The Fallible Study Bible

The Fallible · Synthetic · Study Bible

Mark4:13–20

The Parable of the Sower Explained

✦ Public-domain source — quoted & attributed⚙ AI synthesis — generated, verify

Mark 4:13–20 — The Parable of the Sower Explained. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.

13

Then Jesus said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand any of the parables?

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Kai legei autois Ouk oidate tautēn tēn parabolēn kai pōs gnōsesthe pasas tas parabolas

Word by word14 · parsed
ΚαὶKaiThenG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
λέγειlegei[Jesus] saidG3004
√ λέγω — properly, to "lay" forth, iVerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
λέγω: to lay forth, to say Historic present. Mark's narrative habit of shifting into the present tense at the hinge of a scene is one of the marks of his style, and it lands here on the one question in the unit that is put to the disciples rather than about the crowd.
αὐτοῖςautoisto themG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounDative Masculine 3rd Person Plural
ΟὐκOukvvvG3756
√ οὐ — the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverbAdverb
οἴδατεoidateDo you not understandG1492
√ εἴδω — used only in certain past tenses, the others being borrowed from the equivalent G3700 (ὀπτάνομαι) and G3708 (ὁράω)VerbPerfect Indicative Active2nd Person Plural
εἴδω: to know, to have perceived (perfect) The perfect tense asks after a possession, not an act: is this parable in you as knowledge you now hold? Barnes notes why the question is sharper for these hearers than for the crowd, since they were themselves to be teachers, and JFB reads the tone not as rebuke but as a summons to attend to the exposition that follows.
ταύτηνtautēnthisG3778
√ οὗτος — the he (she or it), iDemonstrative PronounAccusative Feminine Singular
τὴνtēnG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Feminine Singular
παραβολὴνparabolēnparableG3850
√ παραβολή — a similitude ("parable"), iNounAccusative Feminine Singular
παραβολή: a similitude, a parable Mark uses the word twice in this verse, singular then plural: this one parable, then the whole class. Cambridge and Pulpit both take the singular as the pattern case, the parable by which the method of parables is learned.
καὶkaiThenG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
πῶςpōshowG4459
√ πῶς — an interrogative particle of mannerAdverb
πῶς: how, in what manner A question of method, not of willingness.
γνώσεσθεgnōsesthewill you understandG1097
√ γινώσκω — to "know" (absolutely) in a great variety of applications and with many implications (as follow, with others not thus clearly expressed)VerbFuture Indicative Middle2nd Person Plural
γινώσκω: to know by acquaintance (future middle) The future middle throws the knowing forward and back on the knowers: you will come to know. Set against the perfect οἴδατε, the verse contains a small theory of interpretation, that the settled grasp of one parable is the instrument for the growing grasp of all.
πάσαςpasas[any of]G3956
√ πᾶς — all, any, every, the wholeAdjectiveAccusative Feminine Plural
τὰςtastheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Feminine Plural
παραβολὰςparabolasparablesG3850
√ παραβολή — a similitude ("parable"), iNounAccusative Feminine Plural
παραβολή: a parable Plural and articular: the parables as a body of teaching, which in Mark 4:11 has just been tied to the mystery of the kingdom given to some and withheld from others.
14

The farmer sows the word.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Ho speirōn speirei ton logon

Word by word5 · parsed
ὉHoTheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
The article alone carries the identification: not any sower, but the sower of the parable just told.
σπείρωνspeirōnfarmerG4687
√ σπείρω — to scatter, iVerbPresent Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Singular
σπείρω: to scatter seed, to sow A relatively limited lexeme (42 verses in the Greek canon), and seven of this unit's words come from it. Cambridge applies the participle in three widening senses, to Christ who came forth from the Father, to the Apostles, and to all who go in his name; JFB refuses to fix it, since in Matthew 13:37 the sower of the good seed is named the Son of Man while here the figure stays open.
σπείρειspeireisowsG4687
√ σπείρω — to scatter, iVerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
σπείρω: to sow (present indicative) Present, not aorist: the sowing is the standing condition of the age, not a single past act.
τὸνtontheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Singular
λόγονlogonwordG3056
√ λόγος — something said (including the thought)NounAccusative Masculine Singular
λόγος: something said, including the thought The interpretive key of the whole unit. Luke 8:11 makes it explicit as “the word of God,” and Gill unfolds it as the word of life and truth, of peace and reconciliation, of faith and righteousness, of salvation. Everything the parable measures is measured against this one seed.
15

Some are like the seeds along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

de houtoi eisin hoi para tēn hodon hopou ho logos speiretai kai euthys hotan akousōsin ho Satanas erchetai kai airei ton logon ton esparmenon eis autous

Word by word26 · parsed
δέdeG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
οὗτοιhoutoi[Some]G3778
√ οὗτος — the he (she or it), iDemonstrative PronounNominative Masculine Plural
εἰσινeisinare likeG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
οἱhoithe [seeds]G3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Plural
παρὰparaalongG3844
√ παρά — properly, nearPreposition
τὴνtēntheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Feminine Singular
ὁδὸνhodonpathG3598
√ ὁδός — a roadNounAccusative Feminine Singular
ὁδός: a road, a way The trodden path is ground hardened by use, not by nature: the one soil in the parable whose defect is entirely a history of traffic. Pulpit builds the whole image on that, a heart made callous by the custom of sinning, so this hardness is the only one of the four conditions the hearer has manufactured himself. Mark has just seated the whole crowd on the shore to hear this (Mark 4:1), which makes the path the commonest ground in the field rather than the rarest.
ὅπουhopouwhereG3699
√ ὅπου — what(-ever) where, iAdverb
ὁhotheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
λόγοςlogoswordG3056
√ λόγος — something said (including the thought)NounNominative Masculine Singular
σπείρεταιspeiretaiis sownG4687
√ σπείρω — to scatter, iVerbPresent Indicative Middle or Passive3rd Person Singular
σπείρω: to sow (present passive) The passive leaves God's side of the transaction unstated and total: the word does reach this ground.
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
εὐθὺςeuthysAs soon asG2112
√ εὐθέως — directly, iAdverb
εὐθέως: directly, immediately Mark's signature adverb, and it falls three times in this unit (4:15, 4:16, 4:17). Here it times the adversary; in 4:16 it times a glad reception; in 4:17 it times the collapse. The same speed serves three different ends.
ὅτανhotan. . .G3752
√ ὅταν — whenever (implying hypothesis or more or less uncertainty)Conjunction
ἀκούσωσινakousōsinthey hear [it]G191
√ ἀκούω — to hear (in various senses)VerbAorist Subjunctive Active3rd Person Plural
ἀκούω: to hear Aorist subjunctive with ὅταν: whenever they hear. Hearing happens on this ground too, as it does on all four (4:15, 4:16, 4:18, 4:20). Nothing in the parable turns on whether the word was heard.
ὁhoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
ΣατανᾶςSatanasSatanG4567
√ Σατανᾶς — the accuser, iNounNominative Masculine Singular
Σατανᾶς: the accuser, the adversary Mark names him outright where Matthew 13:19 says “the evil one” and Luke 8:12 “the devil.” Cambridge refers the reader back to Mark 3:23, where Satan has just been argued about at length; the parable therefore lands in a Gospel that has already staged the conflict.
ἔρχεταιerchetaicomesG2064
√ ἔρχομαι — to come or go (in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively)VerbPresent Indicative Middle or Passive3rd Person Singular
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
αἴρειaireitakes awayG142
√ αἴρω — to lift upVerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
αἴρω: to lift up, to take away The theft is of the word, not of the hearer. The object is τὸν λόγον: what is lost is not a feeling or a memory but the seed itself, still described as having been sown.
τὸνtontheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Singular
λόγονlogonwordG3056
√ λόγος — something said (including the thought)NounAccusative Masculine Singular
τὸνtonthatG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Singular
ἐσπαρμένονesparmenonwas sownG4687
√ σπείρω — to scatter, iVerbPerfect Participle Middle or PassiveAccusative Masculine Singular
σπείρω: to sow (perfect passive participle) The perfect is the sharpest word in the verse. The word was sown into them, and that remains true of them even after it is carried off.
εἰςeisinG1519
√ εἰς — to or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of place, time, or (figuratively) purpose (result, etcPreposition
αὐτούςautousthemG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative Masculine 3rd Person Plural
16

Some are like the seeds sown on rocky ground. They hear the word and at once receive it with joy.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Kai houtoi eisin homoiōs hoi speiromenoi epi ta petrōdē hoi hotan akousōsin ton logon euthys lambanousin auton meta charas

Word by word19 · parsed
ΚαὶKaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
οὗτοίhoutoi[Some]G3778
√ οὗτος — the he (she or it), iDemonstrative PronounNominative Masculine Plural
εἰσινeisinareG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
ὁμοίωςhomoiōslikeG3668
√ ὁμοίως — similarlyAdverb
ὁμοίως: similarly, in like manner The adverb marks the seam between the parable's first case and its second, and Pulpit takes it as a methodological signal that the same key unlocks each soil in turn.
οἱhoithe [seeds]G3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Plural
σπειρόμενοιspeiromenoisownG4687
√ σπείρω — to scatter, iVerbPresent Participle Middle or PassiveNominative Masculine Plural
σπείρω: to sow (present passive participle) Present and passive: these are people in the act of being sown, which keeps the case open. Nothing yet says the plant will die.
ἐπὶepionG1909
√ ἐπί — properly, meaning superimposition (of time, place, order, etcPreposition
τὰtaG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Neuter Plural
πετρώδηpetrōdērocky groundG4075
√ πετρώδης — rock-like, iAdjectiveAccusative Neuter Plural
πετρώδης: rock-like A rare adjective in the Greek canon and precise: the defect is not what is on top but what is underneath. Gill reads the rock morally, as hearts never broken to a sight of sin, and hears behind it the promise of Ezekiel 36:26 that the stony heart is removed and a heart of flesh given.
οἳhoi[They]G3739
√ ὅς — the relatively (sometimes demonstrative) pronoun, who, which, what, thatPersonal / Relative PronounNominative Masculine Plural
ὅτανhotanG3752
√ ὅταν — whenever (implying hypothesis or more or less uncertainty)Conjunction
ἀκούσωσινakousōsinhearG191
√ ἀκούω — to hear (in various senses)VerbAorist Subjunctive Active3rd Person Plural
ἀκούω: to hear (aorist subjunctive) Identical in form to 4:15: the hearing of the rocky ground is no less real than the hearing of the path.
τὸνtontheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Singular
λόγονlogonwordG3056
√ λόγος — something said (including the thought)NounAccusative Masculine Singular
εὐθὺςeuthys[and] at onceG2112
√ εὐθέως — directly, iAdverb
εὐθέως: immediately The same adverb that timed Satan's theft now times a glad reception. Speed is not evidence of either death or life in this parable.
λαμβάνουσινlambanousinreceiveG2983
√ λαμβάνω — while G138 (αἱρέομαι) is more violent, to seize or remove))VerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
λαμβάνω: to take, to receive An active verb on the hearers' side, and a genuine one: JFB grants that such hearts receive the truth with readiness and even with joy. The parable's verdict falls on root, not on reception.
αὐτόνautonitG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
μετὰmetawithG3326
√ μετά — properly, denoting accompanimentPreposition
χαρᾶςcharasjoyG5479
√ χαρά — cheerfulness, iNounGenitive Feminine Singular
χαρά: cheerfulness, joy Genitive with μετά, “with joy.” This is the single positive affection ascribed to any of the three failing soils, and it is the same word the Gospels use for the joy of the kingdom. The parable therefore refuses to let joy alone count as proof.
17

But they themselves have no root, and they remain for only a season. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

kai echousin en heautois ouk rhizan alla eisin proskairoi eita thlipseōs ē diōgmou genomenēs dia ton logon euthys skandalizontai

Word by word19 · parsed
καὶkaiButG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἔχουσινechousinthey themselves haveG2192
√ ἔχω — to hold (used in very various applications, literally or figuratively, direct or remoteVerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
ἐνen. . .G1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
ἑαυτοῖςheautois. . .G1438
√ ἑαυτοῦ — him- (her-, it-, them-, also (in conjunction with the personal pronoun of the other persons) my-, thy-, our-, your-) self (selves), etcReflexive PronounDative Masculine 3rd Person Plural
οὐκouknoG3756
√ οὐ — the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverbAdverb
ῥίζανrhizanrootG4491
√ ῥίζα — a "root" (literally or figuratively)NounAccusative Feminine Singular
ῥίζα: a root The diagnostic word of the second soil, and the only thing said to be absent. Gill draws the distinction the Greek permits: the word had a lodging in the natural affections but no root of grace, so there was no heart work, only speculative notions. Jeremiah 17:5-8 works the same figure of a shrub with no root against a tree planted by water.
ἀλλὰalla[and]G235
√ ἀλλά — properly, other things, iConjunction
εἰσινeisinthey remainG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
πρόσκαιροίproskairoifor only a seasonG4340
√ πρόσκαιρος — for the occasion only, iAdjectiveNominative Masculine Plural
πρόσκαιρος: for the occasion only, temporary Rare (four verses). Hebrews 11:25 uses it of the temporary enjoyment of sin that Moses refused, and 2 Corinthians 4:18 of the seen things that are temporary against the unseen that are eternal. Read with those, the adjective does not merely time these hearers; it classes them with everything that belongs to the passing order.
εἶταeitaWhenG1534
√ εἶτα — a particle of succession (in time or logical enumeration), then, moreoverAdverb
θλίψεωςthlipseōstroubleG2347
√ θλῖψις — pressure (literally or figuratively)NounGenitive Feminine Singular
θλῖψις: pressure, affliction Cambridge takes the word back to its physical sense of pressure that burdens the spirit, and notes that the English “tribulation” carries the same image through Latin tribulum, the threshing roller. What crushes the grain is what tests the plant.
ἢēorG2228
√ ἤ — disjunctive, orConjunction
διωγμοῦdiōgmoupersecutionG1375
√ διωγμός — persecutionNounGenitive Masculine Singular
διωγμός: persecution Specific and external: not trouble in general but being pursued. Mark's first readers had cause to hear it that way.
γενομένηςgenomenēscomesG1096
√ γίνομαι — to cause to be ("gen"-erate), iVerbAorist Participle MiddleGenitive Feminine Singular
διὰdiabecause ofG1223
√ διά — through (in very wide applications, local, causal, or occasional)Preposition
διά: because of, on account of With the accusative: the trouble arises on account of the word itself. The parable does not promise the seed a quiet field.
τὸνtontheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Singular
λόγονlogonwordG3056
√ λόγος — something said (including the thought)NounAccusative Masculine Singular
εὐθὺςeuthysvvvG2112
√ εὐθέως — directly, iAdverb
σκανδαλίζονταιskandalizontaithey quickly fall awayG4624
√ σκανδαλίζω — to entrap, iVerbPresent Indicative Middle or Passive3rd Person Plural
σκανδαλίζω: to entrap, to cause to stumble The verb Mark uses of offence taken at Jesus himself (Mark 6:3) and of the disciples' desertion (Mark 14:27). Its passive voice is honest about the mechanism: pressure comes, and a rootless profession is tripped by the very word it welcomed with joy.
18

Others are like the seeds sown among the thorns. They hear the word,

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Kai alloi eisin hoi speiromenoi eis tas akanthas houtoi eisin hoi akousantes ton logon

Word by word14 · parsed
ΚαὶKai[Others]G2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἄλλοιalloi. . .G243
√ ἄλλος — "else," iAdjectiveNominative Masculine Plural
ἄλλος: another, other The change from “these” to “others” is the only formal signal that the parable is grading its failures rather than repeating them.
εἰσὶνeisinare likeG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
οἱhoithe [seeds]G3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Plural
σπειρόμενοιspeiromenoisownG4687
√ σπείρω — to scatter, iVerbPresent Participle Middle or PassiveNominative Masculine Plural
σπείρω: to sow (present passive participle) Again the hearers are the sown thing, and again in the present: the sowing into this ground is still going on when the verse ends, mid-sentence, with the hearing.
εἰςeisamongG1519
√ εἰς — to or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of place, time, or (figuratively) purpose (result, etcPreposition
τὰςtastheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Feminine Plural
ἀκάνθαςakanthasthornsG173
√ ἄκανθα — a thornNounAccusative Feminine Plural
ἄκανθα: a thorn A restricted lexeme (11 verses), and one with a long history: thorns are the ground's judgment in Genesis 3:18, the uncleared field of Jeremiah 4:3 and Hosea 10:12, and at Mark 15:17 the crown pressed on Jesus' head (there in the cognate adjective ἀκάνθινος, not this noun). Here they are not the soil's fault but its company, growth that was already there.
οὗτοίhoutoi[They]G3778
√ οὗτος — the he (she or it), iDemonstrative PronounNominative Masculine Plural
εἰσινeisin. . .G1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
οἱhoi. . .G3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Plural
ἀκούσαντεςakousanteshearG191
√ ἀκούω — to hear (in various senses)VerbAorist Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Plural
ἀκούω: to hear (aorist participle) The verse stops on this word. Everything that destroys the crop in 4:19 comes after a hearing that was real and finished, which is why Gill can describe these hearers as people who do attend the ministry of the word while being bent on other things.
τὸνtontheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Singular
λόγονlogonwordG3056
√ λόγος — something said (including the thought)NounAccusative Masculine Singular
19

but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

kai hai merimnai tou aiōnos kai hē apatē tou ploutou kai hai epithymiai peri ta loipa eisporeuomenai sympnigousin ton logon kai ginetai akarpos

Word by word23 · parsed
καὶkaibutG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
αἱhaitheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Feminine Plural
μέριμναιmerimnaiworriesG3308
√ μέριμνα — solicitudeNounNominative Feminine Plural
μέριμνα: solicitude, anxious care Rare (six verses). Luke 21:34 uses it of hearts weighed down by the anxieties of life so that the Day comes on them unawares, which is the same mechanism this verse describes at the level of a single crop: attention consumed leaves nothing for the word.
τοῦtouG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Masculine Singular
αἰῶνοςaiōnosof this lifeG165
√ αἰών — properly, an ageNounGenitive Masculine Singular
αἰών: an age The word that fixes the horizon. What strangles the seed is not sin at its ugliest but the ordinary weight of a passing order, and Pulpit's literal “of the age” keeps that visible.
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἡhētheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Feminine Singular
ἀπάτηapatēdeceitfulnessG539
√ ἀπάτη — delusionNounNominative Feminine Singular
ἀπάτη: delusion, deceit The one place in the unit where the enemy of the word is a lie rather than a pressure or a theft. Psalm 49:6 and Proverbs 11:28 name the same deception from the other side of the canon, the man who trusts in his riches and falls.
τοῦtouofG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Masculine Singular
πλούτουploutouwealthG4149
√ πλοῦτος — wealth (as fulness), iNounGenitive Masculine Singular
πλοῦτος: wealth as fulness Pulpit gathers the ancient reading here, that riches are aptly compared to thorns because they pierce, citing 1 Timothy 6:10 on those who pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
αἱhaitheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Feminine Plural
ἐπιθυμίαιepithymiaidesireG1939
√ ἐπιθυμία — a longing (especially for what is forbidden)NounNominative Feminine Plural
ἐπιθυμία: a longing, especially for what is forbidden Plural, and its object is left deliberately vague: περὶ τὰ λοιπά, “concerning the remaining things.” Benson presses this as a deep and important truth, that any desire not leading to happiness in God tends directly to barrenness of soul, and that such desires enter where they were not before.
περὶperiforG4012
√ περί — properly, through (all over), iPreposition
τὰtaG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Neuter Plural
λοιπὰloipaother thingsG3062
√ λοιποί — remaining onesAdjectiveAccusative Neuter Plural
εἰσπορευόμεναιeisporeuomenaicome inG1531
√ εἰσπορεύομαι — to enter (literally or figuratively)VerbPresent Participle Middle or PassiveNominative Feminine Plural
εἰσπορεύομαι: to enter in A participle of movement: the three rivals come in from outside. Nothing here is native to the soil, and nothing is native to the seed.
συμπνίγουσινsympnigousin[and] chokeG4846
√ συμπνίγω — to strangle completely, iVerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
συμπνίγω: to choke completely, to strangle Rare (five verses): Mark 4:7 and 4:19 here, the synoptic parallels at Matthew 13:22 and Luke 8:14, and then its one use outside this parable, Luke 8:42, where the crowd presses on Jesus to the point of suffocation. The word says the word of God is not refuted in this soil but crowded to death.
τὸνtontheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Singular
λόγονlogonwordG3056
√ λόγος — something said (including the thought)NounAccusative Masculine Singular
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
γίνεταιginetaiit becomesG1096
√ γίνομαι — to cause to be ("gen"-erate), iVerbPresent Indicative Middle or Passive3rd Person Singular
ἄκαρποςakarposunfruitfulG175
√ ἄκαρπος — barren (literally or figuratively)AdjectiveNominative Masculine Singular
ἄκαρπος: barren, without fruit The verdict word, and the exact negation of καρποφοροῦσιν in 4:20. Everything in the unit is finally sorted by fruit, not by hearing, joy, or duration.
20

Still others are like the seeds sown on good soil. They hear the word, receive it, and produce a crop—thirtyfold, sixtyfold, or a hundredfold.”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Kai ekeinoi eisin hoi sparentes epi tēn tēn kalēn gēn hoitines akouousin ton logon kai paradechontai kai karpophorousin hen triakonta kai hen hexēkonta kai hen hekaton

Word by word26 · parsed
ΚαὶKaiStillG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἐκεῖνοίekeinoi[others]G1565
√ ἐκεῖνος — that one (or (neuter) thing)Demonstrative PronounNominative Masculine Plural
εἰσινeisinare likeG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
οἱhoithe [seeds]G3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Plural
σπαρέντεςsparentessownG4687
√ σπείρω — to scatter, iVerbAorist Participle PassiveNominative Masculine Plural
σπείρω: to sow (aorist passive participle) Aorist and passive. The fruitful are described by something already done to them, not by something they are still undergoing, and the agent of that sowing is left unnamed here as everywhere in the unit.
ἐπὶepionG1909
√ ἐπί — properly, meaning superimposition (of time, place, order, etcPreposition
τὴνtēnG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Feminine Singular
τὴνtēnG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Feminine Singular
καλὴνkalēngoodG2570
√ καλός — X better, fair, good(-ly), honest, meet, well, worthyAdjectiveAccusative Feminine Singular
καλός: good, fair, fit The adjective is not moral perfection but fitness for purpose, good as ground is good. Gill is careful to say such hearers are made good men by the grace of God, since none is good naturally.
γῆνgēnsoilG1093
√ γῆ — soilNounAccusative Feminine Singular
γῆ: soil, earth The same noun used of the ground that has depth in Mark 4:5 and of the earth that yields of itself in Mark 4:28. The parable's whole verdict rests on this one word, and the parable never says how bad ground becomes good.
οἵτινεςhoitines[They]G3748
√ ὅστις — which some, iPersonal / Relative PronounNominative Masculine Plural
ἀκούουσινakouousinhearG191
√ ἀκούω — to hear (in various senses)VerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
ἀκούω: to hear (present indicative) Present, and so continuous: they keep hearing. Against the aorist participle of 4:18 this is the fourth and last hearing of the unit, and the only one the text leaves running.
τὸνtontheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Singular
λόγονlogonwordG3056
√ λόγος — something said (including the thought)NounAccusative Masculine Singular
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
παραδέχονταιparadechontaireceive [it]G3858
√ παραδέχομαι — to accept near, iVerbPresent Indicative Middle or Passive3rd Person Plural
παραδέχομαι: to accept near, to welcome The hinge verb of the good soil. Luke 8:15 makes the same point with a different word, that such hearers hold fast the word, and Gill's summary is that they receive it not into their heads only but into their hearts, and having received it hold it fast in the worst of times.
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
καρποφοροῦσινkarpophorousinproduce a cropG2592
√ καρποφορέω — to be fertile (literally or figuratively)VerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
καρποφορέω: to bear fruit Rare (eight verses), and it returns in Mark 4:28 of the earth that brings forth fruit of itself. The compound puts fruit and bearing in one word, so the end of the parable is not a state (fruitful) but an action the good soil performs.
ἓνhenG1520
√ εἷς — oneAdjectiveNominative Neuter Singular
τριάκονταtriakontathirtyfoldG5144
√ τριάκοντα — thirtyAdjectiveAccusative Neuter Plural
τριάκοντα: thirty JFB takes thirty as the lowest degree of fruitfulness and the hundred as the highest, with sixty for the degrees between; Pulpit reports Jerome's observation that the good ground is graded in three just as the bad ground was divided in three. Gill's gloss is the sharpest: all bring forth good fruit of the same quality, though not of the same quantity.
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἓνhenG1520
√ εἷς — oneAdjectiveNominative Neuter Singular
ἑξήκονταhexēkontasixtyfoldG1835
√ ἑξήκοντα — sixtyAdjectiveAccusative Neuter Plural
καὶkai[or]G2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἓνhenaG1520
√ εἷς — oneAdjectiveNominative Neuter Singular
ἑκατόνhekatonhundredfoldG1540
√ ἑκατόν — a hundredAdjectiveAccusative Neuter Plural
ἑκατόν: a hundred JFB notes that a hundredfold, though not unexampled (he cites Genesis 26:12, where Isaac sows in the land of the Philistines during the famine of Genesis 26:1 and reaps a hundredfold because the LORD blessed him), is a rare return in ordinary husbandry, and reads the rarity as part of the point.

The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.

⚙

Grand Commentary — the unit, read whole

synthesis · verify

AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.

i. Two verbs for knowing (4:13) — Mark 4:13

⚙ Mark alone records the second question, and Ellicott, Cambridge and Pulpit all say so. It is built on two different verbs: οἴδατε is perfect, the knowledge you already possess, and γνώσεσθε is future middle from γινώσκω, the knowledge that comes by working at a thing. BSB renders both “understand,” so the English reader cannot see that Jesus moves from a settled grasp to a growing one. Ellicott hears in the future “an ever-growing insight,” not only into spoken parables but into those of nature and of life. Barnes gives the reason the question is sharper for these hearers than for the crowd: they were themselves to be teachers. JFB reads the tone against the grain of the word “rebuke,” taking it as a summons to attend to the exposition about to be given. Cambridge and Benson agree on why this parable and not another is the test case: it is the simplest pattern of a parable, and, in Benson's phrase, the foundation of all those that follow.

ii. The sower who is not named (4:14) — Mark 4:14

⚙ Five Greek words: Ὁ σπείρων σπείρει τὸν λόγον. The subject is a participle, “the sowing one,” an agent identified only by what he does, and BSB's “The farmer” supplies a noun the Greek withholds. JFB makes this reticence the point: since the seed is the word of God, every scatterer of that seed must be regarded as a sower, and though Matthew 13:37 names the Son of Man as the sower of good seed, those are the great unseen parties, whose agents among men are the preachers. Cambridge widens it in three steps, to Christ who came forth from the Father, to his Apostles, and to all who go in his name. Gill spends his note not on the sower but on the seed, unfolding λόγος as the word of life and truth, of peace and reconciliation, of faith and righteousness, of salvation, all of it in and by Jesus Christ; Pulpit adds Matthew's fuller title, “the word of the kingdom.” The one constant of the next six verses is set here: eight occurrences of λόγος in eight verses, one seed, four grounds.

ii. Hard ground and thin ground (4:15 to 4:17) — Mark 4:15-17

⚙ The first failure is theft. αἴρει (G142) is to lift up and carry off what lies loose, and JFB's reading turns on exactly that: the word makes no impression but lies loosely on the surface until the wicked one finds some frivolous subject to draw the attention away. Henry's image is the older one, the devil busy about careless hearers as the fowls of the air go about seed lying above ground; Pulpit locates the hardness in habit, a heart rendered callous by the custom of sinning. Two grammatical facts keep this from being a story about a careless moment. The participle ἐσπαρμένον is perfect: the word really was sown into them, and stays described that way after it is gone. And Ellicott notes the textual point, that the better manuscripts read simply “in them,” not “in their hearts.”

⚙ The second failure is depth. τὰ πετρώδη is rock-like places, sheet rock under a skin of earth, and the missing thing is named once: ῥίζαν, root. Gill distinguishes the word lodged in the natural affections from the root of grace, “no heart work, only speculative notions, and flashy affections”; Pulpit grants this hearer real delight in the beauty, justice and purity of the word, and then says he has more of the rock than of the good soil. What English hides is that πρόσκαιροί is a predicate adjective, not a statement of duration: they are temporary, of the passing kind, a word used in only four verses of the Greek canon. Cambridge digs into θλῖψις as pressure that burdens the spirit, noting that “tribulation” carries the threshing roller, tribulum, in its own history. And the last verb is passive: σκανδαλίζονται, they are tripped, entrapped, which is the same verb Mark will use of those offended at Jesus in 6:3 and of the disciples in 14:27. Henry's summary is blunt and worth keeping: impressions that are not deep will not last.

iv. Crowded to death (4:18 to 4:19) — Mark 4:18-19

⚙ Pulpit catches the textual signal at the head of 4:18: the best authorities read καὶ ἄλλοι, “and others,” where the two earlier soils were introduced with “these,” and this marks a considerable difference between the classes. The preposition shifts too: the seed goes εἰς the thorns, into them, where 4:16 and 4:20 have ἐπί, upon. Nothing in this ground refuses or starves the seed. It has company. Cambridge takes μέριμναι at its root as distracting anxieties that cut a man in sunder, and Pulpit insists on the literal τοῦ αἰῶνος, “of the age,” temporal cares incident to the era in which one's lot is cast. Gill reads ἀπάτη as riches that are deceitful, especially when trusted in, and which once obtained do not give the satisfaction they promised; Pulpit compares riches to thorns because they pierce, and cites Paul at 1 Timothy 6:10. Benson takes the third rival, the desires concerning other things, as the most searching of all, since any desire not leading to happiness in God tends directly to barrenness of soul, and since such desires enter where they were not before. The verb that kills is συμπνίγουσιν, choke together, strangle, a word in only five verses; JFB's picture of what is left after the strangling is the most quotable thing any of these commentators says here, a fagged, hurried and heartless formalism that is at length all the religion of such persons.

v. Good ground, and three sizes of harvest (4:20) — Mark 4:20

⚙ The grammar changes at the last soil. The participle is aorist passive, σπαρέντες, “those who were sown,” against the present participles of the two failing soils; the hearing is present indicative, ἀκούουσιν, still going on, against the aorist participle of 4:18; and the receiving is the compound παραδέχονται, to welcome alongside, against the plainer λαμβάνουσιν that the rocky soil also managed. JFB describes the resulting heart as soft and tender, stirred to its depths on the great things of eternity and jealously guarded from worldly engrossments, and adds from Luke that it bears fruit with patience. Gill will not let the fruit be a human achievement: such hearers are made good men by the grace of God, for there is none good naturally. The threefold yield is read the same way by all of them: JFB takes thirty as the lowest and a hundred as the highest degree, Pulpit reports Jerome's symmetry of three bad conditions against three grades of good, and Gill states the principle exactly, that all bring forth good fruit of the same quality though not of the same quantity. JFB notes that a hundredfold is a rare return in ordinary husbandry, pointing to Genesis 26:12. Henry ends where the unit's own logic ends, asking that by God's new-creating grace our hearts may become good ground.

Read under Sola Scriptura — this tool’s own fallible reading (⚙)

⚙ This is the tool's own fallible reading, offered to be tested against the text. Count the verbs. Hearing happens in all four grounds: ἀκούσωσιν at 4:15, ἀκούσωσιν at 4:16, ἀκούσαντες at 4:18, ἀκούουσιν at 4:20. Joy happens (4:16, μετὰ χαρᾶς). Growth happens, since 4:19 can only say ἄκαρπος of a plant that had something to choke. So the parable does not separate hearers into those who received the word and those who did not; it separates them by what became of a word that was genuinely sown into every one of them, and the perfect participle ἐσπαρμένον in 4:15 is the text's own insistence on that.

⚙ Then notice who acts. Almost every decisive verb about the sowing is passive or agentless: the word is sown (4:15), they are being sown (4:16, 4:18), they were sown (4:20), they are tripped up (4:17). The active verbs belong either to the adversary (Satan comes and lifts away, 4:15), to the intruders (the anxieties, the deceit and the desires enter in and choke, 4:19), or, once only, to the good ground itself: they hear, they welcome, they bear fruit (4:20). The parable therefore reads as an account of a field under two kinds of pressure with one kind of seed, and it never once says how bad ground becomes good. That silence is the gap, and we will not fill it from this text. What the text does say is that the only soil credited with an active verb of fruit is the one described by a completed passive, “those who were sown.” Gill, reading the same asymmetry, says such hearers are made good men by the grace of God; Henry prays for new-creating grace. We judge that reading consistent with Mark, and we note honestly that Mark 4:13 to 4:20 states it nowhere explicitly.

⚙ One consequence we would press on ourselves before pressing it on any reader: everything this unit disqualifies is something a religious life can display. Speed (4:15, 4:16, 4:17 all turn on εὐθύς), gladness, endurance for a season, even near-ripe growth. The only thing it cannot counterfeit is fruit borne while the hearing is still going on. The line that follows is our synthesis, not Scripture.

All four grounds heard the same word; only one of them was still hearing it at harvest.

⚙

Canonical Threads — out to the whole of Scripture

cross-refs · verify

AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.

The same exposition in three Gospels verbal / quotation: confirmed

Jesus' explanation of the sower is recorded three times, and the Verifier's strongest candidates for this unit are all synoptic: Matthew 13:22 scores highest on shared lexemes, with Matthew 13:20, 13:21, 13:23 and Luke 8:14, 8:15 close behind. The shared vocabulary is exactly the parable's own: σπείρω (G4687), λόγος (G3056), ἀκούω (G191), ἄκανθα (G173). The differences are as instructive as the agreement. Ellicott notes that the second question of 4:13 is Mark's alone; Cambridge and JFB both reach to Luke for “lacks moisture” (Luke 8:6) and for the honest and good heart that bears fruit with patience (Luke 8:15); Cambridge observes that Luke expands Mark's one word for cares into cares, riches and pleasures (Luke 8:14). Barnes and Poole simply refer the reader across, Barnes to Matthew 13:18-23 and Poole to his own note on Mark 4:3.

Matthew 13:18-23 · Luke 8:11-15

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes across Mark 4:13-20 and Matthew 13:20-23 / Luke 8:14-15, including G4687 σπείρω (in 42 vv), G173 ἄκανθα (in 11 vv), G3056 λόγος (in 318 vv), G191 ἀκούω (in 398 vv). Greek to Greek, all refs in the New Testament: these are three records of one discourse, not one text citing another.

πρόσκαιρος: the four places where something is “for the occasion only” verbal / quotation: confirmed

The adjective Mark uses of the rocky ground in 4:17, πρόσκαιροί (G4340), stands in only four verses of the Greek canon, and the Verifier surfaces two of the others. At Hebrews 11:25 Moses chooses ill treatment with the people of God over the πρόσκαιρον enjoyment of sin; at 2 Corinthians 4:18 the things seen are πρόσκαιρα while the things unseen are eternal. Read together, the word is not mainly about how long these hearers last but about which order they belong to. That is also why Mark 4:19 matters to 4:17: the anxieties there are “of the age” (τοῦ αἰῶνος, which Pulpit insists on translating literally), so the shallow hearer and the crowded hearer fail by the same clock.

2 Corinthians 4:18 · Hebrews 11:25

basis: Verifier: shared rare Greek lexeme G4340 πρόσκαιρος (in 4 vv), Greek to Greek, all refs in the New Testament. A rare-lexeme verbal link, not a quotation: neither epistle cites Mark.

συμπνίγω: the crowd that smothers and the cares that smother verbal / quotation: confirmed

συμπνίγουσιν (G4846, 4:19) is a rare compound, five verses in all, and its use is almost confined to this parable: Mark 4:7 in the telling, Mark 4:19 in the explaining, the synoptic parallels at Matthew 13:22 and Luke 8:14, and then Luke 8:42, where the crowds press so closely on Jesus on the way to Jairus' house that the same verb is used of the throng. The overlap is verbal and, we think, worth noticing without overreading: nothing in Luke 8:42 is about the word of God. What the shared vocabulary does establish is the kind of violence the verb names. It is not a refutation or a rejection of the word but a pressing in from all sides until there is no air, which is precisely how JFB describes the result, a religion reduced to the dregs of attention, interest and time.

Mark 4:7 · Luke 8:42

basis: Verifier: shared rare Greek lexeme G4846 συμπνίγω (in 5 vv), Mark 4:7 at 0.30 and Luke 8:42 at 0.20. Greek to Greek, all refs in the New Testament. Verbal only: the Luke 8:42 parallel is vocabulary, and we make no thematic claim there.

μέριμνα: anxieties that weigh a heart down until the Day comes unawares verbal / quotation: confirmed

The noun for cares in 4:19, μέριμναι (G3308), is rare, six verses, and the Verifier pairs Mark 4:19 with Luke 21:34, where hearts are weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the μέριμναι of life so that that day comes on them suddenly. The mechanism is the same in both places and it is a mechanism of attention, not of doctrine. Cambridge's gloss on the original sense, distracting anxieties that cut a man in sunder, describes what makes such a hearer fruitless here and unready there.

Luke 21:34 · Luke 8:14

basis: Verifier: shared rare Greek lexeme G3308 μέριμνα (in 6 vv) at Luke 21:34 (0.17), with G1438 ἑαυτοῦ and G1565 ἐκεῖνος also shared; Luke 8:14 shares G191 ἀκούω and G173 ἄκανθα (in 11 vv). Greek to Greek, New Testament only.

Rootlessness: the shrub in the salt land and the tree by the water structural / thematic: confirmed

⚙ The single defect of the second soil is named in one word, ῥίζαν (G4491, 4:17), and the Old Testament had already made that word the whole of a doctrine. Jeremiah 17:5-8 sets the man who trusts in man as a shrub in the desert, in a salt land not inhabited, against the man who trusts the LORD as a tree planted by water, whose roots reach the stream, which does not fear when heat comes and does not cease to bear fruit; Psalm 1:3 says the same of the man whose delight is the law of the LORD. Mark 4:17's heat is θλῖψις and διωγμός, and Cambridge's note on pressure and the threshing roller fits the figure. We claim only a shared pattern here, not a citation: Jesus does not quote Jeremiah, and no shared word can be demonstrated across the languages.

Jeremiah 17:5-8 · Psalm 1:3

basis: Cross-Testament (Greek to Hebrew), so shared Strong's numbers are impossible and no verbal tier is available. Basis is a shared figure: root or rootlessness deciding whether a plant survives heat and bears fruit. No quotation is claimed.

Thorns and unbroken ground: a prophetic image behind the third soil structural / thematic: confirmed

⚙ Thorns are not neutral vegetation in the Hebrew Scriptures. They are the ground's sentence in Genesis 3:18, and in Jeremiah 4:3 Judah is told to break up the fallow ground and not sow among thorns, while Hosea 10:12 pairs breaking up fallow ground with sowing righteousness and reaping mercy. Mark 4:18 sends the seed εἰς τὰς ἀκάνθας, into the thorns, and Pulpit's observation stands: this ground presents fewer obstacles than the rock, which is why it is the most dangerous of the three. Gill's description of hearers immoderately careful about the things of this life is the moral equivalent of unbroken ground. Again this is a pattern link only; Jesus quotes neither prophet, and the Greek ἄκανθα cannot be traced to a Hebrew lexeme by Strong's number.

Jeremiah 4:3 · Hosea 10:12 · Genesis 3:18

basis: Cross-Testament (Greek to Hebrew): no shared Strong's lexemes are possible, so the tier cannot be verbal. Basis is the shared prophetic figure of sowing into thorny or unbroken ground. G173 ἄκανθα is rare in the Greek canon (in 11 vv) but that frequency supports only the Greek to Greek links above.

The deceit of riches: a canonical indictment structural / thematic: confirmed

⚙ ἡ ἀπάτη τοῦ πλούτου (4:19) has an Old Testament hinterland that the commentators reach for instinctively. Psalm 49:6 describes those who trust in their wealth and boast in the abundance of their riches, and then buries them; Proverbs 11:28 says he who trusts in his riches will fall, while the righteous flourish like foliage, which is the parable's own vegetable figure. Ezekiel 33:31 is the closest structural match to this soil in particular: a people who come and sit and hear the prophet's words and do not do them, because their heart goes after their gain. That is hearing plus barrenness, the exact combination Mark 4:18-19 describes. Pulpit's note that riches pierce like thorns, with 1 Timothy 6:10, extends the same indictment into the New Testament. Tiered as a pattern, not a quotation.

Psalm 49:6 · Proverbs 11:28 · Ezekiel 33:31

basis: Cross-Testament (Greek to Hebrew), so no shared Strong's lexeme can be recorded and the tier cannot be verbal. Basis is a shared pattern: hearing or professing while the heart follows gain, ending in barrenness or fall.

The word that does not return empty typological

⚙ Isaiah 55:10-11 already used this parable's physics: rain and snow come down and do not return without watering the earth, making it bring forth and sprout and give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, and so God's word does not return to him empty but accomplishes what he purposed. Mark 4:14 puts the seed as τὸν λόγον and Mark 4:20 ends with a yield of thirty, sixty and a hundred. Held together, the two passages say something neither says alone: Isaiah guarantees the word's success without accounting for soils, and Mark accounts for soils without denying the harvest. We read the figural correspondence as genuine and old, and we flag that Jesus does not cite Isaiah here and that the word-as-seed and rain-as-word figures are not identical.

Isaiah 55:10-11

basis: Cross-Testament figural reading (Greek to Hebrew), so no shared Strong's basis exists and no verbal tier is available. Widely held as a figural correspondence in Christian reading; we mark it typological rather than verbal because Mark 4:13-20 contains no formal quotation of Isaiah.

Within Mark 4: the earth that bears fruit of itself verbal / quotation: confirmed

The verb of the good soil, καρποφοροῦσιν (G2592, 4:20), returns a few verses later at Mark 4:28, where the earth brings forth fruit of itself, the man not knowing how, blade then head then full grain; the Verifier records the shared lexeme along with εἶτα (G1534) and γῆ (G1093). This is the nearest Mark comes to answering the question our sola reading leaves open. The sower's explanation grades the grounds and never says how a ground becomes good; the next parable says the growth is hidden from the sower himself.

Mark 4:28

basis: Verifier: Mark 4:28 (0.20) shares G2592 καρποφορέω (in 8 vv), G1534 εἶτα (in 14 vv) and G1093 γῆ (in 223 vv). Greek to Greek within one chapter of Mark; a verbal link by rare shared lexeme, not a quotation.

⚙Christ in the Unittypology · verify

AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.

The sower unnamed here, named elsewhere ancient/widely-held

⚙ Mark 4:14 declines to say who the sower is: Ὁ σπείρων is a participle, “the sowing one,” and the identification is left to the rest of the canon. The commentators fill it in with one voice but by different routes. JFB reasons that since the seed is the word of God, everyone who scatters that seed is a sower, and notes that where Matthew 13:37 does name the sower it is the Son of Man, with the devil as the sower of tares, those being the great unseen parties whose agents among men are the preachers. Cambridge applies the participle first to Christ, who “came forth from the Father and was come into the world” (John 16:28), then to his Apostles, then to all who go in his name, and adds 1 Peter 1:23 and 1 John 3:9 on the seed of the new birth. Gill takes the seed itself Christward: the word is the word of life and truth, of peace and reconciliation, of faith and righteousness, of salvation, all of it to be found in and by Jesus Christ. Pulpit adds Matthew's title, the word of the kingdom, which in Mark's Gospel has a single herald. On this reading the parable is Jesus describing the reception of his own preaching, and Mark 4:13 to 4:20 is therefore his own account of what is happening while he speaks.

Matthew 13:37 · John 16:28 · 1 Peter 1:23

Good ground is made, not found ancient/widely-held

⚙ The parable grades four soils and never explains how one of them came to be good. That silence is the place where the commentators, without exception here, reach for grace. Gill says the good ground stands for those made good men by the grace of God, since there is none good naturally and none that does good, no not one. On the rocky soil he says the stony hearts are not taken away and hearts of flesh are not given, which is Ezekiel 36:26 read as the missing act. Henry closes his note on the whole block with a petition, that by God's new-creating grace our hearts may become good ground and the good seed of the word produce in our lives good words and works through Jesus Christ. The grammar of 4:20 is at least consistent with this: the fruitful are introduced by an aorist passive participle, σπαρέντες, something done to them and completed, before any active verb of theirs appears. We state plainly that the inference is ours and theirs, and that this unit does not spell it out.

Ezekiel 36:26 · Mark 4:20 · 2 Corinthians 5:17

The one sowing who was also the grain novel

⚙ A reading we mark as ours and as going beyond what this unit says. Every liability the parable names fell on Jesus in Mark's own narrative and did not produce the parable's failures. Σατανᾶς came (Mark 1:13, and the accusation of 3:23 that Cambridge sends us back to) and lifted nothing away. θλῖψις and διωγμός came because of the word, and the verb Mark uses of others being tripped, σκανδαλίζω, is used of those offended at him (6:3) and of the disciples scattered at his arrest (14:27), never of him. Thorns came literally, pressed on his head (Mark 15:17), the ground's own curse from Genesis 3:18. And John 12:24 has him say that unless the grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies it remains alone, but if it dies it bears much fruit, which is the language of 4:20's καρποφοροῦσιν transposed to his own body. The grain-of-wheat reading of Christ's death is ancient; the specific move of reading Mark's four soils back onto Christ as the one rooted hearer is ours, and we offer it as a synthesis to be tested, not as the plain sense of the paragraph.

John 12:24 · Mark 14:27 · Mark 15:17

Apparatus & Provenance

The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.

Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:

  • Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible (1834)
  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, — (1880s)
  • Charles Ellicott, Commentary for English Readers (1878)
  • Geneva Study Bible, Marginal Notes (1599)
  • Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory (1871)
  • John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1746–63)
  • Joseph Benson, Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1810s)
  • Matthew Henry, Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706)
  • The Pulpit Commentary, Spence & Exell, eds. (1880s)

Text. BSB (CC0) with the Berean interlinear and Strong's numbers; parses and glosses in the notes above are taken from that interlinear and not re-derived. Two artifacts of the source data should be stated plainly rather than quietly smoothed. At Mark 4:20 the interlinear lists the article τὴν twice in succession (word indices 6 and 7) before καλὴν γῆν; we treat that as a duplication in the data, not as a feature of the Greek, and we have written no note on index 7. At Mark 4:13 index 3 and Mark 4:17 index 17 the gloss field reads “vvv,” a placeholder where the English of the negative Οὐκ and of the adverb εὐθύς has been folded into a neighbouring word; we glossed both from the parse and the lexicon instead.

Variants. Ellicott records that at 4:15 the better manuscripts read simply “in them” (εἰς αὐτούς) rather than “in their hearts,” the longer reading being an assimilation to Matthew 13:19; our literal rendering follows the shorter text, which is also what the interlinear carries. Pulpit records at 4:18 that the best authorities read καὶ ἄλλοι, “and others,” rather than “these,” and our divergence note depends on that reading.

Sources. Coverage in this unit is uneven and the reader should know it. Matthew Henry's concise note is a single block on Mark 4:1-20 and is reprinted identically under every verse, so the three excerpts quoted from him are pointed lines lifted from one continuous paragraph, not three separate comments. Joseph Benson's note likewise covers 4:13-20 as a block filed under 4:13. Albert Barnes writes substantively only on 4:13 and refers the reader to Matthew 13:18-23 for the rest; Matthew Poole refers throughout to his own note on Mark 4:3, so neither is quoted beyond 4:13. The Geneva notes in our text are, with one exception, the verse printed without comment; the exception is the marginal gloss (f) at 4:19, which is what we quote. Our transcriptions of the Pulpit Commentary at 4:18 (“condition of soft”) and of the Cambridge Bible at 4:17 (“thids image”) contain obvious misprints, which we have quoted as printed and flagged in the editorial notes rather than emended.

What is uncertain. The genitive in ἡ ἀπάτη τοῦ πλούτου (4:19) is genuinely open between “the deceit that riches practise” and “the deceit that riches are,” and we have not decided it. The force of ὁμοίως at 4:16 is disputed: Pulpit takes it of the mode of interpretation, most English versions take it of the likeness between hearers and seed, and both are possible. Cross-Testament threads in this unit (Isaiah 55, Jeremiah 4 and 17, Hosea 10, Psalm 49, Proverbs 11, Ezekiel 33 and 36, Genesis 3) rest on shared figures only: there is no formal quotation of the Old Testament anywhere in Mark 4:13-20, no shared Strong's lexeme is possible across the languages, and every such thread here is tiered structural or typological for that reason. The reading in our third Christ entry, which maps the four soils onto Christ himself, is our own synthesis and is marked novel.

✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)