(boiling, or hot), a town at the west end of Cyprus, connected by a react with Salamis at the
east end. It was founded B.C. 1184 (during the period of the judges in Israel). Paul and Barnabas
travelled, on their first missionary expedition, “through the isle” from the latter place to the former,
(Acts 13:6) The great characteristic of Paphos was the worship of Aphrodite or Venus, who was
fabled to have here risen from the sea. Her temple, however, was at “Old Paphos” now called Kuklia
. The harbor and the chief town were at “New Paphos,” ten miles to the northwest. The place is
still called Baffa.
Parable
(The word parable is in Greek parable (parabole) which signifies placing beside or together, a
comparison, a parable is therefore literally a placing beside, a comparison, a similitude, an illustration
of one subject by another.—McClintock and Strong. As used in the New Testament it had a very
wide application, being applied sometimes to the shortest proverbs, (1 Samuel 10:12; 24:13; 2
Chronicles 7:20) sometimes to dark prophetic utterances, (Numbers 23:7,18; 24:3; Ezekiel 20:49)
sometimes to enigmatic maxims, (Psalms 78:2; Proverbs 1:6) or metaphors expanded into a narrative.
(Ezekiel 12:22) In the New Testament itself the word is used with a like latitude in (Matthew 24:32;
Luke 4:23; Hebrews 9:9) It was often used in a more restricted sense to denote a short narrative
under which some important truth is veiled. Of this sort were the parables of Christ. The parable
differs from the fable (1) in excluding brute and inanimate creatures passing out of the laws of their
nature and speaking or acting like men; (2) in its higher ethical significance. It differs from the
allegory in that the latter, with its direct personification of ideas or attributes, and the names which
designate them, involves really no comparison. The virtues and vices of mankind appear as in a
drama, in their own character and costume. The allegory is self-interpreting; the parable demands
attention, insight, sometimes an actual explanation. It differs from a proverb in that it must include
a similitude of some kind, while the proverb may assert, without a similitude, some wide
generalization of experience.—ED.) For some months Jesus taught in the synagogues and on the
seashore of Galilee as he had before taught in Jerusalem, and as yet without a parable. But then
there came a change. The direct teaching was met with scorn unbelief hardness, and he seemed for
a time to abandon it for that which took the form of parables. The worth of parables as instruments
of teaching lies in their being at once a test of character and in their presenting each form of character
with that which, as a penalty or blessing, is adapted to it. They withdraw the light from those who
love darkness. They protect the truth which they enshrine from the mockery of the scoffer. They
leave something even with the careless which may be interpreted and understood afterward. They
reveal on the other hand, the seekers after truth. These ask the meaning of the parable, and will not
rest until the teacher has explained it. In this way the parable did work, found out the fit hearers
and led them on. In most of the parables it is possible to trace something like an order.
•There is a group which have for their subject the laws of the divine kingdom. Under this head we
have the sower, (Matthew 13:1; Mark 4:1; Luke 8:1)... the wheat and the tares (Matthew 13:1) ...
etc.
•When the next parables meet us they are of a different type and occupy a different position. They
are drawn from the life of men rather than from the world of nature. They are such as these—the
two debtors, (Luke 7:1) ... the merciless servant, (Matthew 18:1) ... the good Samaritan, (Luke
10:1) ... etc.
•Toward the close of our Lord’s ministry the parables are again theocratic but the phase of the
divine kingdom on which they chiefly dwell is that of its final consummation. In interpreting