A figurative mode of discourse, which employs terms literally belonging to one thing, in order to express another. It is strictly a prolonged metaphor. Such are Nathan's address to David, 2 Samuel 12:1 - 14; Psalm 80:1-19 , and our Lord's parable of the sower, Luke 8:5 - 15 . The expression, "which things are an allegory," Galatians 4:24 , means that the events in the life of Isaac and Ishmael, mentioned in previous verses, have been allegorically applied.