Rabbinic Parables
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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. . . .”
Abbreviated label. Frequently the introductory formulas are abbreviated in such a way that the word mashal itself is omitted: “It is like unto. . . .”
Structural characteristics. The immediate environment and internal structure of the typical narrative mashal in its fullest form include these five parts:
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1. Illustrand, or the point to be illustrated.
2. Introductory formula, such as noted above. 3. The parable proper (the so-called picture half, or story part, of the whole unit). 4. Application, usually introduced by the Hebrew word kak (even so; likewise) or another linking word. 5. Scriptural quotation, often introduced by the formula “as it is said” or “as it is written.” (The quotation is often followed by a second application, which itself may become an illustrand, thus producing a chain of parables.) |
Here is an example:
The King’s Twin Who Was Executed
R. Meir says: What does the Scripture mean: “For that which is hanged is a curse of God” (Deut. 21:23)?
It is like two twin brothers, each resembling the other. One became king over the whole world, and the other went out into robbery. After a time the one who went out into robbery was captured and they crucified (hanged) him on a cross (gallows). And all the passers-by were saying: It is as though the king were crucified.
Therefore it is said: “For that which is hanged is a curse of God.”
(R. Meir; ca. 140; Tos. Sanhedrin 9:7 [cf. B. Sanhedrin 46b])
