Abstract:
This article reflects
on a possible methodology that can be used to interpret the parables of Jesus preserved in the
Synoptics (and the Gospel of Thomas). It is argued that the available versions of the parables
of Jesus have already been allegorised, and that this should be taken into consideration
when the extant versions of parables are interpreted as parables of the historical Jesus. The
parables should also, as far as possible, be interpreted against the social realia evoked by the
parables. In this endeavour, Roman-Egypt inscriptions and papyri are in most cases the only
sources available. The article concludes with a few examples, illustrating the possibilities of
interpretation when the proposed methodology is applied.
