# Commentary on Matthew Word Study – Parables *Parables* (Mt 13:3) – *Parabole* (Gk.): A spoken or literary \"comparison\" between two things for illustration. The word is found 48 times in the Synoptic Gospels for short stories that use familiar images and word pictures to illustrate a truth or challenge a common outlook on life and religion. The term is found also in the Greek OT, where it frequently translates the Hebrew word *mashal,* a term for literary forms such as proverbs (1 Sam 10:12; 1 Kings 4:32), riddles (Ps 49:4; Sir 47:15), and allegories (Ezek 17:2; 24:3). Jesus uses parables in the NT for two purposes: to reveal and to conceal divine mysteries. (1) Parables invite the humble to reach behind the images and lay hold of God\'s truth (Mt 11:25; Mk 4:33). Parables sketch out earthly scenarios that reveal heavenly mysteries. (2) Conversely, they obstruct the proud and conceal divine mysteries from the unworthy. Parables thus have a second, albeit negative, function and are spoken as judgments on the faithless (cf. Is 6:9-10). In Matthew, Jesus shifts from straightforward teaching (chaps. 5---7) to parables (chap. 13) immediately following his rejection by the Pharisees (12:14). Like the OT prophets Jotham (Judg 9:7-15) and Nathan (2 Sam 12:1-6), Jesus speaks parables for the benefit of the faithful and the judgment of unbelievers. --- > Scott Hahn and Curtis Mitch, *The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament*, Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic Edition (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2010).