which sowed good seed in his
field" (Matt. 13:24); "Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? or
with what comparison shall we compare it?" Mark 4:30. It may be left
without explanation, but more commonly an explanatory remark is added.
So to the parable of the two sons whom the father asked to work in his
vineyard is added the application: "Verily I say unto you, that the
publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you" (Matt.
21:28-31); and the parable of the Pharisee and publican is both
introduced and followed by an explanatory clause (Luke 18:9-14). All
such clauses are of the highest importance for the interpretation of the
parables to which they are annexed. In the interpretation of a parable,
the first and most important thing is to ascertain the spiritual truth
which it is intended to inculcate. How far a spiritual significance is
to be sought for the particular incidents of parables is a question to
be determined separately for each, according to its nature.

In the parable of the sower, which our Lord himself interpreted (Matt.
13:3-8, 19-23), all the parts are essential, since the four different
kinds of soil represent four different classes of hearers. So in the
parable of the tares in the field (Matt. 13:24-30, 37-43), the good seed
sown by the owner of the field, the tares sown by his enemy, the
separation, at the time of harvest, of the tares from the wheat, the
burning of the tares, and the gathering of the wheat into the barn, are
all main incidents in its spiritual application. Not so in the parable
of the ten virgins (Matt. 25:1-13), of which our Lord himself has given
the scope, and, so far as we can see the only scope: "Watch, therefore,
for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh."
If we go farther, and inquire what is the spiritual meaning of the lamps
and oil-vessels, of the equal division of the virgins into five wise and
five foolish, of the request of the foolish virgins that the wise would
give them oil, and the answer of the wise virgins, we run into useless
speculations. All these particulars belong to the drapery of the
parable, and are intended to make the story natural and probable.

In the pure form of the parable, the personages introduced to illustrate
God's ways of providence and grace do not, as in the allegory, directly
represent God himself. It is not necessary, therefore, that there be in
all cases a correspondence between their cha