables into consideration as they may have never been stand-alone units.

I have my doubts about the tendency to treat parables as self-contained units. They may have been (or may never have been), once upon a time, autonomous units. But, just as is the case with the parables of the New Testament, the parables of the Hebrew Bible and the Talmud do not stand on their own anymore. Relationship to context needs to be taken into full account.

Rabbinic Parables

Maer — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 03:31:10 +0000

I recently read a fascinating book entitled They Also Taught in Parables: Rabbinic Parables from the First Centuries of the Christian Era by Harvey K. McArthur and Robert M. Johnston. The first part is a collection of selected parables of the תנאים (tannaim – the Rabbinic sages in the Mishnah from approximately 70-200 CE) and the second part comprised of essays on the nature of their parables and some comparisons with the parables of Jesus.

The rabbinic word for parable(s) is mashal/meshalim, and, to mark a literary item as a narrative mashal, the authors chose the following elements:

Explicit label. Often the introductory formulas to the items explicitly label them as meshalim. Some typical introductions are: “A parable”; “A parable: It is like unto . . .”; and “They parable a parable. Unto what is the matter like? It is like unto. . . .”