Parable of the Pearl

The Parable of the Pearl (also called the Pearl of Great Price) is a parable of Jesus of Nazareth. It appears in only one of the Canonical gospels of the New Testament. According to the parable illustrates the great value of the Kingdom of Heaven.
It immediately follows the Parable of the Hidden Treasure, which has a similar theme and the parable has been depicted by artists such as Domenico Fetti. A version of this parable also appears in the non canonical Gospel of Thomas 76.Gospel of Thomas: Lamb translation and Patterson/Meyer translation.
==Narrative==
The brief Parable of the Pearl is as follows:
==Interpretation==
This parable is generally interpreted as illustrating the great value of the Kingdom of Heaven (pearls at that time had a greater value than they do todayJohn Nolland, The Gospel of Matthew: A commentary on the Greek text, Eerdmans, 2005, ISBN 0-8028-2389-0, pp. 565–566.), and thus has a similar theme to the Parable of the Hidden Treasure. John Nolland comments that it shares the notions of "good fortune and demanding action in attaining the kingdom of heaven" with that parable, but adds the notion of "diligent seeking."
The valuable pearl is the "deal of a lifetime" for the merchant in the story. However, those who do not believe in the kingdom of heaven enough to stake their whole future on it are unworthy of the kingdom.Craig S. Keener, A Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, Eerdmans, 1999, ISBN 0-8028-3821-9, p. 392.
This interpretation of the parable is the inspiration for a number of hymns, including the Swedish hymn Den Kos­tli­ga Pärlan (O That Pearl of Great Price!), which begins:
O that Pearl of great price! have you found it?
Is the Savior supreme in your love?
O consider it well, ere you answer,
As you hope for a welcome above.
Have you given up all for this Treasure?
Have you counted past gains as but loss?
Has your trust in yourself and your merits
Come to naught before Christ and His cross?O That Pearl of Great Price!, The Cyber Hymnal.
A less common interpretation of the parable is that the merchant represents Christ, and the pearl represents the Church.Herbert Lockyer, All the Parables of the Bible, Zondervan, 1988, ISBN 0-310-28111-3, p. 200. This interpretation would give the parable a similar theme to that of the Parable of the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin, and the Prodigal Son.
The phrase "Pearl of Great Price" has also been interpreted more widely to apply to things of great value in a number of religious contexts. For example, it is the title of a selection of Mormon writings. Pope Pius XII used the phrase to describe virginity.Pope Pius XII, Sacra Virginitas.
The pearl itself is a beautiful, single entity, formed through suffering in the heart of the oyster (in the same way that believers endure lack of wealth or comfort) and like the Church, will be put on display in a coming day. Unlike precious stones which must be cut and polished to reveal their clarity and beauty, the pearl is perfect as it comes from the oyster.The Homiletic review, Volume 52 ''
==In the Gospel of Thomas==
A version of the parable also appears in the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas (Saying 76):
This work's version of the parable of the Hidden Treasure appears later (Saying 109), rather than immediately preceding, as in Matthew.Brad H. Young, The Parables: Jewish Tradition and Christian Interpretation, Hendrickson Publishers, 2008, ISBN 1-59856-303-3, pp. 202–206. However, the mention of a treasure in Saying 76 may reflect a source for the Gospel of Thomas in which the parables were adjacent, so that the original pair of parables has been "broken apart, placed in separate contexts, and expanded in a manner characteristic of folklore." In Gnostic thought the pearl may represent Christ or the true self. In the Gnostic Acts of Peter and the Twelve, found with the Gospel of Thomas in the Nag Hammadi library, the travelling pearl merchant Lithargoel is eventually revealed to be Jesus.David Noel Freedman, Allen C. Myers, and Astrid B. Beck, Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible, Eerdmans, 2000, ISBN 0-8028-2400-5, p. 1041.
==Depictions==
There have been several depictions of the New Testament parable in art, including works by Domenico Fetti, John Everett Millais, and Jan Luyken.
==See also==
* Five Discourses of Matthew
* Life of Jesus in the New Testament
* Ministry of Jesus
== References ==
Pearl, Parable of the
Category:Gospel of Matthew