angelic
parable.... It need scarcely be said that comparison between such
parables, as regards their spirit, is scarcely possible, except by way
of contrast" (Edersheim, i, pp. 580-1). Geikie tersely says: "Others
have uttered parables, but Jesus so far transcends them, that He may
justly be called the creator of this mode of instruction" (ii, p. 145).

10. Parables and Other Forms of Analogy.--"The parable is also clearly
distinguishable from the proverb, though it is true that, in a certain
degree, the words are used interchangeably in the New Testament, and as
equivalent the one to the other. Thus 'Physician, heal thyself' (Luke
4:23) is termed a parable, being more strictly a proverb; so again, when
the Lord had used that proverb, probably already familiar to His hearers
'If the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch'; Peter
said 'Declare unto us this parable' (Matt. 15:14, 15); and Luke 5:36 is
a proverb or proverbial expression, rather than a parable, which name it
bears.... So, upon the other hand, those are called 'proverbs' in St.
John, which if not strictly parables, yet claim much closer affinity to
the parable than to the proverb, being in fact allegories; thus Christ's
setting forth of His relations to His people under those of a shepherd
to his sheep is termed a 'proverb,' though our translators, holding fast
to the sense rather than to the letter, have rendered it a 'parable'
(John 10:6; compare 16:25, 29). It is easy to account for this
interchange of words. Partly it arose from one word in Hebrew signifying
both parable and proverb."--Trench, _Notes on the Parables_, pp. 9, 10.

For the convenience of readers who may not have a dictionary at hand as
they read, the following definitions are given:

_Allegory._--The setting forth of a subject under the guise of some
other subject or aptly suggestive likeness.

_Apologue._--A fable or moral tale, especially one in which animals or
inanimate things speak or act, and by which a useful lesson is suggested
or taught.

_Fable._--A brief story or tale feigned or invented to embody a moral,
and introducing animals and sometimes even inanimate things as rational
speakers and actors; a legend or myth.

_Myth._--A fictitious or conjectural narrative presented as historical,
but without any basis of fact.

_Parable._--A brief narrative or descriptive allegory founded on real
scenes or events such as occur in nature and human life, and usually
wi