Word study · Greek
parabolē
parable, comparison
Say it: pah-rah-bo-LAY (approximate)
παραβολή
What it means
From a verb meaning "to set side by side": a comparison that lays one thing next to another. It translates the Hebrew mashal, which covers proverbs, riddles, and illustrative stories. Mark gathers a group of parables in chapter 4 and says Jesus "did not speak to them without a parable" (4:34).
Range of meaning
- ComparisonOne thing set beside another to explain it.
- StoryA short story with a point, like the sower.
- Proverb or riddleA saying that needs thinking about.
In Mark
- Chapter 4
Jesus teaches "in parables" (4:2, 4:10-13, 4:33-34).
Every verse (12)
- Mark 3:23
- Mark 4:2
- Mark 4:10
- Mark 4:11
- Mark 4:13
- Mark 4:30
- Mark 4:33
- Mark 4:34
- Mark 7:17
- Mark 12:1
- Mark 12:12
- Mark 13:28
Verses where G3850 is tagged in the Hebrew text: STEPBible Data (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0. About our sources