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- Amy Jill Levine (“AJ”) is Rabbi Stanley M. Kessler Distinguished Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies at Hartford International University for Religion and Peace and University Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies Emerita at Vanderbilt.
- And even for those of us who revisited the parables as adults, we often interpret them through the blurred perspective of our 21st-century mindset, missing out on the rich historical and cultural context that would reveal their full meaning. Hearing the parables in their proper historical context—as Jewish stories—corrects their frequent antisemitic interpretations even as it recovers the meaning and richness of Jesus’ teachings, including insights into the social roles and dynamics of first-century Jewish women, deeper economic and ethical implications, and even his humor.
