Fable: applied in the New Testament to the traditions and speculations,
"cunningly devised fables", of the Jews on religious questions
(1 Tim. 1:4; 4:7; 2 Tim. 4:4; Titus 1:14; 2 Pet. 1:16). In such
passages the word means anything false and unreal. But the word
is used as almost equivalent to parable. Thus we have (1) the
fable of Jotham, in which the trees are spoken of as choosing a
king (Judg. 9:8-15); and (2) that of the cedars of Lebanon and
the thistle as Jehoash's answer to Amaziah (2 Kings 14:9).