Figurative Speech)¶

The Chain¶

Hebrew OT              LXX (Greek OT)            Greek NT
───────────            ───────────────           ────────
מָשָׁל (mashal)     →  παραβολή (parabole)    →  παραβολή (parabole)
H4912, 39x             28x as translation        48x in NT
"parable, proverb,     of mashal                 "parable,
 byword, taunt"        (PMI 30.28)                figure, comparison"

OT Usage (Hebrew)¶

Strong's	Word	Occurrences	Primary Meaning
H4912	מָשָׁל (mashal)	39	parable, proverb, byword, taunt, oracle
H4911	מָשַׁל (mashal, vb)	~17	to use a similitude, liken, speak in parables
H2420	חִידָה (chidah)	17	riddle, dark saying (paired with mashal)
H8148	שְׁנִינָה (shninah)	4	taunt, sharp saying (paired with mashal in curse-triads)

Key OT passages: - Num 23:7 — "And he took up his parable (mashal)" — Balaam's oracles; the idiom "take up a mashal" marks elevated/inspired speech - Psa 78:2 — "I will open my mouth in a parable (mashal): I will utter dark sayings of old" — quoted in Matt 13:35 for Jesus' parabolic teaching - Prov 1:1 — "The proverbs (mishlei) of Solomon" — title-word of the wisdom book - Ezek 17:2 — "put forth a riddle (chidah), and speak a parable (mashal)" — prophetic allegory - Isa 14:4 — "take up this proverb (mashal) against the king of Babylon" — taunt-song - Deut 28:37 — "thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb (mashal), and a byword" — curse formula

Library: H4912-mashal.md

LXX Bridge¶

Hebrew	Greek Translation	Co-occ	PMI	Notes
mashal (H4912)	παραβολή G3850	28	30.28	Primary equivalent — dominant LXX choice
mashal (H4912)	ἀναλαμβάνω G353	7	12.28	Renders collocation "take up" (nasa + mashal)
mashal (H4912)	παροιμία G3942	—	—	Used especially for Proverbs-title senses
mashal-vb (H4911)	παραβολή G3850	7	17.40	Cognate verb; same Greek equivalent
chidah (H2420)	παραβολή G3850	5	13.80	"Riddle" conflated into parabole
shninah (H8148)	παραβολή G3850	3	12.55	"Taunt" absorbed into parabole

Semantic shift in translation: The LXX's consistent choice of παραβολή collapses several distinct Hebrew wisdom/speech categories — proverb, allegory, riddle, taunt, oracle — into a single Greek term. This broadens παραβολή well beyond classical Greek usage (where it meant only "comparison" / "juxtaposition") and gives it the range of mashal. Greek παροιμία (paroimia) appears alongside as a secondary rendering, especially for circulating popular sayings.

NT Usage (Greek)¶

Strong's	Word	Occurrences	Primary Meaning
G3850	παραβολή (parabole)	48	parable, figure, comparison
G3942	παροιμία (paroimia)	5	proverb, figure (John), dark saying

Key NT passages: - Matt 13:3 — "And he spake many things unto them in parables (parabolais)" — Jesus' characteristic teaching mode - Matt 13:35 — "I will open my mouth in parables (parabolais)" — explicit quotation of Psa 78:2 (mashal → parabole) - Mark 4:11 — "unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables (parabolais)" — echoing Ezekiel's riddle-mashal tradition - Luke 4:23 — "Ye will surely say unto me this proverb (parabolen), Physician, heal thyself" — popular-saying sense, directly paralleling mashal in 1 Sam 10:12; Ezek 18:2 - Heb 9:9 — "Which was a figure (parabole) for the time then present" — allegorical/typological sense - John 16:25 — "have I spoken unto you in proverbs (paroimiais)" — paroimia continues the oblique/figurative sense

Direct OT→NT Quotations¶

NT Verse	Quotes OT	Shared Word	Significance
Matt 13:35	Psa 78:2	mashal → parabole	Matthew cites Asaph's mashal to explain why Jesus teaches in parables — direct authorizing link between OT mashal and NT parabole

Continuity and Shifts¶

What stays the same across testaments: - The core sense of figurative, oblique, interpretation-requiring speech - The speech-act idiom: "take up" (nasa) / "spake in" (laleo en) a parable — elevated, authoritative utterance - The hidden/revealed polarity: a mashal/parabole both conceals (from outsiders) and reveals (to the initiated) — explicit in both Ps 78:2 / Ezek 17:2 and Matt 13:11–13 - Use for popular sayings (1 Sam 10:12 ↔ Luke 4:23)

What shifts: - "Taunt-song against a foreign nation" sense (Isa 14, Hab 2, Mic 2) largely drops out of NT parabole; prophetic-oracle function recedes - "Byword / object of reproach" sense (Deut 28:37; 1 Kgs 9:7) not carried into NT parabole - NT parabole develops a narrative-form emphasis (story parables of Jesus) that mashal had only in embryonic form (Ezek 17, 24; Judg 9:8–15) - Greek paroimia (G3942) carries the "popular proverb" nuance more narrowly, while parabole expands to absorb the rest

Generated from: search_strongs.py, gather_trace_data.py (--lxx-map, --hebrew-source) Last updated: 2026-04-18