Record Details

Why Jesus spoke in parables

In die Skriflig

 
 
Field Value
 
Title Why Jesus spoke in parables
 
Creator Viljoen, Francois P.
 
Subject Theology; New Testament; Synoptic Gospels; Parables Parable; Mystery; Insider; Outsider; Teacher; Jesus; Parable of the sower.
Description n the Synoptic Gospels, listeners ask Jesus about the purpose of his parables. These Gospels provide two parallel accounts of this discussion (Mt 13:10–17 // Mk 4:10–12 // Lk 8:9–10 and Mt 13:34–35 // Mk 4:33). The version in Mark 4:10–12 particularly raises problems related to a sharp distinction between the ‘mystery’ that the ‘insiders’ understand, and ‘parables’, which are intended ‘so that’ the ‘outsiders’ would not understand, repent and be forgiven. Mark’s reference to Isaiah 6:9–10 differs from the Masoretic Text (MT) and Septuagint (LXX) versions, but corresponds with the Aramaic Targum, which reads ‘they may be forgiven’ instead of ‘and I would heal them’. It seems that the Markan Jesus deliberately uses parables to prevent ‘those on the outside’ from understanding, repentance and forgiveness. Luke retains the ‘so that’, but does not distinguish between the two groups that sharply, as he refers to ‘others’ and not ‘those on the outside’. He omits Mark’s apparent offensive phrase about the prevention of repentance and forgiveness. Matthew smooths out some of these difficulties by changing the ‘so that’ to ‘because’. According to Matthew, Jesus speaks in parables because the people do not see, hear and understand. The reason for their inability to comprehend, is their rejection of Jesus. This article investigates these parallel passages to decipher the meaning within their textual context. The argument of this article is that these parallel statements should be read within the context of the parable of the sower to grasp their meaning.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor National Research Foundation of South Africa (NRF) for providing funding.
Date 2019-11-26
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — Literary analysis
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/ids.v53i1.2523
 
Source In die Skriflig/In Luce Verbi; Vol 53, No 1 (2019); 7 pages 2305-0853 1018-6441
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://indieskriflig.org.za/index.php/skriflig/article/view/2523/5951 https://indieskriflig.org.za/index.php/skriflig/article/view/2523/5950 https://indieskriflig.org.za/index.php/skriflig/article/view/2523/5952 https://indieskriflig.org.za/index.php/skriflig/article/view/2523/5949
 
Coverage Greco-Roman New Testament times Biblical Theology
Rights Copyright (c) 2019 Francois P. Viljoen https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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