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Greek noun (feminine) · G3850

παραβολή

parabolepar-ab-ol-ay'

a placing beside, juxtaposition (Polyb., al.).; a comparing, comparison (Plat., Arist., al.).; a comparison, illustration, analogy, figure (Arist., al.)

50 uses in the Greek text, one for each word STEP Bible has tagged with this key

Concordance spelling: parabolḗ

Word page · Part of the concordance, one page for every word of the Hebrew and Greek text. Strong's G3850is this word's number in James Strong's 1890 index of the King James Bible.

  • 4 of 27
    New Testament books
  • 9
    spellings
  • 3
    meanings

The definition in full

Strong's key (1890) · G3850

a similitude ("parable"), i.e. (symbolic) fictitious narrative (of common life conveying a moral), apothegm or adage

The King James renders it: comparison, figure, parable, proverb.

James Strong, The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (1890), public domain. Strong indexed the King James text, and this site quotes his entry as that index.

Summary

parabole is rendered "a placing beside, juxtaposition (Polyb., al.).; a comparing, comparison (Plat., Arist., al.).; a comparison, illustration, analogy, figure (Arist., al.)". It stands 50 times in the Greek text, across four books.

  • Eighteen of the uses stand in Luke, more than in any other book.
  • The lexicon lists three meanings for it, beginning with "a placing beside, juxtaposition (Polyb., al.).".
  • Its first use in canonical order opens the ledger below.Matthew 13:3And He told them many things in parables, saying, “A farmer went out to sow his seed.
  • The Greek text spells it nine different ways.

The first use

And He told them many things in parables, saying, “A farmer went out to sow his seed.

Matthew 13:3παραβολαῖς

The first use, in the order of the New Testament's books.

Where the word stands

Eighteen of the word's fifty uses are in Luke.

The other 23 New Testament books never use the word.

What the word means

The word carries three meanings: a placing beside, juxtaposition (Polyb., al.)., and a comparing, comparison (Plat., Arist., al.)., and a comparison, illustration, analogy, figure (Arist., al.).

Each meaning, and the words it is translated by

The English STEP Bible gives each use, word by word, and how many times.
a placing beside, juxtaposition (Polyb., al.).Tagged as
  • a simile1
  • proverb1
WhereMatthew 13:3And He told them many things in parables, saying, “A farmer went out to sow his seed.
a comparing, comparison (Plat., Arist., al.).Tagged aslisted under the tableWherein the ledger below
a comparison, illustration, analogy, figure (Arist., al.)Mat.24:32Tagged as
  • parable21
  • parables17
  • a parable9
  • a symbol1
WhereMatthew 13:3And He told them many things in parables, saying, “A farmer went out to sow his seed.

The words built on the same word-part

Each word below begins with the same letters this one begins with. A shared word-part shows a family. It does not settle what any one of them means, so each word carries its own uses on its own page. Scholars call that shared part the stem.

παράparafrom/with/besideUses192
παραδίδωμιparadidomito deliverUses119
παρακαλέωparakaleoto plead/comfortUses108
παραλαμβάνωparalambanoto takeUses49
παραγίνομαιparaginomaito comeUses36
παραγγέλλωparangelloto orderUses31
παράκλησιςparaklesisencouragementUses29
παράπτωμαparaptomatrespassUses19
παρατίθημιparatithemito set beforeUses19
παράδοσιςparadosistraditionUses13
παραιτέομαιparaiteomaito refuse/excuseUses12
παράγωparagoto passUses10

and 54 more on the stem.

All 50, in canonical order

Every use, in order

Every use, grouped by book, with its verse.

9 spellings and their grammar

STEP Bible tags every word of the Hebrew and Greek text with its spelling and its grammar. Both lists below count the rows printed underneath, written out in English, with the code beside each one as it was tagged.

How it is spelled

  • παραβολὴν22
  • παραβολαῖς12
  • παραβολήν4
  • παραβολὰς3
  • παραβολῆς3
  • παραβολή2
  • παραβολῇ2
  • παραβολάς1
  • παραβολὴ1

The grammar of each form

  • noun · accusative (object) · feminine singular26N-ASF
  • noun · dative (“to / for”) · feminine plural12N-DPF
  • noun · accusative (object) · feminine plural4N-APF
  • noun · genitive (“of”) · feminine singular3N-GSF
  • noun · nominative (subject) · feminine singular3N-NSF
  • noun · dative (“to / for”) · feminine singular2N-DSF

Matthew

seventeen uses
  • And He told them many things in parables, saying, “A farmer went out to sow his seed.

    Matthew 13:3

    • παραβολαῖςparabolaisnoun · dative (“to / for”) · feminine pluraltagged: parables
  • Then the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Why do You speak to the people in parables?”

    Matthew 13:10

    • παραβολαῖςparabolaisnoun · dative (“to / for”) · feminine pluraltagged: parables
  • This is why I speak to them in parables: ‘Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.’

    Matthew 13:13

    • παραβολαῖςparabolaisnoun · dative (“to / for”) · feminine pluraltagged: parables
  • Consider, then, the parable of the sower:

    Matthew 13:18

    • παραβολὴνparabolennoun · accusative (object) · feminine singulartagged: parable
  • Jesus put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field.

    Matthew 13:24

    • παραβολὴνparabolennoun · accusative (object) · feminine singulartagged: parable
  • He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man planted in his field.

    Matthew 13:31

    • παραβολὴνparabolennoun · accusative (object) · feminine singulartagged: parable
  • He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and mixed into three measures of flour, until all of it was leavened.”

    Matthew 13:33

    • παραβολὴνparabolennoun · accusative (object) · feminine singulartagged: parable
  • Jesus spoke all these things to the crowds in parables. He did not tell them anything without using a parable.

    Matthew 13:34

    • παραβολαῖςparabolaisnoun · dative (“to / for”) · feminine pluraltagged: parables
    • παραβολῆςparabolesnoun · genitive (“of”) · feminine singulartagged: a parable
  • So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet: “I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden since the foundation of the world.”

    Matthew 13:35

    • παραβολαῖςparabolaisnoun · dative (“to / for”) · feminine pluraltagged: parables
  • Then Jesus dismissed the crowds and went into the house. His disciples came to Him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”

    Matthew 13:36

    • παραβολὴνparabolennoun · accusative (object) · feminine singulartagged: parable
  • When Jesus had finished these parables, He withdrew from that place.

    Matthew 13:53

    • παραβολὰςparabolasnoun · accusative (object) · feminine pluraltagged: parables
  • Peter said to Him, “Explain this parable to us.”

    Matthew 15:15

    • παραβολὴνparabolennoun · accusative (object) · feminine singulartagged: parable
  • Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a tower. Then he rented it out to some tenants and went away on a journey.

    Matthew 21:33

    • παραβολὴνparabolennoun · accusative (object) · feminine singulartagged: parable
  • When the chief priests and Pharisees heard His parables, they knew that Jesus was speaking about them.

    Matthew 21:45

    • παραβολὰςparabolasnoun · accusative (object) · feminine pluraltagged: parables
  • Once again, Jesus spoke to them in parables:

    Matthew 22:1

    • παραβολαῖςparabolaisnoun · dative (“to / for”) · feminine pluraltagged: parables
  • Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its branches become tender and sprout leaves, you know that summer is near.

    Matthew 24:32

    • παραβολήνparabolennoun · accusative (object) · feminine singulartagged: parable

Mark

thirteen uses
  • So Jesus called them together and began to speak to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan?

    Mark 3:23

    • παραβολαῖςparabolaisnoun · dative (“to / for”) · feminine pluraltagged: parables
  • And He taught them many things in parables, and in His teaching He said,

    Mark 4:2

    • παραβολαῖςparabolaisnoun · dative (“to / for”) · feminine pluraltagged: parables
  • As soon as Jesus was alone with the Twelve and those around Him, they asked Him about the parable.

    Mark 4:10

    • παραβολάςparabolasnoun · accusative (object) · feminine pluraltagged: parables
  • He replied, “The mystery of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to those on the outside everything is expressed in parables,

    Mark 4:11

    • παραβολαῖςparabolaisnoun · dative (“to / for”) · feminine pluraltagged: parables
  • Then Jesus said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand any of the parables?

    Mark 4:13

    • παραβολὴνparabolennoun · accusative (object) · feminine singulartagged: parable
    • παραβολὰςparabolasnoun · accusative (object) · feminine pluraltagged: parables
  • Then He asked, “To what can we compare the kingdom of God? With what parable shall we present it?

    Mark 4:30

    • παραβολῇparaboleanoun · dative (“to / for”) · feminine singulartagged: parable
  • With many such parables Jesus spoke the word to them, to the extent that they could understand.

    Mark 4:33

    • παραβολαῖςparabolaisnoun · dative (“to / for”) · feminine pluraltagged: parables
  • He did not tell them anything without using a parable. But privately He explained everything to His own disciples.

    Mark 4:34

    • παραβολῆςparabolesnoun · genitive (“of”) · feminine singulartagged: parables
  • After Jesus had left the crowd and gone into the house, His disciples inquired about the parable.

    Mark 7:17

    • παραβολήνparabolennoun · accusative (object) · feminine singulartagged: parable
  • Then Jesus began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a wine vat, and built a watchtower. Then he rented it out to some tenants and went away on a journey.

    Mark 12:1

    • παραβολαῖςparabolaisnoun · dative (“to / for”) · feminine pluraltagged: parables
  • At this, the leaders sought to arrest Jesus, for they knew that He had spoken this parable against them. But fearing the crowd, they left Him and went away.

    Mark 12:12

    • παραβολὴνparabolennoun · accusative (object) · feminine singulartagged: parable
  • Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its branches become tender and sprout leaves, you know that summer is near.

    Mark 13:28

    • παραβολήνparabolennoun · accusative (object) · feminine singulartagged: parable

Luke

eighteen uses
  • Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to Me: ‘Physician, heal yourself! Do here in Your hometown what we have heard that You did in Capernaum.’”

    Luke 4:23

    • παραβολὴνparabolennoun · accusative (object) · feminine singulartagged: proverb
  • He also told them a parable: “No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and sews it on an old one. If he does, he will tear the new garment as well, and the patch from the new will not match the old.

    Luke 5:36

    • παραβολὴνparabolennoun · accusative (object) · feminine singulartagged: a parable
  • Jesus also told them a parable: “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit?

    Luke 6:39

    • παραβολὴνparabolennoun · accusative (object) · feminine singulartagged: a parable
  • While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, He told them this parable:

    Luke 8:4

    • παραβολῆςparabolesnoun · genitive (“of”) · feminine singulartagged: a parable
  • Then His disciples asked Him what this parable meant.

    Luke 8:9

    • παραβολήparabolenoun · nominative (subject) · feminine singulartagged: parable
  • He replied, “The knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that, ‘though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.’

    Luke 8:10

    • παραβολαῖςparabolaisnoun · dative (“to / for”) · feminine pluraltagged: parables
  • Now this is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God.

    Luke 8:11

    • παραβολήparabolenoun · nominative (subject) · feminine singulartagged: parable
  • Then He told them a parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced an abundance.

    Luke 12:16

    • παραβολὴνparabolennoun · accusative (object) · feminine singulartagged: a parable
  • “Lord,” said Peter, “are You addressing this parable to us, or to everyone else as well?”

    Luke 12:41

    • παραβολὴνparabolennoun · accusative (object) · feminine singulartagged: parable
  • Then Jesus told this parable: “A man had a fig tree that was planted in his vineyard. He went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any.

    Luke 13:6

    • παραβολήνparabolennoun · accusative (object) · feminine singulartagged: parable
  • When Jesus noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, He told them a parable:

    Luke 14:7

    • παραβολὴνparabolennoun · accusative (object) · feminine singulartagged: a parable
  • Then Jesus told them this parable:

    Luke 15:3

    • παραβολὴνparabolennoun · accusative (object) · feminine singulartagged: parable
  • Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray at all times and not lose heart:

    Luke 18:1

    • παραβολὴνparabolennoun · accusative (object) · feminine singulartagged: a parable
  • To some who trusted in their own righteousness and viewed others with contempt, He also told this parable:

    Luke 18:9

    • παραβολὴνparabolennoun · accusative (object) · feminine singulartagged: parable
  • While the people were listening to this, Jesus proceeded to tell them a parable, because He was near Jerusalem and they thought the kingdom of God would appear imminently.

    Luke 19:11

    • παραβολὴνparabolennoun · accusative (object) · feminine singulartagged: a parable
  • Then He proceeded to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard, rented it out to some tenants, and went away for a long time.

    Luke 20:9

    • παραβολὴνparabolennoun · accusative (object) · feminine singulartagged: parable
  • When the scribes and chief priests realized that Jesus had spoken this parable against them, they sought to arrest Him that very hour. But they were afraid of the people.

    Luke 20:19

    • παραβολὴνparabolennoun · accusative (object) · feminine singulartagged: parable
  • Then Jesus told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees.

    Luke 21:29

    • παραβολὴνparabolennoun · accusative (object) · feminine singulartagged: a parable

Hebrews

two uses
  • It is an illustration for the present time, because the gifts and sacrifices being offered were unable to cleanse the conscience of the worshiper.

    Hebrews 9:9

    • παραβολὴparabolenoun · nominative (subject) · feminine singulartagged: a symbol
  • Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and in a sense, he did receive Isaac back from death.

    Hebrews 11:19

    • παραβολῇparaboleanoun · dative (“to / for”) · feminine singulartagged: a simile

Where it leads

How the numbers are counted

Every count on this page comes from STEP Bible's tagged Hebrew and Greek text, the same text the ledger prints. A use is counted once each time the tagging marks a word with this key.

Spellings are counted as the Greek text spells them, with the sentence's own punctuation taken off the word first, so a form that ends a clause is not counted as a second spelling.

The words it stands beside are the nouns, verbs and adjectives immediately before or after it, counted in every verse where the word stands. The article, the conjunctions and the prepositions are left out, because they stand beside every word.

The family is read from the lexicon by the stem the two words share, with the accents off, and a person or a place named on the stem is left out.

Hebrew and Greek text, word tagging and grammar: STEP Bible (www.STEPBible.org), Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0. Their grammar codes are written out in English here and shown as tagged beside each one.

Meaning and senses: STEP Bible TBESG (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0), the Brief lexicon based on Abbott-Smith (1922).

Dictionary key: Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (1890, public domain). English verse text: Berean Standard Bible (public domain, 2023).

Revised 2026-09-05. Every cited work, the sources registry →