“Talents” and the Meanings They Make
Keywords:
Riddle, Example, Challenge, Attack, Orality, MnemonicAbstract
In this article, I wish to explore specifically Jesus’s parable of the talents in the biblical texts using the three-fold descriptive model, depicted as riddle, example and challenge parables, by John Dominic Crossan. I aim to analyse the theme, structure and delivery of this parable employing ideas of orality as represented by Walter J Ong and Alessandro Portelli. I argue that the parable represents a complex formulation of ideas and reflections, including a cultural-political critique of the history and culture of 1CE Palestine. By way of conclusion, I submit that Jesus’s talents parable goes beyond simple moral narrative to critical, provocative reflections of lived experience, its culture and its politics.
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