MASÁL - Enciclopedia Cattolica, Vol. VIII, p. 186

Machine translation of the 1948–1954 Italian original. The original text is authoritative.

MASAL. — A term used 39 times in the Bible,
originally meaning “comparison” (cf. Assyrian
and other Semitic languages: D. Buzy [V. BIBLICA.], pp. 60
ff.). It denotes every literary form more or less explicitly
based on comparison with natural phenomena.

Thus each oracle of Balaam is a masal (Num. 23, 7, 18;
24, 3, 15), written in a style rich in varied and vivid
imagery. Brief sapiential sayings are also masal: they teach
moral doctrines and precepts for life, using comparisons
and images drawn from nature and experience (I Reg. 4, 32
ff.; V. PROVERBS; likewise the more developed didactic
compositions (Iob 27, 1; 29, 1; Ps. 48 [49], 5; 77 [78], 2).
A masal may also be a popular saying (I Sam. 24, 14); an
apologue, a witty saying (synonymous with Itháah; cf. Ez. 17, 2);
a satirical quip (Is. 14, 4; Ez. 12, 22 ff.; 16, 44; 18, 2 ff.).
Finally, masal is identified with “fable” in a disparaging sense
(Ez. 21, 5; hence “to become a byword,” Ez. 14, 8; Ps. 44 [45], 15;
II Par. 7, 20; I Reg. 9, 7; Deut. 28, 37).

W. Gesenius regards the original meaning of masal as
“proverb, short popular saying,” from which the wider
application arose; hence “maxim,” with its deep meaning
and hidden allusions inviting reflection. This sense would
explain the ancient use (masal = “oracle”) and finds support
in Arabic amaté.

BIBL.: M.-J. Lagrange, La parabole en dehors de l’Evangile, in Revue biblique, 17 (1908), pp. 198-212, 342-67; D. Buzy, Introduction aux paraboles évangéliques (Etudes bibliques), Paris 1912, pp. 52-112; id., Les maschés numériques de la sangsue et de l’alamb. Prov. 30, 15 sgg., 18 sgg., in Revue biblique, 42 (1933), pp. 5-13; O. Eissfeldt, Der Maschal im Alten Testament (Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft, 24), Giessen 1913; E. König, Parable in Old Test., in Dict. of the Bible,

III, cols. 660 ff.; A. Clamer, Les Nombres (La Sainte Bible, 2), Paris 1940, p. 389 ff.; H. Renaud, Le livre des Proverbes (ibid., 6), ibid. 1946, pp. 27 ff., 44; M. Hermanik, La parabole évangélique, Bruges-Paris 1947, pp. 62-189; J. Pirot, Le «m.» dans l’Ancien Testament, in Recherches de science religieuse, 37 (1950), pp. 365-80.