Hear Then the Parable. A Commentary on the Parables of Jesus

477 Pages·1990·14.33 MB·English

by  Bernard Brandon Scott

JFfear }hen
I I
the Parable
A Commentary on the
Parables of Jesus
Bernard Brandon Scott
FORTRESS PRESS MINNEAPOLIS
Old Testament quotations, unless otherwise noted, are from the Revised
Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1946, 1952, © 1971, 1973 by the
Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of
Christ in the U.S.A., and are used by permission.
COPYRIGHT~ 1989 BY AUGSBURG FORTRESS
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior per
mission of the publisher.
First paperback edition 1990
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Scott, Bernard Brandon, 1941-
Hear then the parable.
Bibliography: p.
1. Jesus Christ-Parables. I. Title.
BT375.S348 1989 266'.806 88-45248
ISBN 0--8006--0897-6 (cloth)
ISBN 0--8006-2481-5 (paper)
Printed in the United States of America 1-2481
94 93 92 91 90 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
For Mariah and Jonathan,
treasure not hidden in a field

Contents
Preface xi
Part One. Prolegomena
Introduction 3
Naming the Parable 7
Mashal 8
Mashal in the Hebrew Bible 9
Mashal in Rabbinic Literature 13
Para bole in Greek 19
Parabole in the Synoptics 21
The Gospel of Thomas 30
Short Narrative Fiction 35
Referencing 42
Symbol 51
Parable and Torah 51
Parable and Gospel 54
Parable and Kingdom 56
Approach and Strategy 63
Corpus of Parables 63
Strategy 72
vii
viii Contents
Part Two. Family, Village, City, and Beyond
1. Identity 79
A Man Had Two Children (Matt. 21:28-31a)
Who Has a Friend? (Luke 11:5-8)
Two Men Went Up to the Temple (Luke 18:10-14a)
2. I Remember Mama 99
A Man Had Two Sons (Luke 15:11-32)
3. How to Mismanage a Miracle 127
The Land of a Rich Man (Luke 12:16-20; Gos. Thorn.
63)
4. Good Fences Make Good Neighbors 141
A Rich Man Clothed in Purple (Luke 16:19-31)
5. What If No One Came? 161
A Man Gave a Banquet (Matt. 22:2-14; Luke 14:16-
24; Gos. Thorn. 64)
6. You Can't Keep a Good Woman Down 175
In a City There Was a Judge (Luke 18:2-5)
7. Who's That Masked Man? 189
From Jerusalem to Jericho (Luke 10:30-35)
Part Three. Masters and Servants
8. Patrons and Clients 205
The Faithful and Wise Servant (Matt. 24:45-51;
Luke 12:42-46)
A Man Going on a Journey (Mark 13:34-36; Luke
12:36-38)
A Creditor Had Two Debtors (Luke 7:41-43)
Who Has a Servant Plowing (Luke 17:7-9)
9. A Hard-Hearted Man 217
A Man Entrusts Property (Matt. 25:14-30; Luke
19:12-27)
10. Reading of the Will 237
A Man Planted a Vineyard (Mark 12:1-12; Matt.
21:33-46; Luke 20:9-19; Gos. Thorn. 65)
Contents ix
11. A Master's Praise 255
A Rich Man Had a Steward (Luke 16:1-8a)
12. The King's Accounting 267
A King Wished to Settle Accounts (Matt. 18:23-34)
13. Am I Not Doing You Right? 281
A Householder Went Out Early (Matt. 20:1-15)
Part Four. Home and Farm
14. Artifacts 301
A Woman with a Jar (Gos. Thorn. 98)
A Woman with Ten Drachmas (Luke 15:8-10)
The Net (Matt. 13:47)
The Merchant (Matt. 13:45-46; Gos. Thorn. 76)
15. One Rotten Apple 321
The Leaven (Matt. 13:33; Luke 13:2Q-21)
16. A Garden of Delights 331
A Man Had a Fig Tree (Luke 13:6-9)
From the Fig Tree (Matt. 24:32; Mark 13:28; Luke
21:29-30)
17. What Did the Farmer Sow? 343
A Sower Went Out (Mark 4:1-9; Matt. 13:1-9; Luke
8:4-8; Gos. Thorn. 9
18. What If They Gave a War? 363
A Man Casts Seed (Mark 4:26-29)
19. The Mustard Tree 373
A Grain of Mustard Seed (Matt. 24:32; Mark 4:30-
32; Luke 13:18-19; Gos. Thorn. 20)
20. Finders Keepers 389
A Man Who Had Hidden Treasure (Gos. Thorn. 109)
Treasure (Matt. 13:44; Gos. Thorn. 109)
21. Where's the Fox? 405
A Man with a Hundred Sheep (Matt. 18:12-14;
Luke 15:1-7; Gos. Thom. 107)
Contents
X
Epilogue 419
Glossary 427
Bibliography 431
Index 453
Index of Parable Titles 465