parabolē · parable, comparison

What it means

parabolē (παραβολή) is a Greek word of the Bible that means “parable, comparison”.

Parable: a comparison, a story from everyday life that teaches a truth about the kingdom.

How to say it

Approximate pronunciation. Vowels sound as in Spanish (a as in father, e as in bed, i as in machine, o as in note, u as in rule); the syllable in bold is stressed. The voice is your device's.

Its senses in the Bible

1. A story from daily life that teaches about God.
2. An image standing for something else, or a popular saying.

From Abbott-Smith (1922) · Thayer (1889)

Word study

Parable: a comparison, a story or an image set beside a truth to make it understood. It comes from παραβάλλω, ‘set beside’. It can also be a proverb or a symbol.

• Jesus teaches in parables Matthew 13:3Matthew 13:34Mark 4:2
• Why he speaks in parables Matthew 13:13Luke 8:10
• A parable with a stated purpose Luke 18:1Luke 18:9
• “From the fig tree learn the parable” Matthew 24:32
• A proverb; a symbol Luke 4:23Hebrews 9:9

How we translate it

“Parable” 31 times and “parables” 16. In Luke 4:23 it is rendered “this proverb” (“Physician, heal yourself”), and in Hebrews 9:9 and 11:19, “symbol”, with a note in 9:9 that says it is the same word as “parable” in the Gospels.

How it is translated

The words this translation uses for it, most frequent first.

• parable ×31
• parables ×16
• symbol ×2
• proverb ×1

Related words

Words of the same family, by Strong’s numbering.

Where it appears

• Matthew×17
• Mark×13
• Luke×18
• Hebrews×2

• Matthew 13:3

  And he told them many things in parables, saying, “Look, the sower went out to sow.

• Matthew 13:10

  And the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?”

• Matthew 13:13

  This is why I speak to them in parables: because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.

• Matthew 13:18

  So you, hear the parable of the sower.

• Matthew 13:24

  He put before them another parable, saying, “The kingdom of heaven has become like a man who sowed good seed in his field.

• Matthew 13:31

  He put before them another parable, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard, which a man took and sowed in his field;

• Matthew 13:33

  He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.”

• Matthew 13:34

  All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables, and without a parable he was telling them nothing,

• Matthew 13:35

  so that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled, when he says, “I will open my mouth in parables; I will pour out things hidden since the foundation of the world.”

• Matthew 13:36

  Then leaving the crowds, he went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the darnel of the field.”

• Matthew 13:53

  And it happened when Jesus had finished these parables that he went away from there.

• Matthew 15:15

  And Peter answered and said to him, “Explain this parable to us.”

• Matthew 21:33

  Hear another parable. There was a man, a master of a house, who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower, and leased it to tenant farmers and went away on a journey.

• Matthew 21:45

  And when the high priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they knew that he was speaking about them.

• Matthew 22:1

  And Jesus answered and spoke to them again in parables, saying,

• Matthew 24:32

  Now from the fig tree learn the parable: when its branch has already become tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near.

• Mark 3:23

  And having summoned them, he was saying to them in parables, “How can Satan drive out Satan?

• Mark 4:2

  And he was teaching them many things in parables, and he was saying to them in his teaching,

• Mark 4:10

  And when he was alone, those around him with the Twelve were asking him about the parables.

• Mark 4:11

  And he was saying to them, “To you the mystery of the kingdom of God has been given; but for those outside, everything comes in parables,

• Mark 4:13

  And he says to them, “Do you not understand this parable? And how will you understand all the parables?

• Mark 4:30

  And he was saying, “How shall we compare the kingdom of God, or in what parable shall we put it?

• Mark 4:33

  And with many such parables he was speaking the word to them, as they were able to hear;

• Mark 4:34

  and he did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything.

• Mark 7:17

  And when he went into the house, away from the crowd, his disciples asked him about the parable.

• Mark 12:1

  And he began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower, and leased it to tenant farmers and went away on a journey.

• Mark 12:12

  And they were seeking to seize him, and they feared the crowd; for they knew that he had told the parable against them. And leaving him, they went away.

• Mark 13:28

  Now from the fig tree learn the parable: when its branch has already become tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near.

• Luke 4:23

  And he said to them, “Surely you will tell me this proverb: Physician, heal yourself; all that we heard was done in Capernaum, do here also, in your hometown.”

• Luke 5:36

  And he was also telling a parable to them: “No one tears a patch from a new garment and puts it on an old garment; otherwise, he will tear the new too, and the patch from the new will not match the old.

• Luke 6:39

  And he also told them a parable: “A blind man cannot guide a blind man, can he? Will they not both fall into a pit?

• Luke 8:4

  And when a large crowd was gathering and those from town after town were coming to him, he spoke by means of a parable:

• Luke 8:9

  And his disciples were asking him what this parable might mean.

• Luke 8:10

  And he said, “To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is in parables, so that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.

• Luke 8:11

  Now this is the parable: the seed is the word of God.

• Luke 12:16

  And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a certain rich man produced abundantly.

• Luke 12:41

  And Peter said, “Lord, are you telling this parable to us, or also to everyone?”

• Luke 13:6

  And he was telling this parable: “Someone had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came looking for fruit on it, and did not find any.

• Luke 14:7

  And he was telling a parable to those who had been invited, noticing how they were choosing the places of honor, saying to them,

• Luke 15:3

  So he told them this parable, saying,

And 10 more times.