Contents Part One: Introduction -- 1. The problem and the task -- A. The unfinished work -- B. Major trends in recent parabolic interpretation -- (1) The historical-eschatological: Dodd and Jeremias -- (2) Jones: Parables as art -- (3) Linnemann and Via: The existential perspective -- C. Reaction and assessment: a remaining task -- 2. Methodology (1): The cultural problem -- A. The basic problem: cultural foreignness -- B.A review of types of solutions to the cultural problem -- C. Oriental exegesis: a proposal -- A definition of "Oriental exegesis" -- Ancient literature: its importance and the exegete's problem in assessing it -- The contemporary Middle Easter peasant and his oral tradition as a tool for recovering the culture of the parables -- The archaic nature of his life style -- Past attempts at gleaning insights from Middle Eastern peasantry -- The unfinished task: its methods and its controls -- The significance of the Oriental versions for exegesis -- D. Discerning the theological cluster -- E. Summary and conclusions -- 3. Methodology (2): four types of literary structures in the New Testament and their significance for the interpretation of parables -- A.A review of past scholarship on the question of literary structures -- B.A definition of terms -- C. Four types of literary structures in the New Testament -- Type A -- inverted prose -- Type B -- seven poetical forms -- Type C -- poetry encased in prose -- Type D -- the parabolic ballad -- D. Summary and conclusions. Part Two: An analysis of four parables and two poems in the travel narrative of Luke -- 4. The literary outline of the travel narrative (Jerusalem document): Luke 9:51-19:48 -- 5. Exegesis of Luke 16:1-13 -- The unjust steward (16:1-8) -- The poem on Mammon and God (16:9-13) -- 6. Exegesis of Luke 11:5-13 -- The friend at midnight (11:5-8) -- The parable/poem on a father's gifts (11:9-13) -- 7. Exegesis of Luke 15 -- The lost sheep and the lost coin (15:4-10) -- The father and the two lost sons (15:11-32). Includes bibliographical references and indexes. Published in: Grand Rapids, Mich. Physical description: 2 volumes in 1 (238, xxiii, 187 pages) ; 23 cm.

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