Luke 8: 4-15 Parable of the Sower Parable PaperInterpretive Steps When interpreting a parable, several layers of reality come into play. The Gospel writer is recording a parable spoken by Jesus (probably in Aramaic) to a particular audience, but the Gospel writer records the event decades later in Koine Greek to a different intended audience. And you are interpreting the parable over 2,000 years later in English to an entirely different audience. Having said this, it is important to reduce the cultural difference between now and then by first learning the original intent of the author from his perspective of what Jesus meant before moving quickly to what the Spirit means for this parable for today. Below are the steps required to better accomplish this. General Interpretive Steps (Parable) Read the passages before and after the parable while also looking at the overall arrangement to decipher how this parable fits within the authors intended overall, literary flow of his Gospel. Read the parable several times in one sitting, jotting down observations and questions about the authors meaning, (key words), his audience, the purpose of the parable, the tone, and difficulties. If appropriate, divide the passage into its units of thought (similar to contemporary paragraphs) based on the authors intent. Specific Interpretive Steps Analyze key words (reference points)determine the range of meaning that the author may have intended. 1. Research the cultural-historical meaning of key words or phrases that would help todays audience understand the meaning (in a sense, reduce the cultural distance due to the difference in culture, language, setting, other translations, exegetical commentaries, and relevant lexicons). 2. Look to see how the author uses this word in other sections of the Gospel (use a concordance or Greek Lexicon). 3. [How is this word used in 1st Century Palestine (Judaism) or the Greco-Roman world?]
Parable of the Sower Parable Paper.
