The Narrative Meshalim in the Synoptic Gospels

Abstract

There are many problems which the layman finds easy and the expert difficult. Certainly we have – all of us, many times – heard people say that the parables of the gospels are so simple that a child can understand them. At our scholarly meetings and in our seminar rooms it is more often stated – I think – that the parables belong to the most difficult texts in the New Testament. A blessed peacemaker could, of course, say, ‘They are simple at the surface level but you can never fully reach their depth.’ However, King Solomon would hardly find that sentence quite satisfactory.