Note 42 — X.

Between the allegory, or parable, and the symbol, there is, as I have said, no essential difference. The Greek verb παραβαλλω, whence comes the word parable, and the verb συμβαλλω in the same language, which is the root of the word symbol, both have the synonymous meaning "to compare." A parable is only a spoken symbol. The definition of a parable given by Adam Clarke is equally applicable to a symbol, viz.: "A comparison or similitude, in which one thing is compared with another, especially spiritual things with natural, by which means these spiritual things are better understood, and make a deeper impression on the attentive mind."