 Now, how all of this fits together, I'm not really quite sure in terms of who was where when, but when they were alone, at least we know that, verse 10, the 12 and the others around him, who are not identified, asked him. Now, you will notice that they did not ask him for an explanation of this parable. They needed an explanation for the parable of the sword, but that's not what they asked for. You'll notice that what they asked for was about parables plural.