One of the many interesting results of synoptic research is the discovery of parallels between rabbinic literature and the Synoptic Gospels.
Rabbinic parallels enhance our understanding of the sayings of Jesus, and vice versa. Jesus’ parable below is more understandable when compared with its rabbinic parallels, and the rabbinic sayings are illuminated by Jesus’ parable.
Jesus was not the only ancient sage to teach with parables. Nor was he the only sage to speak of "two kinds of foundations," the theme that good deeds are necessary along with knowledge. Many sages expressed this theme straightforwardly. Hanina ben Dosa, who taught around the middle of the first century A.D., said:
He who has more deeds than knowledge, his knowledge endures; but he who has more knowledge than deeds, his knowledge does not endure. (Mishnah, Avot 3:10)
Stones and Mud
The same idea is presented more elaborately in the following parable attributed to Elisha ben Avuyah (circa 120 A.D.):
A person in whom there are good deeds and who has studied Torah extensively, what is he like? A man who builds first [of] stones and then afterwards [of] mud bricks. Even if a large quantity of water were to collect beside the stones, it would not destroy them. But a person in whom there are not good deeds, though he has studied Torah, what is he like? A man who builds first [of] mud bricks and then afterwards [of] stones. Even if only a little water collects, it immediately undermines them. (
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