parables attributed to jesus are also found in other documents apart from the bible. some of these overlap those in the canonical gospels and some are not part of the bible. the non-canonical gospel of thomas contains up to fifteen parables, eleven of which have parallels in the four canonical gospels. the unknown author of the gospel of thomas did not have a special word for "parable," making it difficult to know what he considered a parable. those unique to thomas include the parable of the assassin and the parable of the empty jar.