Quick Definition
παραβολή, ῆς, ἡ n.f. a parable, comparison
Strong's Definition
from 3846; a similitude ("parable"), i.e. (symbolic) fictitious narrative (of common life conveying a moral), apothegm or adage
KJV Usage: comparison, figure, parable, proverb
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament
noun, f. | -ῆς | βολεύομαι
33.15 · Communication · Discourse Types
parable, figure, allegory, figure of speech a relatively short narrative with symbolic meaning In almost all languages there is some way of speaking about parables or allegories. The equivalent in some languages may be ‘a likeness story’ or ‘a story that teaches’ or ‘a story that points the way’ or ‘words that have another meaning’ or ‘words that are saying something else important.’
Some scholars have insisted that in the NT παραβολή is used only in the sense of a story with one level of symbolic meaning, but in some contexts παραβολή is also used to identify allegories in which each element of the account has a symbolic significance. It is therefore extremely difficult to make a rigid distinction between parables and allegories.
MAT 13:3 · MAT 13:10 · MAT 13:13 · MAT 13:18 · MAT 13:31 · MAT 13:33 · MAT 13:34 · MAT 13:34 · MAT 13:35 · MAT 13:36 · MAT 13:53 · MAT 15:15 · MAT 21:33 · MAT 21:45 · MAT 22:1 · MAT 24:32 · MRK 3:23 · MRK 4:2 · MRK 4:10 · MRK 4:11 · MRK 4:13 · MRK 4:13 · MRK 4:30 · MRK 4:33 · MRK 4:34 · MRK 7:17 · MRK 12:1 · MRK 12:12 · MRK 13:28 · LUK 4:23 · LUK 5:36 · LUK 6:39 · LUK 8:4 · LUK 8:9 · LUK 8:10 · LUK 8:11 · LUK 12:16 · LUK 12:41 · LUK 13:6 · LUK 14:7 · LUK 15:3 · LUK 18:1 · LUK 18:9 · LUK 19:11 · LUK 20:9 · LUK 20:19 · LUK 21:29 · HEB 9:9
58.63 · Nature, Class, Example · Archetype, Corresponding Type [Antitype]
archetype, figure, foreshadow, symbol a model or example which anticipates or precedes a later realization In a number of languages it may be difficult to find a lexical item equivalent to ‘symbol,’ but one can often employ a relatively close paraphrase. For example, in referring to certain aspects of the tabernacle as being a παραβολή, one may render the first clause of HEB 9:9 as ‘this says something to us about the present time.’ In other languages one may sometimes use a term which means ‘picture,’ for example, ‘this is a picture for the present time’ or ‘this contains some meaning for the present time.’
33.16 · Communication · Discourse Types
Collocation: παρατίθημι τὴν παραβολήν
to tell a parable, to utter a parable an idiom, literally: to place alongside a parable
33.17 · Communication · Discourse Types
Collocation: ἐν παραβολῇ
symbolically, allegorically, figuratively, so to speak pertaining to expressions which are not to be understood literally, but symbolically or figuratively In a number of languages it may be more satisfactory to translate ἐν παραβολῇ and πνευματικῶς[c] by a negative expression, for example, ‘not literally’ or ‘not really.’ The expression in REV 11:8 might be translated as ‘that city might be called Sodom, but it isn’t really Sodom.’
1 MAT 13:24 It would be possible to interpret παρατίθημι τὴν παραβολήν as meaning ‘to put a parable to,’ in other words, ‘to address a parable to someone.’ This interpretation is possible in view of the following participle λέγων, but the occurrence of such a participle to introduce direct discourse is frequent with expressions of speaking.
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament © United Bible Societies, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Thayer's Greek Lexicon
παραβολή, -ῆς, ἡ, (παραβάλλω, q. v.), Sept. for own ; 1. a placing of one thing by the side of another, juxtaposition, as of ships in battle, Polyb. 15, 2, 13; Diod. 14, 60. 2. metaph. a comparing, comparison of one thing with another, likeness, similitude, (Plat., Isocr., Polyb., Plut.): univ., Mt. xxiv. 32; Mk. xiii. 28; an example by which a doctrine or precept is illustrated, Mk. iii. 23; Lk. xiv. 7; a thing serving as a figure of something else, Heb. ix. 9; this meaning also very many interpreters give the word in Heb. xi. 19, but see 5 below; spec. a narrative, fictitious but agreeable to the laws and usages of human life, by which either the duties of men or the things of God, particularly the nature and history of God’s kingdom, are figuratively portrayed (cf. B. Ὁ. s. vv. Fable, Parable, (and reff. there ; add Aristot. rhet. 2, 20, 2 sqq. and Cope’s notes) ]: Mt. xiii. 3, 10, 13, 24, 31, 33-35, 53; xxi. 33, 45; [xxii.1]; Mk. iv. 2, 10, [11], 13, 30, 33 sq.; [vii. 17]; xii. 1, [12]; Lk. viii. 4, 9-115; xii. 16,41; xili.6; xiv.7; xv. 3; xvill. 1, 9; xix. 11; xx. 9,19; xxi.29; witha gen. of the pers. or thing to which the contents of the parable refer [W. § 30, 1 ἃ.7: τοῦ ometpovros, Mt. xiii. 18; τῶν ζιζανίων, ib. 36; τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ ἐν παραβολῇ τιθέναι (lit. to set forth the kingdom of God in a parable), to illustrate (the nature and history of) the kingdom of God by the use of a parable, Mk. iv. 30 L txt. T Trtxt. WH. 3. a pithy and instructive saying, involving some likeness or comparison and having preceptive or admonitory force; an aphorism, a maxim: Lk. v.36; vi. 39; Mt. xv. 15, (Prov. 1.6; Eccl. i. 17; Sir. iii. 29 (27); xiii. 26 (25), ete.). Since sayings of this kind often pass into proverbs, παραβολή 15 4. a proverb: Lk. iv. 28 (1 5. x. 12; Ezek. xii. 22 sq.; xviii. 2 sq.). 5. an act by which one exposes himself or his possessions to danger, a venture, risk, (in which sense the plur. seems to be used by Plut. Arat. 22: διὰ πολλῶν ἑλιγμῶν καὶ παραβολῶν περαίνοντες πρὸς τὸ τεῖχος [οἷ. Diod. Sic. frag. lib. xxx. 9, 2; also var. in Thue. 1, 131, 2 (and Poppo ad loc.)]); ἐν παραβολῇ, in risking him, i.e. at the very moment when he exposed his son to mortal peril (see παραβολεύομαι), Heb. xi. 19 (Hesych. ἐκ παραβολῆς - ἐκ παρακινδυνεύματος); others with less probability explain it, in a figure, i.e. as a figure, either of the future general resurrection of all men, or of Christ offered up to God and raised again from the dead; others otherwise.
Mounce Concise Greek Dictionary
παραβολή parabolē 50x
a placing one thing by the side of another; a comparing; a parallel case cited in illustration; a comparison, simile, similitude, Mk. 4:30; Heb. 11:19; a parable, a short relation under which something else is figured, or in which that which is fictitious is employed to represent that which is real, Mt. 13:3, 10, 13, 18, 24, 31, 33, 34, 36, 53; 21:33, 45; 22:1; 24:32; in NT a type, pattern, emblem, Heb. 9:9; a sentiment, grave and significant precept, maxim, Lk. 14:7; an obscure and enigmatical saying, anything expressed in remote and ambiguous terms, Mt. 13:35; Mk. 7:17; a proverb, adage, Lk. 4:23
Abbott-Smith Greek Lexicon
παραβολή, -ῆς, ἡ
(< παραβάλλω), [in LXX (cf. McNeile, Mt., 185): Nu 23:7, De 28:37, Ps 43 (44):14, Pr 1:6, Ez 12:22, al. (מָשָׁל), Si 47:17 (חִידָה), al. mutt. in Si, Wi 5:3;]
a placing beside, juxtaposition (Polyb., al.).
a comparing, comparison (Plat., Arist., al.).
a comparison, illustration, analogy, figure (Arist., al.): Mt 24:32, Mk 3:23, He 9:9 11:19; specif. of the pictures and narratives drawn from nature and human life which are characteristic of the synoptic teaching of our Lord, a parable: Mt 13:3, 10, Mk 4:2, 10, Lk 8:4, 9-11, al.; c. gen. ref., Mt 13:18, 36.
Like Heb. מָשָׁל (I Ki 10:12, Pr 1:6, Si 3:29, al.), = παροιμία, a proverb or gnomic saying: Lk 4:23 5:36 6:39.
SYN.: παροιμία (v. Abbott, Essays, 82 ff.).
Moulton & Milligan — Vocabulary of the Greek NT
παραβολή. Our sources throw no special light upon this word which in the NT is found only in the Synoptics = ‘* parable,” “*similitude,” and 67s in Heb (9%, 1119) = ‘‘ figure,” ‘‘ type.” For Heb 11*, where Isaac’s restoration was to Abraham a sort of resurrection, Moffatt (7CC ad 1) cites Aelian Var. Hist. ili. 33 describing Satyrus the flautist—tpémoy twa τὴν τέχνην ἐκφαυλιίζων παραβολῇ τῇ πρὸς φιλοσοφίαν. According to Quintil. v. 11. 23 “᾿ παραβολή, quam Cicero collationem vocat, longius res quae comparentur repetere solet.”’ See further, especially for the Biblical usage, Hatch, Essay\, p. 64 ff. In P Flor ΠῚ. 384°% (v/A.p. ?) τὰς τοῦ μηχανοστασίου παραβολάς, the editor understands π᾿ as = “ riparazioni.’
Liddell-Scott-Jones — Greek-English Lexicon
παραβολή (parabolē) — parable. παραβολ-ή, ἡ, juxtaposition, comparison, τῶν βίων [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἐν παραβολῇ by juxtaposition, [Refs 4th c.BC+]
2. comparison, illustration, analogy, τὴν π. ἀπρεπῆ πεποιῆσθαι [Refs 5th c.BC+]; π. δὲ τὰ Σωκρατικά (distinguished from λόγος, apologue) [Refs 4th c.BC+]
3. NT, parable, [NT]; type, Ep. Hebrew 9.9, 11.19.
4. by-word, proverb, [LXX+NT]; in bad sense, εἰς π. ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσι [LXX]
5. objection to an argument, [Refs 5th c.BC+]
II. moving side by side, ἐκ παραβολῆς [νεῶν] μάχεσθαι to fight a sea-fight broadside to broadside, [Refs 2nd c.BC+]
III. sidelong direction, obliquity, διὰ πολλῶν ἑλιγμῶν καὶ π. [Refs 1st c.AD+]
IV. venture, [Refs 5th c.BC+]
V. Astron., conjunction, παραβολαὶ ἀλλήλων [Refs 5th c.BC+]: also falsa lectio for{περιβολή}, τοῦ ἡλίου [Refs 2nd c.AD+]
VI. in Mathematics texts, division, opposed to multiplication, [Refs 3rd c.AD+]; quotient, [Refs]section produced by division of a line, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]
VII. Geometry texts, application, π. τῶν χωρίων [Refs 4th c.BC+]; τὰ ἐκ τῆς π. γενηθέντα σημεῖα, of the foci of an ellipse or hyperbola, points found by application of an area to the axis, [Refs 3rd c.BC+]
VII.2. parabola, because the square on the ordinate is equal to a rectangle whose height is equal to the abscissa applied to the parameter, [Refs]
VIII. ={παράβολον} (see. παράβολος[Refs 4th c.BC+]