Parable or Metaphor?
Several authors such as Barbara Reid, Arland Hultgren or Donald Griggs comment that "parables are noticeably absent from the Gospel of John". According to the Catholic Encyclopedia article on Parables: "There are no parables in St. John's Gospel" and according to the Encyclopædia Britannica article on Gospel of St. John: "Here Jesus' teaching contains no parables and but three allegories, the Synoptists present it as parabolic through and through." These sources all suggest that the passage is better described as a metaphor than a parable.
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Famous quotes containing the word parable:
“For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance; but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.”
—Bible: New Testament Jesus, in Matthew, 25:29.
In the parable of the talents.