The sayings of Jesus in the synoptic gospels are to be distinguished from those in the Johannine tradition. In the synoptics, the sayings-material is found in general to be of three sorts: isolated sayings, parables, and pronouncements (what R. Bultmann called apophthegms). The last-mentioned are sayings embedded in the narrative tradition of the synoptics, i.e. stories recounted for the sake of the pronouncement