Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

MASHAL

(Heb. māšāl)

(GENRE)

From the Hebrew root mšl, “represent,” “be like,” or “compare.” A plural form, the Hebrew name of the book of Proverbs, occurs at Prov. 1:1; 10:1; 25:1. Here the term implies a pithy and ambiguous saying that requires substantial unpacking and interpretation in order to understand the multiple levels on which a comparison lay. Further, the term may signal the principle by which various sayings in Proverbs seem to have come together: what seems to guide its location in any given collection is the degree to which a saying shares some characteristic (usually verbal) with an adjacent saying.

In Ezek. 17:2 the term is found in combination with the root ḥwd, the nominal form of which is translated “riddle.” In this instance the root mšl is often translated “allegory.” Here the usage is probably closer to the notion of parable. In this light, several OT narratives seem to represent this notion even though they are not called māšāl. Judg. 9; 2 Sam. 12, 14, , as well as 1 Kgs. 20 all qualify as parabolic narratives. Common to this larger sense of māšāl is the use of a brief story in order to force a character in the story (as well as the reader) to interpret events in view of one’s own context. Characteristic of these mĕšālîm are the multiple interpretations suggested by narrative associations with their current settings as well as with other OT material. In rabbinic Judaism the māšāl emerges as a complex form of biblical interpretation in which a passage is elaborated with a story that begins “This is like. . . .” The NT parable is often understood as a form of māšāl but, in truth, represents only a fraction of the forms to which māšāl applies in the OT.

Larry L. Lyke

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

MASHAL

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)