Sidebar: Response to Petuchowski’s “The Theological Significance of the Parable in Rabbinic Literature and the New Testament”

This article originally appeared as a sidebar to Jakob Josef Petuchowski’s article entitled, “The Theological Significance of the Parable in Rabbinic Literature and the New Testament.”

Detuchowski’s article is an important step in the progress of scholarship. Even the best recent books dealing with the parables have neglected the fact that Jesus’ parables are not as unique as they seem to be. They are part and parcel of rabbinic tradition. This simple truth has been forgotten because a German scholar, Jülicher, decided that there is practically no connection between Jesus’ and the rabbinic parables; Jülicher even thought that the other Jews were influenced by him.