Then said I, Ah Lord GOD! they say of me, Doth he not speak parables? Ah Lord God - O my God, consider my situation; who will believe what I shall say? They put the evil day far from them.
Doth he not speak parables? - הלא ממשל משלים הוא halo memashshel meshalim hu, "Is not he a maker of parables?" Is it not his custom to deal in enigmas? His figures are not to be understood; we should not trouble ourselves with them. We are not obliged to fathom his meaning; and perhaps after all it does not refer to us, or will not be accomplished in our time, if it even respect the land. Thus they turned aside what might have done them good, and rejected the counsel of God against themselves.
By dividing the word with our neighbor we often lose the benefit both of threatenings and promises. They voluntarily shut their own eyes; and then God, in judgment, sealed them up in darkness.
Commentary on the Bible, by Adam Clarke [1831].