- PAPHOS the capital of the island of Cyprus, and therefore the residence
of the Roman governor. It was visited by Paul and Barnabas on their first
missionary tour (Acts 13:6). It is new Paphos which is here meant. It lay
on the west coast of the island, about 8 miles north of old Paphos. Its
modern name is Baffa. - PARABLE (Gr. parabole), a placing beside; a comparison; equivalent to
the Hebrews mashal, a similitude. In the Old Testament this is used to
denote (1) a proverb (1 Samuel 10:12; 24:13; 2 Chronicles 7:20), (2) a
prophetic utterance (Numbers 23:7; Ezekiel 20:49), (3) an enigmatic saying
(Psalm 78:2; Proverbs 1:6). In the New Testament, (1) a proverb (Mark
7:17; Luke 4:23), (2) a typical emblem (Hebrews 9:9; 11:19), (3) a
similitude or allegory (Matthew 15:15; 24:32; Mark 3:23; Luke 5:36;
14:7); (4) ordinarily, in a more restricted sense, a comparison of earthly
with heavenly things, “an earthly story with a heavenly meaning,” as in
the parables of our Lord.
Instruction by parables has been in use from the earliest times. A large
portion of our Lord’s public teaching consisted of parables. He himself
explains his reasons for this in his answer to the inquiry of the disciples,
“Why speakest thou to them in parables?” (Matthew 13:13-15; Mark
4:11, 12; Luke 8:9, 10). He followed in so doing the rule of the divine
procedures, as recorded in Matthew 13:13.
The parables uttered by our Lord are all recorded in the synoptical (i.e.,
the first three) Gospels. The fourth Gospel contains no parable properly
so called, although the illustration of the good shepherd (John 10:1-16) has
all the essential features of a parable. (See List of Parables in Appendix.)
- PARADISE a Persian word (pardes), properly meaning a
“pleasure-ground” or “park” or “king’s garden.” (See EDEN.) It came in
course of time to be used as a name for the world of happiness and rest
hereafter (Luke 23:43; 2 Corinthians 12:4; Revelation 2:7). For “garden” in
Genesis 2:8 the LXX. has “paradise.” - PARAH the heifer, a town in Benjamin (Joshua 18:23), supposed to be
identical with the ruins called Far’ah, about 6 miles north-east of
Jerusalem, in the Wady Far’ah, which is a branch of the Wady Kelt. - PARAN abounding in foliage, or abounding in caverns, (Genesis 21:21), a
desert tract forming the north-eastern division of the peninsula of Sinai,