This parable spake Jesus unto them
To the Pharisees, who were with him, ( John 9:40 ) ;
but they understood not what things they were which he
spake unto
them;
the things spoken by him being delivered in a parabolical way,
though in lively figures, and in terms plain and easy to be
understood; yet what through the blindness of their minds, and
the hardness of their hearts, and their prejudices in favour of
themselves, and against Christ, they did not understand what were
meant by them; see ( Matthew
13:13-15 ) .