Barry-Parables of OT

(1846) This work is a treatment of the Parables and other types of illustrative material in the Old Testament, by Alfred Barry, Lord Bishop of Sydney, and Primate of Australia and Tasmania.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I. The Parables of the Old Testament and the New.

I. The general idea of the Parable; its connexion with Mysticism and Analogy; its relation to the doctrine of unity and development in Creation; its various phases. — II. The limitation and the main purpose of parabolic teaching. — III. The various classes of Old Testament parables; the parable of narrative; the parable as riddle and symbolic vision; the parable as proverb; the parable of figurative poetry. — IV. The interest and lessons of parabolic study. i

CHAPTER II. The Parable as a Narrative from Real Life.

I. The parable of Nathan.— 11. The parable of the widow of Tekoah III. The parable of “one of the sons of the prophets.”— IV. The parable of the Lord’s vineyard in Isaiah. — V. The parables of the sluggard and the “ poor wise man.” 25.

CHAPTER III. The Parable as Fable.

I. The fable of Jotham.— II. The fable of Joash 61

CHAPTER IV. The Parable as Allegory.

Characteristics of the allegory.— Reference to the Song of Songs.— The allegories of Ezekiel:— I. The allegory of the vine. II. The allegory of the adulterous wife. III. The allegory of Oholah and Oholibah. IV. The allegory of the eagles and the vine. V. The allegory of the young lions. VI. The second allegory of the vine. VII. The allegory of the cauldron. VIII. The allegories relating to Pharaoh 72

CHAPTER V. The Parable as Spoken or Acted Riddle.

I. The Song of Lamech. — II. The riddle of Samson. — III. The allegory of the Book of Ecclesiastes. — IV. The acted riddles of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea 129

CHAPTER VI. The Parable of Symbolic Vision.

The destruction of symbolical and apocalyptic visions:—

I. The symbolic visions of Amos. II. The visions of the dry bones and the Temple in Ezekiel III. The Symbolic visions of Daniel. IV. The symbolic visions of Zechariah ‘5

CHAPTER VII. The Parable as Proverb.

The relation of the proverb to the idea of the parable. —

The conception of the wisdom of man and the wisdom of God: — I. The poetical introduction to the Book of Proverbs, — the praise of the Divine Wisdom and the personification of that Wisdom. The relation of this personification to the doctrine of the Word; the connexion of the proverb with psalm and prophecy.—  II. The chief body of the Book as a collection of proverbs: their various classes— («) proverbs of prudence, b) proverbs of morality, c) proverbs of religion. — III. The proverbs of Job and Ecclesiastes 190

CHAPTER VIII. The Parable of Figurative Prophecy.

Its relation to the other forms of parable, — I. The parables of Balaam.— II. The parable of Job.— III. The song of Israel over the fall of the King of Babylon 225