Reference: Fable
American
An idle, groundless, and worthless story, like the mythological legends of the heathen and the vain traditions of the Jews. These were often not only false and weak, but also pernicious, 1Ti 4:7; Tit 1:14; 2Pe 1:16.
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But profane and old wives' fables avoid, but exercise thyself unto piety;
not turning their minds to Jewish fables and commandments of men turning away from the truth.
Easton
applied in the New Testament to the traditions and speculations, "cunningly devised fables", of the Jews on religious questions (1Ti 1:4; 4:7; 2Ti 4:4; Tit 1:14; 2Pe 1:16). In such passages the word means anything false and unreal. But the word is used as almost equivalent to parable. Thus we have (1) the fable of Jotham, in which the trees are spoken of as choosing a king (Jg 9:8-15); and (2) that of the cedars of Lebanon and the thistle as Jehoash's answer to Amaziah (2Ki 14:9).
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The trees once went forth to anoint a king over them; and they said to the olive tree, 'Reign over us.' But the olive tree said to them, 'Shall I leave my fatness, by which gods and men are honored, and go to sway over the trees?' read more. And the trees said to the fig tree, 'Come you, and reign over us.' But the fig tree said to them, 'Shall I leave my sweetness and my good fruit, and go to sway over the trees?' And the trees said to the vine, 'Come you, and reign over us.' But the vine said to them, 'Shall I leave my wine which cheers gods and men, and go to sway over the trees?' Then all the trees said to the bramble, 'Come you, and reign over us.' And the bramble said to the trees, 'If in good faith you are anointing me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon.'
And Jehoash king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, The thorn-bush that is in Lebanon sent to the cedar that is in Lebanon, saying, Give thy daughter to my son as wife; and there passed by the wild beast that is in Lebanon, and trode down the thorn-bush.
nor to turn their minds to fables and interminable genealogies, which bring questionings rather than further God's dispensation, which is in faith.
But profane and old wives' fables avoid, but exercise thyself unto piety;
not turning their minds to Jewish fables and commandments of men turning away from the truth.
Fausets
It represents man's relations to his fellow man; but the PARABLE rises higher, it represents the relations between man and God. The parable's framework is drawn from the dealings of men with one another; or if from the natural world, not a grotesque parody of it, but real analogies. The fable rests on what man has in common with the lower creatures; the parable on the fact that man is made in the image of God, and that the natural world reflects outwardly the unseen realities of the spiritual world. The MYTH is distinct from both in being the spontaneous symbolic expression of some religious notion of the apostate natural mind. In the fable qualities of men are attributed to brutes. In the parable the lower sphere is kept distinct from the higher which it illustrates; the lower beings follow the law of their nature, but herein represent the acts of the higher beings; the relations of brutes to each other are not used, as these would be inappropriate to represent man's relation to God.
Two fables occur in Scripture: (1) Jotham's sarcastic fable to the men of Shechem, the trees choosing their king (Jg 9:8-15). (2) Joash's sarcastic answer to Amaziah's challenge, by a fable, the sarcasm being the sharper for the covert form it assumes, namely, the cedar of Lebanon and the thistle (2Ki 14:9). Eze 17:1-10 differs from the fable in not attributing human attributes to lower creatures, and in symbolizing allegorically prophetical truths concerning the world monarchies; it is called chidah, "a riddle," from chaadad "to be sharp", as requiring acumen to solve the continued enigmatical allegory.
The fable of Jotham (1209 B.C.) is the oldest in existence; the Hebrew mind had a special power of perceiving analogies to man in the lower world; this power is a relic of the primeval intuition given to Adam by God who "brought every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air, unto Adam to see what he would call them." Other nations were much later in this style of thought, the earliest prose fables in Greece being those of the legendary Aesop, about 550 B.C. Many of the proverbs are "condensed fables" (Pr 26:11; 30:15,25,28).
The analogies in the lower creatures are to man's lower virtues or defects, his worldly prudence, or his pride, indolence, cunning (compare Mt 10:16). "Fables" mean falsehoods in 1Ti 1:4; 4:7, "old wives' fables"; Tit 1:14, "Jewish fables," the transition stage to gnosticism; 2Pe 1:16, "cunningly devised (Greek text: sophisticated) fables," devised by man's wisdom, not what the Holy Spirit teacheth (1Co 2:13); incipient gnostic legends about the genealogies, origin, and propagation of angels (Col 2:18-23).
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The trees once went forth to anoint a king over them; and they said to the olive tree, 'Reign over us.' But the olive tree said to them, 'Shall I leave my fatness, by which gods and men are honored, and go to sway over the trees?' read more. And the trees said to the fig tree, 'Come you, and reign over us.' But the fig tree said to them, 'Shall I leave my sweetness and my good fruit, and go to sway over the trees?' And the trees said to the vine, 'Come you, and reign over us.' But the vine said to them, 'Shall I leave my wine which cheers gods and men, and go to sway over the trees?' Then all the trees said to the bramble, 'Come you, and reign over us.' And the bramble said to the trees, 'If in good faith you are anointing me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon.'
And Jehoash king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, The thorn-bush that is in Lebanon sent to the cedar that is in Lebanon, saying, Give thy daughter to my son as wife; and there passed by the wild beast that is in Lebanon, and trode down the thorn-bush.
As a dog turneth back to its vomit, so a fool repeateth his folly.
The leech hath two daughters: Give, give. There are three things never satisfied; four which say not, It is enough:
The ants, a people not strong, yet they provide their food in the summer;
thou takest hold of the lizard with the hands, yet is she in kings' palaces.
And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel, read more. and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: A great eagle with great wings, long-pinioned, full of feathers, which was of divers colours, came unto Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar. He cropped off the top of its young shoots, and carried it into a merchants' land; he set it in a city of traders. And he took of the seed of the land, and planted it in a fruitful field; he placed it by great waters, he set it as a willow tree. And it grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature, so that its branches should turn toward him, and the roots thereof be under him; and it became a vine, and brought forth branches, and shot forth sprigs. And there was another great eagle with great wings and many feathers; and behold, from the beds of her plantation, this vine did bend her roots unto him, and shot forth her branches toward him, that he might water it. It was planted in a good field by many waters, that it might bring forth branches and bear fruit, that it might be a noble vine. Say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Shall it prosper? Shall he not pull up its roots, and cut off its fruit, that it may wither? All its fresh sprouting leaves shall wither, even without a great arm and many people to pluck it up by its roots. And behold, being planted, shall it prosper? shall it not utterly wither when the east wind toucheth it? It shall wither in the beds where it grew.
Behold, I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves; be therefore prudent as the serpents, and guileless as the doves.
which also we speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, communicating spiritual things by spiritual means.
Let no one fraudulently deprive you of your prize, doing his own will in humility and worship of angels, entering into things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by the mind of his flesh, and not holding fast the head, from whom all the body, ministered to and united together by the joints and bands, increases with the increase of God. read more. If ye have died with Christ from the elements of the world, why as if alive in the world do ye subject yourselves to ordinances? Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch, (things which are all for destruction in the using of them:) according to the injunctions and teachings of men, (which have indeed an appearance of wisdom in voluntary worship, and humility, and harsh treatment of the body, not in a certain honour,) to the satisfaction of the flesh.
nor to turn their minds to fables and interminable genealogies, which bring questionings rather than further God's dispensation, which is in faith.
But profane and old wives' fables avoid, but exercise thyself unto piety;
not turning their minds to Jewish fables and commandments of men turning away from the truth.
For we have not made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, following cleverly imagined fables, but having been eyewitnesses of his majesty.
Hastings
For the definition of a fable, as distinct from parable, allegory, etc., see Trench, Parables, p. 2 ff. Its main feature is the introduction of beasts or plants as speaking and reasoning, and its object is moral instruction. As it moves on ground common to man and lower creatures, its teaching can never rise to a high spiritual level. Worldly prudence in some form is its usual note, or it attacks human folly and frailty, sometimes in a spirit of bitter cynicism. Hence it has only a small place in the Bible. See Parable.
1. In OT.
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The trees once went forth to anoint a king over them; and they said to the olive tree, 'Reign over us.'
And Jehoash king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, The thorn-bush that is in Lebanon sent to the cedar that is in Lebanon, saying, Give thy daughter to my son as wife; and there passed by the wild beast that is in Lebanon, and trode down the thorn-bush.
and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: A great eagle with great wings, long-pinioned, full of feathers, which was of divers colours, came unto Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar. He cropped off the top of its young shoots, and carried it into a merchants' land; he set it in a city of traders. read more. And he took of the seed of the land, and planted it in a fruitful field; he placed it by great waters, he set it as a willow tree. And it grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature, so that its branches should turn toward him, and the roots thereof be under him; and it became a vine, and brought forth branches, and shot forth sprigs. And there was another great eagle with great wings and many feathers; and behold, from the beds of her plantation, this vine did bend her roots unto him, and shot forth her branches toward him, that he might water it. It was planted in a good field by many waters, that it might bring forth branches and bear fruit, that it might be a noble vine. Say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Shall it prosper? Shall he not pull up its roots, and cut off its fruit, that it may wither? All its fresh sprouting leaves shall wither, even without a great arm and many people to pluck it up by its roots. And behold, being planted, shall it prosper? shall it not utterly wither when the east wind toucheth it? It shall wither in the beds where it grew.
But beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but within are ravening wolves.
nor to turn their minds to fables and interminable genealogies, which bring questionings rather than further God's dispensation, which is in faith.
forbidding to marry, bidding to abstain from meats, which God has created for receiving with thanksgiving for them who are faithful and know the truth.
But profane and old wives' fables avoid, but exercise thyself unto piety;
and they will turn away their ear from the truth, and will have turned aside to fables.
not turning their minds to Jewish fables and commandments of men turning away from the truth. All things are pure to the pure; but to the defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but both their mind and their conscience are defiled. read more. They profess to know God, but in works deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and found worthless as to every good work.
But foolish questions, and genealogies, and strifes, and contentions about the law, shun; for they are unprofitable and vain.
For we have not made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, following cleverly imagined fables, but having been eyewitnesses of his majesty.
Morish
?????, lit. 'a word, a speech.' The English word is not used in the N.T. in the sense in which it is now often employed, signifying a supposed incident to teach some moral truth; but has the sense rather of myths, false stories (as the Greek word was used by later writers), which in one passage are called "profane and old wives' fables." 1Ti 1:4; 4:7; 2Ti 4:4; Tit 1:14; 2Pe 1:16.
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nor to turn their minds to fables and interminable genealogies, which bring questionings rather than further God's dispensation, which is in faith.
But profane and old wives' fables avoid, but exercise thyself unto piety;
not turning their minds to Jewish fables and commandments of men turning away from the truth.
Smith
Fable.
A fable is a narrative in which being irrational, and sometimes inanimate, are, for the purpose of moral instruction, feigned to act and speak with human interests and passions. --Encyc. Brit. The fable differs from the parable in that --
1. The parable always relates what actually takes place, and is true to fact, which the fable is not; and
2. The parable teaches the higher heavenly and spiritual truths, but the fable only earthly moralities. Of the fable, as distinguished from the parable [PARABLE], we have but two examples in the Bible:
See Parable
1. That of the trees choosing their king, addressed by Jotham to the men of Shechem,
2. That of the cedar of Lebanon and the thistle, as the answer of Jehoash to the challenge of Amaziah.
The fables of false teachers claiming to belong to the Christian Church, alluded to by writers of the New Testament,
1Ti 1:4; 4:7; Tit 1:14; 2Pe 1:16
do not appear to have had the character of fables, properly so called.
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The trees once went forth to anoint a king over them; and they said to the olive tree, 'Reign over us.' But the olive tree said to them, 'Shall I leave my fatness, by which gods and men are honored, and go to sway over the trees?' read more. And the trees said to the fig tree, 'Come you, and reign over us.' But the fig tree said to them, 'Shall I leave my sweetness and my good fruit, and go to sway over the trees?' And the trees said to the vine, 'Come you, and reign over us.' But the vine said to them, 'Shall I leave my wine which cheers gods and men, and go to sway over the trees?' Then all the trees said to the bramble, 'Come you, and reign over us.' And the bramble said to the trees, 'If in good faith you are anointing me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon.'
And Jehoash king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, The thorn-bush that is in Lebanon sent to the cedar that is in Lebanon, saying, Give thy daughter to my son as wife; and there passed by the wild beast that is in Lebanon, and trode down the thorn-bush.
nor to turn their minds to fables and interminable genealogies, which bring questionings rather than further God's dispensation, which is in faith.
But profane and old wives' fables avoid, but exercise thyself unto piety;
not turning their minds to Jewish fables and commandments of men turning away from the truth.
Watsons
FABLE, a fiction destitute of truth. St. Paul exhorts Timothy and Titus to shun profane and Jewish fables, 1Ti 4:7; Tit 1:14; as having a tendency to seduce men from the truth. By these fables some understand the reveries of the Gnostics; but the fathers generally, and after them most of the modern commentators, interpret them of the vain traditions of the Jews; especially concerning meats, and other things, to be abstained from as unclean, which our Lord also styles "the doctrines of men," Mt 15:9. This sense of the passages is confirmed by their contexts. In another sense, the word is taken to signify an apologue, or instructive tale, intended to convey truth under the concealment of fiction; as Jotham's fable of the trees, Jg 9:7-15, no doubt by far the oldest fable extant.
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When it was told to Jotham, he went and stood on the top of Mount Ger'izim, and cried aloud and said to them, "Listen to me, you men of Shechem, that God may listen to you. The trees once went forth to anoint a king over them; and they said to the olive tree, 'Reign over us.' read more. But the olive tree said to them, 'Shall I leave my fatness, by which gods and men are honored, and go to sway over the trees?' And the trees said to the fig tree, 'Come you, and reign over us.' But the fig tree said to them, 'Shall I leave my sweetness and my good fruit, and go to sway over the trees?' And the trees said to the vine, 'Come you, and reign over us.' But the vine said to them, 'Shall I leave my wine which cheers gods and men, and go to sway over the trees?' Then all the trees said to the bramble, 'Come you, and reign over us.' And the bramble said to the trees, 'If in good faith you are anointing me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon.'
but in vain do they worship me, teaching as teachings commandments of men.
But profane and old wives' fables avoid, but exercise thyself unto piety;
not turning their minds to Jewish fables and commandments of men turning away from the truth.