David Stern shows how the parable or mashal—the most distinctive type of narrative in midrash—was composed, how its symbolism works, and how it serves to convey the ideological convictions of the rabbis. He describes its relation to similar tales in other literatures, including the parables of Jesus in the New Testament and kabbalistic parables. Through its innovative approach to midrash, this study reaches beyond its particular subject, and will appeal to all readers interested in narrative and religion.

• Contents 
• Abbreviations
• Note on Translations and Transliterations
• Introduction
• 1 
• Composition and Exegesis
• The Rabbinic Parable
• Mashal, Parable, and Allegory
• Mashal and Ma’aseh
• The Origins of the Nimshal
• The King-Mashal
• Stereotyping
• Eikhah Rabbah 4.11
• The Mashal as Traditional Literature
• From Narrative to Exegesis
• The Mashal and Midrashic Hermeneutics
• 2 
• Rhetoric
• The Occasions of the Mashal
• Three Models for the Mashal
• Meshalim of Praise and Blame
• Eikhah Rabbah 3.21
• 3 
• Poetics
• Theorizing Midrash
• Narrative or Exegesis?
• Narrative Convention and Exegetical Novelty
• Gaps, Ambiguities, and Narrative Conceits
• Point of View and Authorial Presence
• The Implied Interpreter
• Characterization
• Anthropomorphism
• 4 
• Thematics
• Apologetics
• Polemics
• Eulogy and Consolation
• Complaint
• Regret and Warning
• 5 
• The Mashal in Context
• The Problem of Context in Midrash
• The Mashal and the Homily
• The Mashal and the Petihta
• The Mashal and the Aggadic Narrative
• The Mashal and the Exegetical Enumeration
• Series of Meshalim
• The Mashal in Midrash
• 6 
• The Mashal in Hebrew Literature
• From the Ancient Near East to Late Antiquity
• The Parables in the Synoptic Gospels
• From the Tannaim to the Amoraim
• Tanna de-Bei Eliyahu
• Sefer Habahir
• Maimonides and Other Philosophers
• The Zohar and Other Mystical Texts
• Modern Hebrew Literature
• Appendix A: 
• Nonparabolic Narratives in Rabbinic Literature
• Appendix B: 
• Hebrew Texts of the Meshalim from Eikhah Rabbah
• Notes
• Index of Rabbinic Texts
• Index