Editing Parable (section)

{{short description|Short didactic story which illustrates one or more instructive lessons or principles}}
{{hatgrp|
{{other uses}}
{{distinguish|Parabola}}
}}
[[File:Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn - Return of the Prodigal Son - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|''[[The Return of the Prodigal Son (Rembrandt)|The Return of the Prodigal Son]]'', by [[Rembrandt]], 1660s]]
{{literature}}
A '''parable''' is a succinct, [[Didacticism|didactic]] story, in [[prose]] or [[Verse (poetry)|verse]], that illustrates one or more instructive lessons or principles. It differs from a [[fable]] in that fables employ [[animal]]s, [[plant]]s, inanimate objects, or forces of nature as characters, whereas parables have human characters.<ref>{{cite web|title= Difference Between Fable and Parable|url= http://www.differencebetween.com/difference-between-fable-and-vs-parable/|website= DifferenceBetween.com|date= 6 November 2012|publisher= Difference Between|access-date= 13 June 2015}}</ref> A parable is a type of [[metaphor]]ical [[analogy]].<ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=VSjRcQSE2uQC&pg=PA99 |title= What are they saying about the parables |author= David B. Gowler |year= 2000 |pages= 99,137,63,132,133 |publisher= Paulist Press |isbn= 9780809139620 }}</ref>

Some scholars of the [[canonical gospels]] and the [[New Testament]] apply the term "parable" only to the [[parables of Jesus]],<ref>
{{cite book
 | last1 = Jülicher
 | first1 = Adolf
 | author-link1 = Adolf Jülicher
 | title = Die gleichnisreden Jesu
 | trans-title = The parables of Jesus
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=hxpWAAAAMAAJ
 | language = de
 | volume = 1
 | location = Tübingen
 | publisher = J.C.B. Mohr (P. Siebeck)
 | date = 1888
 | access-date = 8 November 2019
}}
</ref>{{qn|date=November 2019}}<ref>
{{cite book
 | last1 = Meier
 | first1 = John P.
 | author-link1 = John P. Meier
 | title = A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ydE6zCLww-YC
 | volume = 2: A Marginal Jew: Mentor, message, and miracles
 | series = The Anchor Bible reference library
 | publisher = Doubleday
 | date = 1994
 | isbn = 9780385469920
 | access-date = 8 November 2019
}}
</ref>{{page needed|date=November 2019}} although that is not a common restriction of the term.