Parable

The word parable comes from the Greek παραβολή (parabolē), literally "throwing" (bolē) "alongside" (para-), by extension meaning "comparison, illustration, analogy.

These are believed by some scholars (such as John P. Meier) to have been inspired by mashalim, a form of Hebrew comparison prominent in the Talmudic period (c. 2nd-6th centuries CE).

Recent authors such as Idries Shah and Anthony de Mello have helped popularize these stories beyond Sufi circles.

[10] A parable often involves a character who faces a moral dilemma or one who makes a bad decision and then suffers the unintended consequences.

Aside from providing guidance and suggestions for proper conduct in one's life, parables frequently use metaphorical language which allows people to more easily discuss difficult or complex ideas.

Fowler put it, the object of both parable and allegory "is to enlighten the hearer by submitting to him a case in which he has apparently no direct concern, and upon which therefore a disinterested judgment may be elicited from him, ..."[10] The parable is more condensed than the allegory: it rests upon a single principle and a single moral, and it is intended that the reader or listener shall conclude that the moral applies equally well to his own concerns.

For example, in Mark 4:11–12: And he said to them, "To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside, everything comes in parables; in order that 'they may indeed look, but not perceive, and may indeed listen, but not understand; so that they may not turn again and be forgiven.'"

As a literary work, the Gospel authorship depict the various groups that question Jesus about his teachings, to the role an interlocutor has in the Socratic Dialogues of Plato.

Similarly, the rhetorical style of the Roman Senator and lawyer Cicero (which remained highly regarded after his death by many famous orators[14]) was known for its use of a seemingly unrelated anecdote that demonstrates in its conclusion some insight pertaining to the current topic of the discussion.