1. [n]  a short moral story (often with animal characters)
2. [n]  (New Testament) any of the stories told by Jesus to convey his religious message; "the parable of the prodigal son"

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1. \Par"a*ble\, a. [L. parabilis, fr. parare to provide.]
   Procurable. [Obs.] --Sir T. Browne.
   

2. \Par"a*ble\, n. [F. parabole, L. parabola, fr. Gr. ? a
   placing beside or together, a comparing, comparison, a
   parable, fr. ? to throw beside, compare; ? beside + ? to
   throw; cf. Skr. gal to drop. Cf. {Emblem}, {Gland},
   {Palaver}, {Parabola}, {Parley}, {Parabole}, {Symbol}.]
   A comparison; a similitude; specifically, a short fictitious
   narrative of something which might really occur in life or
   nature, by means of which a moral is drawn; as, the parables
   of Christ. --Chaucer.
         Declare unto us the parable of the tares. --Matt. xiii.
                                                  36.
   Syn: See {Allegory}, and Note under {Apologue}.
   

3. \Par"a*ble\, v. t.
   To represent by parable. [R.]
         Which by the ancient sages was thus parabled. --Milton.
   

(Gr. parabole), a placing beside; a comparison; equivalent to the Heb. mashal, a similitude. In the Old Testament this is used to denote (1) a proverb (1 Sam. 10:12; 24:13; 2 Chr. 7:20), (2) a prophetic utterance (Num. 23:7; Ezek. 20:49), (3) an enigmatic saying (Ps. 78:2; Prov. 1:6). In the New Testament, (1) a proverb (Mark 7:17; Luke 4:23), (2) a typical emblem (Heb. 9:9; 11:19), (3) a similitude or allegory (Matt. 15:15; 24:32; Mark 3:23; Luke 5:36; 14:7); (4) ordinarily, in a more restricted sense, a comparison of earthly with heavenly things, "an earthly story with a heavenly meaning," as in the parables of our Lord.

Instruction by parables has been in use from the earliest times. A large portion of our Lord's public teaching consisted of parables. He himself explains his reasons for this in his answer to the inquiry of the disciples, "Why speakest thou to them in parables?" (Matt. 13:13-15; Mark 4:11, 12; Luke 8:9, 10). He followed in so doing the rule of the divine procedures, as recorded in Matt. 13:13.

The parables uttered by our Lord are all recorded in the synoptical (i.e., the first three) Gospels. The fourth Gospel contains no parable properly so called, although the illustration of the good shepherd (John 10:1-16) has all the essential features of a parable. (See List of Parables in Appendix.)