This is innovative, encyclopedia, and methodological comprehensive work. Building upon the work of Adolf Julicher, C.H. Dodd, and Joachim Jeremias, as well as upon the modern efforts of Roberts W. Funk, Dan O. Via, and John Dominic Crossan, Professor Scott attempts to advance and, whenever necessary, to correct this tradition of parable interpretation. He accents the literary, linguistic, and metaphorical elements of the New Testament parables, with an emphasis on the relation of the parables to the mythological vision of the Kingdom of God. This commentary analyzes each parable of Jesus, even those in the Gospel of Thomas, in the present literary contexts of each Gospel, in its prior development in the oral tradition, and within the ministry of Jesus himself.