Old Testament Parables (Fact, Fable and Fancy: Interpreted)

In the following pages an attempt is made to present a faithful exposition and interpretation of what the author regards as the Old Testament Parables. The first chapter explains how the list of Parables has been compiled. At no stage of the study are their possibilities of Gospel interpretation or evangelical application overlooked. Not enough is it for us to know their meaning in their own day; we must ask what message, if any, they had for Jesus in whose hands even the dross of the Old Testament was, as Harnack says, "changed into gold; its hidden treasures were brought forth"; but most of all, we must learn their possible value to ourselves in an age when the Old Testament begins to live anew and with an ever-increasing appeal.

The translations which preface each parable have been construed from a careful reading and comparison of the Septuagint, the Massoretic Hebrew Text and various English translations.