The Parables of Jesus

by David Wenham

Book Overview

Examining the parables of Jesus within their historical setting, David Wenham offers a fresh understanding of Jesus' world-changing, heart-challenging message.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0830812865
• ISBN13: 9780830812868
• Release Date: August 1989
• Publisher: IVP
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.72 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.4" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Excellent

Very good book. I led a Bible study on the parables and used this as one of my references and guides. Definitely made the planning and teaching easier.

Superb for Small Group Study by Non-Specialists

The Parables of Jesus by David Wenham is a superb book on one of the most important topics in Gospels study. It is not new. It has been on the market since 1989. Even so, it is not "dated". Even after all these years it is quite simply the best book on parables for adults that aren't Bible college or Seminary grads I and most readers have ever seen. (Originally, it was part of a series called the Jesus Library. There were at least 10 volumes by very fine authors [including F. F. Bruce, R. T. France, and Michael Green]. This one is the only one still in print. It's that good.) It particular is an ideal book for an adult Sunday School class or in-homes study class to use as a textbook, if they want to dig a little deeper than usual, but not get overwhelmed. I have used it that way myself, with the group reading and discussing about half of a chapter per week. Wenham is a first rate British expert in parables studies, but he writes this book with lay people and college students in mind, not seminarians or grad students. Even His arrangement is telling: What most technical books on parables start out with he puts at the end in three appendices--The authenticity of the parables, The Interpretation of the Parables, and The Purpose of the Parables and the Interpretation of Mark 4:10-12. With that arrangement, you can start by studying the parables first, and you can go further to see what the experts are saying about the most controversial topics later--if, that is, you wish to. He does point the way. There is even a select bibliography and a note on further reading, all of which help the reader who gets hooked on the topic and wants to explore it more do so. Wenham is no ivory tower theorist. Like Jesus engaged his listeners, he engages the reader with Jesus' call to a revolutionary Kingdom, the Kingdom of God, in some sense starting small and ending up dominant, and demanding obedient discipleship. He is very practical, engaging, and calls the reader to commitment. If you want the best book available on parables, you probably want instead Klyne R. Snodgrass's Stories With Intent: A Comprehensive Guide to the Parables of Jesus: (Eerdmans, 2008), say, as the teacher of the Adult Sunday School class or, in particular, as a pastor. But it is the sort of book layfolk might consult. From my experience, I think few of them would sit down and read it, even in small chunks. Still, there is so much vertical whitespace setting off the various topics along the way through the book, that they are intelligible most of the time. And the most difficult issues are dealt with in about 200 pages of end notes (which can be consulted or ignored, depending on the reader's needs).

Excellent Resource for Bible Study

I am using this book as the text for a group bible study on the Parables of Jesus. This book is an excellent resource for teachers and students of the Bible. It provides a through basis for exegesis of each of the parables, grouping them logically and explaining them accurately. Wenham lets the historical and literary context drive his interpretations, avoiding the twin pitfalls of assuming the parables are either allegory or single point. Overall, a must-have for anyone who plans to seriously study the parables.

Insightful. Scriptural. Readable. Enlightening.

I prepared a series of Bible studies on the parables of Jesus and wanted supplemental material to add to my understanding and class lectures. Specifically, I was interested in Jewish traditions and cultural insights that would add color and clarity to the stories. I purchased three books, including David Wenham's "The Parable of Jesus." I am not a Bible scholar and not particularly interested in theological debates over allegorical loose ends and old disputes over linguisitc fine points that other books were consumed with. This book provided me exactly what I needed - clear, concise insights into the culture, traditions and context of the times. For example, in the Prodigal Son, Wenham pointed out that by asking his father for his inheritance while the father was still living, in the meaning of the legal traditions, the prodigal was actually implying that he wished his father dead. In the parable of the Good Samritan, he observes that the road from "Jericho to Jerusalem" drops 2,500 feet along a treacherous and winding path; ideal for robbers and thieves to hang out. Further, he points out that "two denari" was enough money to pay for twenty-four nights at the inn. These details helped me to put meat on the bones of the story and bring to life these precious parables. These are not earth-shattering biblical truths, but they were very helpful to me in making the topic interesting and relevant. Just like Wenham's book.