A Parable from the Talmud

A king married a woman and made her magnificent promises. Soon after he was obliged to leave her and undertake a protracted journey. He stayed away a long time, and the neglected wife was repeatedly offended by her neighbors, who said: “The king has left thee; he will never return.” The poor woman wept and lamented, but always regained comfort in the expectation of the fulfillment of her husband's magnificent promises. After a long time the king at last returned, and exclaimed: “My beloved wife, I am really astonished at thy faithful perseverance during so many years.” “My lord and king,” she rejoined, “if they promises had not sustained me, I had long ago succumbed to the advice of my neighbors.” This woman, such is the beautiful application, represents Israel, who, in spite of all temptations and enticements made by many other nations, faithfully bears the long separation from God, hoping for the fulfillment of the glorious promises contained in the Holy Scriptures. (72)

Written by George J. Lankevich, in The Wit and Wisdom of the Talmud: Proverbs, Saying and Parables for the Ages. Published by Square One in New York in 2002. ISBN: 0756790530

The Parable of the Greedy Sons

There was once a hard-working and generous farmer who had several idle and greedy sons. On his deathbed he told them that they would find his treasure if they were to dig in a certain field. As soon as the old man was dead, the sons hurried to the fields which they dug up from one end to another, and with increasing desperation and concentration when they did not find the gold in the place indicated.

But they found no gold at all. Realizing that in his generosity their father must have given his gold away during his lifetime, they abandoned the search. Finally, it occurred to them that, since the land had been prepared, they might as well now sow a crop. They planted wheat, which produced an abundant yield. They sold this crop and prospered that year.

After the Harvest was in, the sons thought again about the bare possibility that they might have missed the buried gold, so they again dug up their fields, with the same result.

After several years they became accustomed to labour, and to the cycle of the seasons, something which they had not understood before. Now they understood the reason for their father's method of training them, and they became honest and contented farmers. Ultimately they found themselves possessed of sufficient wealth no longer to wonder about the hidden hoard.

Thus it is with teaching of the understanding of human destiny and the meaning of life. The teacher, faced with impatience, confusion and covetousness on the part of the students, must direct them to an activity which is known by him to be constructive and beneficial to them, but whose true function and aim is often hidden from them by their own rawness. (144).

By Idries Shah. Tales of the Dervishes: Teaching Stories of the Sufi Masters over the Past Thousand Years. Penguin, in New York, published this book in 1967. Paperback.

The Parable of the Sower

1. Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water's edge. 2. He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said: 3. "Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. 8. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times. 9. Then Jesus said, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." 10. When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. 11. He told them, "The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables 12. so that, "'they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!'" 13. Then Jesus said to them, "Don't you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? 14. The farmer sows the word. 15. Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. 16. Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 17. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 18. Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19. but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. 20. Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown"

Mark 4, verses 1-20. The Holy Bible: New International Version. Published in Grand Rapids by Zondervan in 1984.