Stories with Intent: A Comprehensive Guide to the Parables of Jesus [Hardcover]

Klyne R. Snodgrass (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2008

Stories with Intent offers pastors and students an accessible and comprehensive guide to Jesus parables. Klyne Snodgrass explores the context in which these stories were told, the purpose they had in Jesus message, and the way that they have been interpreted by the church and modern scholarship. Snodgrass begins by surveying the primary issues in parables interpretation. He offers both a new, more functional classification system for parables and guidelines for interpreting parables. Then he provides an overview of other parables - often neglected in the discussion - from the Old Testament, early Judaism, the Greco-Roman world, and later Judaism. The remaining chapters group the longer and more important parables of Jesus thematically and give a comprehensive treatment of each, including background and significance for modern thought. Stories with Intent is a perfect text for those who wish to delve more deeply into Christs parables.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 846 pages
• Publisher: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; First Printing edition (January 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802842410
• ISBN-13: 978-0802842411
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.6 x 2.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #36,353 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Klyne Snodgrass (PhD, University of St. Andrews) is professor of biblical literature and holder of the Paul W. Brandel Chair of New Testament Studies at North Park Theological Seminary.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

58 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A stunning accomplishment!, March 30, 2008

By 

Jim Manner - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stories with Intent: A Comprehensive Guide to the Parables of Jesus (Hardcover)

I have had this book for a week now, and it is fabulous. I have read other books on the parables, one purchased on Amazon and another while in college, but "Stories with Intent" sets a new standard for later works to model.

Yes, this book is huge -- more than 800 pages -- but the first 60 pages are dedicated to setting the stage for the material and how the parables are evaluated, and the final 260 pages are appendices, reference notes and a lengthy bibliography and index. Pretty exhaustive!

Each parable is given an in-depth analysis, starting with a review of the issues that need to be addressed within each (such as cultural, theological and moral considerations); background material, such as related source material from the OT, NT, Jewish writings and Christian writings; and then a thorough look at the parable itself. Klyne Snodgrass does an awesome job of balancing his study with textual insights based on the Greek language (such as comparing word usage in other Gospel accounts), cultural considerations (what the parable would have meant to the Jews who heard it during Jesus' time), rhetorical comparisons (taking into account devices such as inclusio and chiastic structures) and more. He also shares contrasting interpretations for the parables before sharing his interpretation, which always let the original audience and setting be a compass for where his interpretation will lead the reader. Lastly, the writing style is very friendly, offering insights such as this one from the parable of the treasure in Matthew Chapter 13: "No one goes and sells all for something that does not cause the adrenaline to flow."

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning more about the parables. It's wonderful to pick up and read for reference on any parable, but I also have found it to be a great form of study -- using my Bible to look up comparative verses, conducting word studies and more.

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Probably the New Standard for the Next 20 Years, July 26, 2008

By 

Eutychus II (Maryland, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stories with Intent: A Comprehensive Guide to the Parables of Jesus (Hardcover)

Klyne Snodgrass has done this decade and maybe the next two the favor of condensing 35 years of teaching the Parables of Jesus into "just" 800 pages or so, in Stories with Intent: A Comprehensive Guide to the Parables of Jesus.

This is the book almost every seminary graduate will wish he or she had had when studying the parables. I do, and I wish I had had it the past 40 years. There are classics on the Parables, to be sure, such as the one by Jeremias The Parables of Jesus 3rd revised edition (simplified in his Rediscovering the Parables), but none were as comprehensive as this one.

Two features make Stories with Intent remarkably easy to read. First, all the chapters on the parables themselves follow the same basic outline, but it is the vertical white space that makes the outline stand out and the discussion particularly easy to follow. Secondly, all the advanced discussion is in the end notes, so that the reader who needs to follow up can and the reader who prefers not to can just keep reading.

In addition, the chapters on the parables themselves end with a section called "Adapting the Parable" (just before "For Further Reading)." The former describes the significance of the parable for today, in somewhat wider ways than mere "application," though that it included, too. Often Snodgrass makes a pithy remark--almost a wisdom saying in its own right--to end that section. For example, "Once again, the note of joy, as an essential feature of the kingdom, cannot be neglected. Where joy is absent, the kingdom is absent" (concluding "The Lost Coin").

One of the most unusual features of the book is that, for each parable discussed, it sets Jesus' parables in the context of the ancient world by prominently citing or paraphrasing parables or similar sayings from the Old Testament, Graeco-Roman authors, early and later Jewish/Rabbinic sources, and early Christian writers. For example, introducing the background of The Lost Coin, he cites Dio Chrysostom complaining that people who pay no attention to time and money still become distressed at losing 1 drachma [1 day's wage for a male laborer, 2 days' wage for a woman, he tells us later].

I recommend that you read the first two chapters first before dipping into the chapters on individual parables, so that you will understand his approach and some technical terms that keep coming up in the later chapters, for example, "nimshal" (Hebrew or Aramaic for "explanatory interpretation"), defined early in the book and used fairly often later on (but with no subject index, ... well, hard to find its meaning presented).

One interpretive principle he stated resonated with me: "... the realization that introductions such as 'The kingdom is like a man' (or a woman or seed, etc.) do not compare the kingdom to the characters or objects but to the whole process of the narration. ... We will see over and over that the whole narrated process in in view, not just the first item mentioned" (p. 29).

If you are looking for the best book available on the Parables of Jesus and you have the skill to use it, this is it. You don't need a seminary degree to understand it, but there are times when it would make it easier for you. For most readers, it is like a gold mine, but they will have to dig a little to use it. Finally, you will want your Bible at hand and open to follow up on the passages he cites and, for sure, to read the parables under discussion.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An incredible resource., June 1, 2008

By 

Michael Stavlund "Mike" (Washington. DC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Stories with Intent: A Comprehensive Guide to the Parables of Jesus (Hardcover)

This book would be an amazing bargain at 5 times the price. It is exhaustive, witty, thoughtful, and uncomfortably pointed (as are the parables!). Snodgrass avoids scholarly faddishness, and references a wealth of literary and historical parallels to Jesus' parables. A monumental work, and an invaluable resource.