Arthur Drews

“ The invitation to a banquet already prepared; the reluctance of the guests to go to the marriage-feast, so that they even kill some of the servants; the blind fury of the king, who burns the town in revenge; his anger against one who is brought in from the road because he has not on the wedding-garment, and the terrible punishment inflicted on him—all this is so unnatural, grotesque, and ridiculous that it can only be pronounced a complete perversion of the Talmud original.
The parable of the ten virgins (Matthew xxv, 1) , which embodies the same ideas, is no better. ”

“ The Parables of Jesus. The parables come after the phrases of the Sermon on the Mount as the most important of the sayings of Jesus. They are so greatly esteemed, and have such a repute for “uniqueness” and unsurpassable excellence that in the opinion of many they would suffice of themselves to establish the authorship of Jesus. ”

“ In the case of many other parables of Jesus, also, the source can be traced, and they are not reproduced as sayings of Jesus with any great improvement. Thus the parable of the merchant who exchanges all his goods for a single pearl is found in the Talmud (Schabbat, fol. 119, col 1) , and goes back to Proverbs viii, 10: “Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold. For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.” ”