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

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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.

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.

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.

We are using this book as the basis for a summer bible study series. It is fantastic. Even though the weather has gotten increasingly nicer, our attendance has increased. Dr. Snodgrass provides a very thorough exegesis of each of the parables, while also pointing the reader to clear application. He teaches a hermeneutic for reading the parables, which should be applied to all of Scripture. This is a great resource for teaching, preaching and study. I highly recommend this book, I have spent twice as much on books which are not half as useful!

Since I'm now preaching a short series on The Parables of Jesus, I recently purchased and started reading Klyne Snodgrass's Stories with Intent: A Comprehensive Guide to the Parables of Jesus. Comprehensive it is. This book is 846 pages long (though over 300 pages of this are bibliography and notes)! But though it is comprehensive, it is written with preachers in mind. As Snodgrass admits in his preface, "This is unapologetically and quite consciously a selfishly motivated book. This is what I want when preparing to teach or preach on the parables" (p. xi). It's what I want, too, and I'm glad Snodgrass gave in to his selfish ambition!

Snodgrass begins, of course, with an "Introduction to the Parables of Jesus," in which he covers (these are the subheadings): Necessary History; What is a Parable?; How Should Parables Be Classified?; What about Allegory?; Characteristics of Jesus' Parables; Distribution of the Parables; How Should Parables Be Interpreted?; and NT Criticism - Assumptions and Hesitations, Method and Procedure.

He lists eleven characteristics of Jesus' parables:

1. Jesus' parables are first of all brief, even terse.
2. Parables are marked by simplicity and symmetry.
3. Jesus' parables focus mostly on humans.
4. The parables are fictional descriptions taken from everyday life.
5. Parables are engaging.
6. Since they frequently seek to reorient thought and behavior . . . parables often contain elements of reversal.
7. With their intent to bring about response and elements like reversal, the crucial matter of parables is usually at the end, which functions something like the punch line of a joke.
8. Parables are told into a context. This distinguishes the parables from Aesop's fables, which are stand alone morality tales. Jesus' parables, in contrast, are "not general storeis with universal truths" but "are addressed to quite specific contexts in the ministry of Jesus."
9. Jesus' parables are theocentric.
10. Parables frequently allude to OT texts.
11. Most parables appear in larger collections of parables.

And, in discussing how to interpret the parables, Snodgrass offers the following principles:

1. Analyze each parable thoroughly.
2. Listen to the parable without presupposition as to its form or meaning.
3. Remember that Jesus' parables were oral instruments in a largely oral culture.
4. If we are after the intent of Jesus, we must seek to hear a parable as Jesus' Palestinian hearers would have heard it.
5. Note how each parable and its redactional shaping fit with the purpose and plan of each Evangelist.
6. Determine specifically the function of the story in the teaching of Jesus.
7. Interpret what is given, not what is omitted. Any attempt to interpret a parable based on what is not there is almost certainly wrong.
8. Do not impose real time on parable time.
9. Pay particular attention to the rule of end stress.
10. Note where the teaching of the parables intersects with the teaching of Jesus elsewhere.
11. Determine the theological intent and significance of each parable.

Some of these principles, admittedly, need a bit more explanation and fleshing out than I am choosing to do in this review, but many of the principles are self-evident. This list at least gives you an idea of how Snodgrass approaches the task of interpretation.

The next section covers Parables in the Ancient World, looking specifically at parables in the Old Testament, Early Jewish Writings, Greco-Roman Writings, The Early Church, and Later Jewish Writings. After that, Snodgrass jumps in to the actual parables themselves, dividing thirty-two parables into nine sections. These sections are entitled:

* Grace and Responsibility
* Parables of Lostness
* The Parable of the Sower and the Purpose of Parables
* Parables of the Present Kingdom in Matthew 13, Mark 4, and Luke 13
* Parables Specifically about Israel
* Parables about Discipleship
* Parables about Money
* Parables concerning God and Prayer, and
* Parables of Future Eschatology

As Snodgrass takes up each parable, he discusses the parable type, raises issues requiring attention, looks at helpful primary source material, does a comparison of the different accounts of the parable in the gospels, discusses textual issues worth noting, highlights helpful cultural information, then gives an explanation of the parable, talks about adapting the parable for our own context, and suggests further reading (as if he were not comprehensive enough for most people!). This really is a well organized book, designed to function more like a manual for ongoing reference, than to read straight through (which I'm not doing).

Finally, the book ends with an epilogue, six appendices, over one hundred pages of notes and almost fifty pages of bibliography, and then two indices. I expect to use this book not only in my current sermon series, but for many years to come and heartily recommend it to others.

I enjoyed this book. It provides an in-depth study of the textual, literary, cultural, and historical aspects of each of the 31 parables it treats to guide thoughtful interpretation. For each parable several relevant questions are posed and subsequently answered in some detail, with a final section on applying the parable. Overall I would say that this detailed study shed light on the meaning of the parables and I found that for the most part I agreed with the interpretation provided by the author. I was personally challenged on several occasions by the message and application of these parables. This book is strong on the in-depth aspects of the parables, providing many parallel texts ("primary source material") from the culture of that time period (rabbinic, Greek, roman, deuterocanonical, apocryphal). I didn't appreciate the use of endnotes rather than footnotes (causing much flipping back and forth), and I think it would have been helpful to have the text(s) of the parables printed at the beginning of each chapter (causing 2 open books at one time). Within the 846 pages, the study of the parables is about 500 pages, the rest being intro, bibliography, and the almost 200 pages of endnotes. I think the length and detailed nature of this book may deter some readers from reaping the rewards of the excellent discussions on interpretation and application. A trimmed down version (sans full notes, bibliography, primary sources, and the addition of the parable texts) would be welcomed to appeal to a more general audience.

This is an outstanding, comprehensive work on the parables of Jesus, with thorough background material and long quotes from primary sources in Jewish and Greek literature. Must reading for all who teach and preach the words of Jesus.

This book is a serious resource for Bible students. It is comprehensive, opinionated and meticulous in its approach. The author provides a wealth of background material placing parables in the context of the first century. His readings on the parables are fact driven and well supported.
The only drawback to this book is that the sheer size and scope may overwhelm the casual reader. But if you invest the time this book will richly reward you.

28 Jan 2009 - Christianity Today announced Stories With Intent as the 2009 winner in the Biblical Studies category. Across the 10 categories, CT says 436 books from 67 publishers were submitted.

I hope this keeps raising the profile of this incredibly worthy reference work!

When I first got this book in the mail I was shocked by its thickness. I quickly reviewed the book before buying, but I do emphasize "quickly." However I'm only half way through, but I love it. This book is really a year-long class in a book, but it's so insightful, and I love the format. I'd recommend this book to anyone desiring to learn more about the parables of Jesus. It's insightful, but not too "heady." I'll forever have this book on my shelf as a resource I know I'll be using time and time again.