Matthew 13:3

And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, &c.--These parables are SEVEN in number; and it is not a little remarkable that while this is the sacred number, the first FOUR of them were spoken to the mixed multitude, while the remaining THREE were spoken to the Twelve in private--these divisions, four and three, being themselves notable in the symbolical arithmetic of Scripture. Another thing remarkable in the structure of these parables is, that while the first of the Seven--that of the Sower--is of the nature of an Introduction to the whole, the remaining Six consist of three pairs--the Second and Seventh, the Third and Fourth, and the Fifth and Sixth, corresponding to each other; each pair setting forth the same general truths, but with a certain diversity of aspect. All this can hardly be accidental.

First Parable: THE SOWER (Mat 13:3-9, Mat 13:18-23).

This parable may be entitled, THE EFFECT OF THE WORD DEPENDENT ON THE STATE OF THE HEART. For the exposition of this parable, see on Mar 4:1-9, Mar 4:14-20.

Reason for Teaching in Parables (Mat 13:10-17).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

In parables - The word “parable” is derived from a Greek word signifying “to compare together,” and denotes a similitude taken from a natural object to illustrate a spiritual or moral subject. It is a narrative of some fictitious or real event, in order to illustrate more clearly some truth that the speaker wished to communicate. In early ages it was much used. Pagan writers, as Aesop, often employed it. In the time of Christ it was in common use. The prophets had used it, and Christ employed it often in teaching his disciples. It is not necessary to suppose that the narratives were strictly true. The main thing - “the inculcation of spiritual truth” - was gained equally, whether it was true or was only a supposed case. Nor was there any dishonesty in this. It was well understood no person was deceived. The speaker was not “understood” to affirm the thing “literally narrated,” but only to fix the attention more firmly on the moral truth that he presented. The “design” of speaking in parables was the following:

To convey truth in a more interesting manner to the mind, adding to the truth conveyed the beauty of a lovely image or narrative. To teach spiritual truth so as to arrest the attention of ignorant people, making an appeal to them through the “senses.” To convey some offensive truth, some pointed personal rebuke. in such a way as to bring it “home” to the conscience. Of this kind was the parable which Nathan delivered to David 2Sa 12:1-7, and many of our Saviour’s parables addressed to the Jews. To “conceal” from one part of his audience truths which he intended others should understand. Thus Christ often, by this means, delivered truths to his disciples in the presence of the Jews, which he well knew the Jews would not understand; truths pertaining to them particularly, and which he was under no obligations to explain to the Jews. See Mar 4:33; Mat 13:13-16.

Our Saviour’s parables are distinguished above all others for clearness, purity, chasteness, importance of instruction, and simplicity. They are taken mostly from the affairs of common life, and intelligible, therefore, to all people. They contain much of “himself” - his doctrine, life, design in coming, and claims, and are therefore of importance to all people; and they are told in a style of simplicity intelligible to the child, yet instructive to people of every rank and age. In his parables, as in all his instructions, he excelled all people in the purity, importance, and sublimity of his doctrine.

Mat 13:3

A sower went forth to sow - The image here is taken from an employment known to all people, and therefore intelligible to all.

Nor can there be a more striking illustration of preaching the gospel than placing the seed in the ground, to spring up hereafter and bear fruit.

Sower - One who sows or scatters seed - a farmer. It is not improbable that one was near the Saviour when he spoke this parable.

Mat 13:4

Some seeds fell by the way-side - That is, the hard “path” or headland, which the plow had not touched, and where there was no opportunity for it to sink into the earth.

Mat 13:5

Stony places - Where there was little earth, but where it was hard and rocky, so that the roots could not strike down into the earth for sufficient moisture to support the plant.

When the sun became hot they of course withered away. They sprang up the sooner because there was little earth to cover them.

Forthwith - Immediately. Not that they sprouted and grew any quicker or faster than the others, but they were not so long in reaching the surface. Having little root, they soon withered away.

Mat 13:7

Among thorns - That is, in a part of the field where the thorns and shrubs had been imperfectly cleared away and not destroyed.

They grew with the grain, crowded it, shaded it, exhausted the earth, and thus choked it.

Mat 13:8

Into good ground - The fertile and rich soil.

In sowing, by far the largest proportion of seed will fall into the good soil; but Christ did not intend to teach that these proportions would be exactly the same among those who heard the gospel. Parables are designed to teach some “general” truth, and the circumstances should not be pressed too much in explaining them.

An hundred-fold ... - That is, a hundred, sixty, or thirty “grains” for each one that was sowed an increase by no means uncommon. Some grains of wheat will produce twelve or fifteen hundred grains. The usual proportion on a field sown, however, is not more than twenty, fifty, or sixty bushels for one.

Mat 13:9

Who hath ears ... - This is a proverbial expression, implying that it was every man’s duty to pay attention to what was spoken, Mat 11:15.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Mat_13:3

And He spake many things unto them in parables.

Christ a moral, painter

Jesus did not confine Himself to the mere announcement or proof of a doctrine. But by means of words, He often presented to His hearers a moral picture-flashed upon the minds eye a whole scene of truth with such vividness and power that it could not be well perverted or forgotten. We should imitate His pointed, emotional preaching.

I. Some reasons for the use of moral painting in sermons.

1. It imitates the style of Christs painting, and is part of His gospel.

2. It meets a want in our nature. It appeals to mans perceptive facilities. God has met this want in the natural world.

3. It adds point and force to the argument. Reasoning and illustration are both essential.

4. Men who have deeply moved the human heart have used it. Poets, advocates, orators, etc. And shall the children of this world be wiser, etc.? Inspiration is full of it.

II. The kind of moral painting to be used. Great condensation, is essential to a good picture of truth. Deep emotion. The vastness of our work is enough to make an angel weep. (W. W. Newell.)

The design of speaking in parable

1. To convey truth in a more interesting manner to the mind adding to the truth conveyed the beauty of a lively image or narrative.

2. To teach spiritual truth so as to arrest the attention of ignorant people, making an appeal to them through the senses.

3. To convey some offensive truth, some pointed personal rebuke, in such a way as to bring it home to the conscience (2Sa_12:1-7, and many of our Saviours parables addressed to the Jews).

4. To conceal from one part of His audience truths which He intended others should understand (Mar_4:33; Mat_13:15-16.) (A. Barnes D. D.)

Similitude mentally stimulating

Christs habit, therefore, was not so much to tell what things were, as to draw pictures of them and mention some familiar thing they were like; as a boy really knows more about the earth when told that it is shaped like a big cricket-ball, than when taught to say that it is an oblate spheroid with a polar diameter of 8,000 miles. Thus Christ was continually telling, in an easy way, what this and that was like (drawing pictures). which is to say that He taught by parables. and without a parable spake He not unto them.… A truth felt is more than a truth stated. Christ was continually dropping hints that led His disciples forward into a new surmise; kept treading down their horizon; did not let their opinions go to seed. He knew how to talk with them in such a way as to make them feel that what He did not tell them was considerably more than what He did tell them. (C. H. Parkhurst, D. D.)

Why our Lord used parables

1. As a means of attracting attention.

2. To prevent His auditors from being repelled by a too sudden revelation, either of His purpose or of His message.

3. To stimulate inquiry.

4. To test the character of His hearers. (U. M. Taylor, D. D.)

Behold, a sower went forth to sow.-

The parable of the sower

Four kinds of soil:

1. The impenetrable.

2. The superficial.

3. The preoccupied.

4. The prepared.

Observation:

1. The seed is the same in every case; the difference is in the kinds of soils.

2. The parable is Christs answer to the objection, If the gospel be from God, why is it not more effective? The answer is, that, like any other remedy, much will depend on the way in which it is used. (The Clergymans Magazine.)

Parable of the sower

Where is the fault of failure?

1. It does not lie in God, the sower. God does not predestinate men to fail. He willeth not the death of a sinner.

2. The cause of failure is not in any impotency of truth. The old thinkers accounted for it by the depravity of matter. Once acknowledge freewill in man, and the origin of evil does not lie in God.

3. The fault might be solely in the soil of the heart.

I. The causes of failure.

1. The first of these is want of spiritual perception. There are persons whose religion is all outside, never penetrates beyond the intellect. Conceptions of religious life, which are only conceptions outward, having no lodgment in the heart, disappear. Fowls of the air devoured the seed. This is a picture of thought dissipated, and no man can tell when or how it went.

2. A second cause of failure is want of depth of character. This stony ground is the thin layer of earth upon a bed of rock. Shallow soft is like superficial character. There is easily-moved susceptibility. A pleasant, sunny religion would be the life to suit them. The superficial character is connected with the hard heart; beneath the thin surface lies the bed of rock. It is among those of light enjoyment we must look for stony heartlessness.

3. Once more impressions come to nothing when the mind is subjected to dissipating influences, and yieids to them-Some fell among thorns. Two classes of dissipating influences distract such minds. The cares of this world. Martha was cumbered with much serving. The deceitfulness of riches dissipate. Weeding work painful.

II. For the permanence of religious impressions this parable suggests three requirements.

1. An holiest and good heart. Earnest sincerity.

2. Meditation is a second requisite for perseverance. They keep the Word which they have heard. Must not confuse reverie with meditation. Truth is dwelt on till it receives innumerable applications; it is done in silence.

3. The third requisite is endurance-They bring forth fruit with patience. There is an active and passive endurance, bearing pain without complaining; and under persecution. It is also the opposite of that impatience which cannot wait. We are disappointed if the harvest does not come at once. (F. W. Robertson, M. A.)

The parable of the sower

1. The careless hearer.

2. The temporary hearer.

3. The worldly-minded hearer.

4. The sincere hearers of the Word.

(1) They understand it;

(2) They receive it;

(3) They retain it:

(4) They practise it. (G. Burder.)

The Christians unfaithful hearing of the Word not natural, but self-induced

1. The unlimited method of the sowers work; the indiscriminate manner in which the seed is cast upon the ground. His care not limited to a single spot. The overflowing bounty, the merciful providence of God towards all classes.

2. The impediments to growth are to be found not in natural defects or incapacities, but in self-induced hindrances and wilful indisposition to listen to the truth.

In the gospel history these hearers are to be discovered:

1. The Sadducees, who denied the resurrection. Infidelity is a sad hardener of the heart.

2. Those of our Lords disciples of whom mention is made that they went back, and walked no more with Him. The varieties of soil does not describe varieties of heart as formed by nature, but the condition which the heart and mind assume, as men either neglect or employ the means of grace. They represent, not the physical but the moral condition of the human mind. Human and Christian society is divided into various classes of every variety of feeling and conduct; but the motive of good or ill is in the heart. (St. Pauls Cathedral Sermons.)

The parable of the sower

I. The sower. Jesus Christ Himself; through all the dispensations of dreams, angels, prophets: at last He came Himself with the seed of the kingdom.

II. The seed.

1. Ordinary seed is covered with an outward coat. The life principle is hidden away from observation. So we find Christ in appearance like a man. The words you hear are but the outward covering; there is an inward life. There are those who split hairs about Christianity; they know the outward form, but not the vital principle. Others ignore the outward form, and say Christianity is wholly spiritual. Both necessary.

2. The life-giving property is not in the soil, but in the seed. You may enrich the soil as you will, but without seed you can have no life. Scientists have given up the idea of spontaneous generation. There is no salvation apart from the indwelling Christ.

3. Where life is there is power. Sow pebbles, but they have no power to reach a harvest. The Word powerful because living.

4. Every seed brings forth after its kind. You cannot sow wickedness and reap religion.

III. The soil.

1. The wayside hearer.

2. The stony-ground hearer. The emotional hearer.

3. Among the thorns-the double-minded hearer.

4. Good soil-the man who hears aright. (G. F. Pentecost.)

The parable of the sower

I. The sower.

1. Our Lord first of all means Himself. His work chiefly was sowing the seeds of Divine truth in the minds of men. The reaping began on the day of Pentecost.

2. Then by the sower is meant our Lords apostles and the seventy disciples whom He sent cut to preach the gospel, and all ministers of His Word.

3. All Christian people are sowers. By our words and actions we are sowing some kind of principle in the minds of others; we cannot help it.

II. The seed. Gods Word.

1. It is sometimes rather more the word of man than the Word of God-the Word of God mingled with the Word of man.

2. It may be one part of the Word of God to the exclusion of another, grace to the exclusion of works.

3. Christ is in an emphatic sense the Word of God; so we are to sow the Word concerning Christ.

III. The ground. What does the ground mean?-the heart rather than the head, the affections rather than the intellect. A cold, feelingless man cannot effect much as regards religious truth.

IV. The result of the sowing. (H. S. Brown.)

Bad soul-conditions not unalterable

Why, there was a time, I suppose, when the very fruitfullest fields of England were something like either the stony places or the thorny places in this parable. I have recently seen in the distant parts of these islands, and in one of the most rugged parts of the West of Scotland, ground which I saw four or five years ago, when the present proprietor came into possession of it; and that ground-well, I cannot say there was anything on it like a wayside, for there was not a wayside within miles of it-but still, it was chiefly stones, and gorse, and heather, and all sorts of stuff; but the application of culture, skill, some capital, and so on, has made it very decent land indeed, and it is yielding something now for the support of man and beast. There is nothing fatalistic in this parable, nothing to drive to despair the man who feels he is bad, and wishes to be a true Christian, and nothing to encourage in sin the man who has no desire after good things. Gods grace can do for the heart, be what it may, what mans skill has done a thousand times for the land that he cultivates. (H. S. Brown.)

The parable of the sower opened

I. The agent. The hearts of men and women are Christs spiritual husbandry.

1. Christ is the principal sower, the master sower; ministers are His servants (2Co_6:1).

2. Christ sows His own by creation. Ministers have no seed of their own; their doctrine and word belong to Christ.

3. Christ is a most wise and skilful sower; He hath a perfect knowledge of all sorts of ground.

4. Christ is a universal sower.

5. Jesus Christ is an efficacious sower. He can cause the seed to take root; but so cannot a minister.

II. His action. Jesus Christ may be said to go forth in three ways:

1. In His own person.

2. In the ministry of His servants.

3. To sow His seed by the Spirit.

III. His design. (B. Keach.)

Ministers are Christs seedsmen

1. They, like seedsmen, must sow the seed in its proper season (2Co_6:2),

2. They must sow their seed, let it be what weather it will, a time of peace, or a time of persecution.

3. They must sow no seed of their own, but Christs doctrine (Deu_22:9).

4. They must sow all Christs seed.

5. Constantly, as long as seed-time lasteth (Ecc_11:6).

6. They sow, but the whole success is of God.

Why the Word is compared to seed

1. Seed springs not out of the ground naturally; it must first be sown. The heart must first have the seed of grace infused.

2. Seed, let it be of wheat or barley, is the choice, st of each sort respectively. True grace is of an excellent nature.

3. Until seed is sown there will be no increase. So the heart must take in the Word by faith.

4. Seed sometimes which is sown lies a considerable time in the ground before it springs up, or visibly appears; it must have time to take root.

5. Clods of earth, being not broken, oftentimes obstruct the springing up of the seed, or it is from thence it appears not to have taken root so soon as in some other ground; so likewise, through the power of Satans temptations and corruption of the heart, the Word is for a time hindered.

6. A husbandman observes the proper time and season of sowing his seed.

7. Men are not sparing in sowing their seed, but scatter it plentifully, though they expect not all to take root.

8. A husbandman soweth his seed on what ground he pleaseth; some he lets lie barren. There are nations to whom the gospel is not sent.

9. That the earlier seed is sown the better it is rooted; so with the Word sown in the hearts of young people. (B. Keach.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat 13:3. And he spake many things unto them — “Delivered many doctrines of the highest importance, wisely making choice of such for the subject of his sermons, when he had the greatest number of hearers, because on those occasions there was a probability of doing the most good by them.” In parables — The word parable sometimes signifies a sublime discourse, elevated beyond the common forms of speech, as Num 23:7; Num 24:15; Job 27:1; Job 29:1, where see the notes: sometimes a mere proverb, or adage, such as those mentioned Luk 4:23, Physician, heal thyself; and Luk 6:39, Can the blind lead the blind? in both which places the word παραβολη, parable, is used in the original, and in the former place is rendered proverb in our translation. Sometimes the word means an apologue, or fable, as Eze 17:2, where also see the note. But here, and generally in the gospels, the word is to be understood, according to its Greek etymology, as signifying a similitude or comparison, namely, taken from the ordinary affairs of men, and used to illustrate the things of God. As this is the first time the term occurs in this history, and as we shall frequently meet with it hereafter, it may not be improper to make the following general observations, applicable, more or less, to all our Lord’s parables. 1st. It is not necessary to a parable that the matter contained, or things related in it, should be true in fact. For parables are not spoken to inform us in matters of fact, but in some spiritual truths, to which they bear some proportion. This we see in Jotham’s parable of the trees going to choose themselves a king, Jdg 9:7 to Jdg 15:2 d. It is not necessary that all the actions of men, mentioned in a parable, should be morally just and good. The actions of the unjust steward, Luk 16:1-8, were not Song of Solomon 3 dly. For the right understanding of a parable, our great care must be to attend to the main scope of it; or to what our Lord had chiefly in view, and designed to teach by it. 4th. This may be learned, either from his general or more particular explication of it; or from what hath been termed the pro-parabola, or preface to the parable; or the epi-parabola, or conclusion of it. 5th. It is not to be expected that all the particular actions or things represented in a parable, should be answered by something in the explication. Lastly, Though the scope of the parable be the main thing we are to attend to, yet it may collaterally inform us in several other things also. This way of teaching, extremely common in the eastern countries, and much used by our Lord, was particularly calculated to draw and fix the attention of mankind; to excite the inquiry of such as were well disposed, and to lead them to a serious examination and diligent searching after the truth veiled under such emblems; to teach, in a manner the most natural, beautiful, and instructive, by common and familiar objects, the most divine and important doctrines, and give clearer ideas of them than could have been otherwise attained; to cause divine truths to make a more deep and lasting impression on men’s minds, and to be better remembered. Our Lord’s parables were particularly adapted to produce this last-mentioned effect, being generally taken from those objects about which his hearers were daily employed, or which daily came under their observation. Add to this, he taught by parables, that he might convey in a manner the least offensive some very ungrateful and unpalatable truths, such as the rejection of the Jews and the calling of the Gentiles. It must be observed, also, as we learn from Mat 13:11-15, that, by an awful mixture of justice and mercy, our Lord intended hereby to throw a veil over some of the mysteries of his kingdom, and to conceal from the proud and careless those truths which, if they understood, he foresaw they would only abuse to their greater condemnation.

In this chapter our Lord delivers seven parables, directing the four former, as being of general concern, to all the people; the three latter, to his disciples. He begins with the parable of a sower who cast his seed on four different kinds of ground, only one of which brought forth fruit, not because of any difference in the seed wherewith the others were sown, or any defect in the cultivation of them, but because of other reasons specified in the parable. And these were designed to represent four classes of hearers of the word of God, only one of which bears fruit to his glory; not because a different doctrine is declared to the others, or less labour bestowed upon them, but because of the hinderances of fruitfulness spoken of in the explanation of the parable. How exquisitely proper was this parable to be an introduction to all the rest! inasmuch as in it our Lord shows us why, when the same sower, he himself, or any messenger of his, always sows the same seed, it does not always produce the same effect.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

FIRST PARABLE — The Sower, Mat_13:3-23.

That this parable of the sower was the first of our Lord’s parables is probable from several reasons. It was so new a mode of instruction that the disciples, in verse tenth, inquired why he used it, and the reason that he gave them was, that truth might be revealed to them and hidden from others.

3. Spake many things… in parables — Hence he spoke many parables upon this one occasion. This clearly demonstrates that the SEVEN PARABLES presented in this chapter were all delivered on the same day. It contradicts the notion of some that Matthew has here brought together a collection of such pieces uttered at different times. On the subject of parables we may here remark:

1. The PARABLE is a brief narrative of natural or earthly things, so constructed as to represent spiritual or heavenly things impressively to the mind. It has a foundation in the divine arrangements; for God has so constructed the natural world that the devout mind may look through nature up to nature’s God. No compositions in human language so forcibly trace the analogies of nature and grace as the parables of our Lord.

2. This kind of composition has ever been used by the most thoughtful men of all ages, as the best method of drawing the heart of mankind from thoughts of mere earthly and material things to those of a Spiritual or heavenly nature.

The sacred parables serve as conductors from the world of matter to the world of thought. In the Old Testament are a few specimens, and among the later Jews, even before our Saviour, the wiser rabbis, taught by the sacred oracles, made use of this mode of instruction, and furnished many parables of no mean value, though none will compare in excellence with those of our Saviour. So the ancient Persians and the modern Germans have furnished many exquisite specimens of this kind of composition. Those of modern Europe have been all the more beautiful from the very reason that they are imbued with the Biblical spirit.

3. Our Lord did not condescend, like the fable writers of modern times, as well as of the heathen world, to form parables for the illustration of principles of mere earthly morality. He never forgets that his theme is eternity, and his object the soul of man. Nor does he ever violate the laws of nature, by any speaking beasts or birds, or any monstrous fabrications of fancy. His parables are all true in the general. They are things which often happen. They are in the ordinary course of nature.

4. The sacred parable was a wonderful vehicle of truth to serve three distinct purposes, namely: to reveal, to conceal, and to perpetuate. It revealed the sacred truth by the striking power of analogy and illustration. It concealed the truth from him who had not by proper sympathy or previous instruction the true key to its hidden meaning. To such a one it was a riddle or a tale. And so our Lord could give to his disciples in this method the deepest secrets of his kingdom for ages, while the caviller, who would have abused the truth, heard without understanding. See Mat_13:11. But the truth thus embodied in narrative was, as it were, materialized, and made fit for perpetuation. It had a form and body to it, by which it could be preserved in tangible shape for future ages.

These considerations will serve to show the great wisdom of our Lord in enshrining so much of doctrinal truth in vehicles at once so attractive and so imperishable.

3. Behold — The animated introduction gives plausibility to the view that our Lord pointed to some distant sower in sight scattering his seed. A sower went forth — The sower is the preacher, the seed is the word of truth, the soil is the receptive attention of the people. Went forth — That is, the preacher does not wait for the people to come to him.

How truly our Lord drew his images from the scenery around him, Dr. Thomson thus illustrates:

“Behold a sower went forth to sow. There is a nice and close adherence to actual life in this form of expression. The expression implies that the sower, in the days of our Saviour, lived in a hamlet, or village, as all these farmers now do; that he did not sow near his own house or in a garden fenced or walled. Now here we have the whole within a dozen rods of us. Our horses are actually trampling down some seeds which have fallen by this wayside, and larks and sparrows are busy picking them up. That man with his mattock is digging up places where the rock is too near the surface for the plough, and much that is sown there will wither away, because it has no deepness of earth. And not a few seeds have fallen among this bellan, and will be effectually choked by these most tangled of thorn bushes. But a large portion after all falls into really good ground, and four months hence will exhibit every variety of crop, up to the richest and heaviest that ever rejoices the heart even of an American farmer.”

Sceptical writers have maintained that the soil of Palestine is so poor as to contradict the character for fertility ascribed to it in the Old Testament. Their error may be shown from the following considerations: 1. No such superiority of soil over other lands of the earth is ascribed to Palestine in Scripture as these objectors imagine. Thus the strongest Scripture phrase, “a land flowing with milk and honey,” is but a picturesque declaration that herds and bees should be an abundant natural product, which is eminently the fact. 2. Every land, even fertile Sicily has its barren spots. 3. Ages of oppression and total neglect have produced barrenness where most luxuriant harvests might have been gathered. With due culture the plains of Esdraelon might be made the granary of the East. 4. The very rocks of Palestine, being of limestone, are easily crumbled, and are thereby made a source of fertility. The hills afford terraces for the vines which under proper culture would cover them. The rich olive flourishes best in this rocky soil.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The seven parables of Matthew 13, called by our Lord, "mysteries of the kingdom of heaven" (Mat 13:11), taken together, describe the result of the presence of the Gospel in the world during the present age, that is, the time of seed sowing which began with our Lord’s personal ministry, and ends with the "harvest" Mat 13:40-43. Briefly, the result is mingled tares and wheat, good fish and bad, in the sphere of Christian profession. It is Christendom.

sower

The figure marks a new beginning. To labour in God’s vineyard Israel, Isa 5:1-7 is one thing, to go forth sowing the seed of the word in a field which is the world, quite another (cf) Mat 10:5. One fourth of the seed takes permanent root, but the result is "wheat"; Mat 13:25; 1Pe 1:23 or "children of the kingdom" Mat 13:38. This parable Mat 13:3-9; Mat 13:18-23 is treated throughout as foundational to the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. It is interpreted by our Lord Himself.

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

13:3-9 This parable (interpreted in 13:18-23) addresses the mostly negative responses of the Jewish nation to Jesus and his message. • Parables (Greek parabolē) are stories that usually express an analogy between a common aspect of life and a spiritual truth. To understand a parable, it is necessary to locate the central analogy and understand it in its historical context and in the context of the Gospel text; then the central message can be understood. Speculative allegorical meanings that were not intended should not be found in every element of a parable.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Mat 13:3. Ἐν παραβολαῖς, in parables) The Evangelist here indicates a remarkable period of Christ’s teaching to the people in Galilee, as to the chief priests and elders of the people in Jerusalem. See Mar 12:1,—ἤρξατο αὐτοῖς ἐν παραβολαῖς λέγειν, He BEGAN to speak to them in parables.[597] Parables are frequent in the East: but our Lord had previously taught much, in both places, without parables. The parables in the present passage are seven: four addressed to the people, in Mat 13:3; Mat 13:24; Mat 13:31; Mat 13:33; and three to the disciples, in Mat 13:44-45; Mat 13:47.[598] The first four and the last three form severally two groups, which are, respectively, intimately connected together. The former are connected by the formula, “another parable;” the latter, by the formula, “Again the kingdom of heaven is like” And since the seventh refers more than any of the others to the end of the world, which the first does not refer to at all, but applies the prophecy of Isaiah to the people at the time of our Lord’s teaching,—these seven parables have a most recondite meaning (see Mat 13:35), applying especially to distinct periods of the Church’s history and condition, besides the common and universal principles which they teach concerning the course and administration of the kingdom of heaven: and this in such a manner, that each begins successively to be fulfilled after that which preceded it, though no preceding one concludes before the beginning of that which follows. The first and second, and only these two, were explained to the apostles. In the first, before the explanation—in the second, after it—occurs the formula, “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. The first, indeed, was fulfilled, as we have already observed, in the first age—namely, that of our Lord’s ministry; the second, in that of His apostles, and thenceforward, for then men began to sleep (see Mat 13:25); the third and fourth denote the propagation of the kingdom of God among princes and the whole human race; the fifth describes the darker condition of the Church; the sixth, the state of the kingdom of God when esteemed above all things; the seventh, the condition of the Church in the last days, greatly mixed. It may be asked, whether these seven parables extend through the whole period of the New Testament dispensation in such a manner that the three latter begin from the goal of the four former; or whether those four extend from the beginning to the end, and also these three? On the settlement of these questions depends a more accurate distribution, which I leave to be decided by the wise, [merely subjoining the following sketch]:—

[597] Compare Mat 21:23. [Qy. 28].—E. B.

[598] The parable concerning the four different kinds of soil the Saviour explained to His disciples, at their request, before that He returned to the house—all other witnesses, however, being out of the way—whether His explanation was given on the sea or on land, Mat 13:10; with which comp. Mar 4:10. Then next He set forth the rest of the parables before the multitude, Mar 4:33; and, returning to the house, He cleared up also the parable of the tares for the disciples, who begged Him to do so, Mat 13:36; with which comp. Mar 4:34. After the setting forth of these parables, of which several are derived from the tillage of land, within the lapse of a few days the barley harvest began. In like manner the parable of the net (Mat 13:47) cast into the sea, was put forth close by the sea.—Harm., p. 322.

1. The time of the apostles, Mat 13:16

2. After the decease of the apostles, Mat 13:25

3. Constantine, Mat 13:32

4. Nine centuries under the trumpet of the seventh angel, Mat 13:33

5. The kingdom of the Beast, and the Reformation, Mat 13:44

6. The kingdom of God esteemed above all things, Satan being bound, Mat 13:46

7. The last confusion, Mat 13:47

Ο σπείρων.—He that soweth) in the present tense; i.e. Christ.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat_13:3 f. Παραβολή (Arist. Rhet. ii. 20), מָשָׁל, the narrating of an incident which, though imaginary, still falls within the sphere of natural events, with the view of thereby illustrating some truth or other (ἵνα καὶ ἐμφατικώτερον τὸν λόγον ποιήσῃ, καὶ πλείονα τὴν μνήμην ἐνθῇ, καὶ ὑπʼ ὄψιν ἀγάγῃ τὰ πράγματα, Chrysostom). See Unger, de parabolar. Jesu natura, interpretatione, usu, 1828, who gives the following definition: collatio per narratiunculam fictam, sed veri similem,[448] serio illustrans rem sublimiorem.[449] The correct canon for the interpretation of the parables is already to be found in Chrysostom on Mat_20:1 : ΟὐΔῈ ΧΡῊ ΠΆΝΤΑ ΤᾺ ἘΝ ΤΑῖς ΠΑΡΑΒΟΛΑῖς ΚΑΤᾺ ΛΈΞΙΝ ΠΕΡΙΕΡΓΆΖΕΣΘΑΙ, ἈΛΛᾺ ΤῸΝ ΣΚΌΠΟΝ ΜΑΘΌΝΤΕς, ΔΙʼ ὋΝ ΣΥΝΕΤΈΘΗ, ΤΟῦΤΟΝ ΔΡΈΠΕΣΘΑΙ ΚΑῚ ΜΗΔῈΝ ΠΟΛΥΠΡΑΓΜΟΝΕῖΝ ΠΕΡΑΙΤΈΡΩ.

Ὁ ΣΠΕΊΡΩΝ] the sower, whom I have in view. Present participle, used as a substantive. See on Mat_2:20. A similar parable is given in the Jerusalem Talmud Kilaim I. f. 27.

ΠΑΡᾺ Τ. ὉΔΌΝ] upon the road (which went round the edge of the field), so that it was not ploughed in or harrowed in along with the rest.

τὰ πετρώδη] the rocky parts, i.e. saxum continuum sub terrae superficie tenui, Bengel.

[448] To be distinguished from the fable, which, for example, may introduce animals, trees, and such like as speaking and acting. Fabula est, in qua nec vera nec verisimiles res continentur, Cic. invent. i. 19. So far as appears from the New Testament, Christ never made use of the fable; as little did the apostles; in the Old Testament, in Jdg_9:8 ff.

[449] Observe, moreover, that the New Testament παραβολή and מָשָׁל may mean something more comprehensive and less definite (including every description of figurative speech, Mar_3:23; Mar_4:30; Mar_7:17; Luk_4:23; Luk_5:36; Luk_6:39; Luk_14:7; Mat_15:15; Mat_24:32) than is implied in the above definition of the parable as a hermeneutical terminus technicus. Comp. the Johannean παροιμία (note on Joh_10:6). John does not use the word parable; but then he does not report any such among the sayings of Jesus, though he has a few allegories; as, for example, those of the vine and the good shepherd.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat 13:3-9 . The Parable .

Mat 13:3 ἐν παραβολαῖς : this method of teaching was not peculiar to Jesus it was common among Easterns but His use of it was unique in felicity and in the importance of the lessons conveyed. bstract a priori definitions of the word serve little purpose; we learn best what a parable is, in the mouth of Jesus, by studying the parables He spoke. Thence we gather that to speak in parables means to use the familiar in nature or in human life (in the form of a narrative or otherwise) to embody unfamiliar truths of the spiritual world.

Mat 13:3 . ὁ σπείρων : either ὁ generic, or the Sower of my story. τοῦ σπείρειν : the infinitive of purpose with the genitive of article, very frequent in N. T. and in late Greek.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Parables [παραβολαις] . From para, beside, and ballw, to throw. A parable is a form of teaching in which one thing is thrown beside another. Hence its radical idea is comparison. Sir John Cheke renders biword, and the same idea is conveyed by the German Beispiel, a pattern or example; bei, beside, and the old high German spel, discourse or narration.

The word is used with a wide range in scripture, but always involves the idea of comparison :

1. Of brief sayings, having an oracular or proverbial character. Thus Peter (Mt 14:15), referring to the words "If the blind lead the blind," etc., says, "declare unto us this parable." Compare Luk 6:39. So of the patched garment (Luk 5:36), and the guest who assumes the highest place at the feast (Luk 14:7, 11). Compare, also, Mt 24:32; Mr 13:28.

2. Of a proverb. The word for proverb [παροιμια] has the same idea at the root as parable. It is para, beside, oimov, a way or road. Either a trite, wayside saying (Trench), or a path by the side of the high road (Godet). See Luk 4:23; 1Sa 24:13.

3. Of a song or poem, in which an example is set up by way of comparison. See Mic 2:4; Hab 2:6.

4. Of a word or discourse which is enigmatical or obscure until the meaning is developed by application or comparison. It occurs along with the words ainigma, enigma, and problhma, a problem, something put forth or proposed (pro, in front, ballw, to throw). See Psalms 49. (Sept. 48) 4; 78 (Sept. 77) 2; Pro 1:6, where we have parabolhn, parable; skoteinon logon, dark saying; aijnigmata, enigmas. Used also of the saying of Balaam (Num 23:7, 18; Num 24:3, 15).

In this sense Christ uses parables symbolically to expound the mysteries of the kingdom of God; as utterances which conceal from one class what they reveal to another (Mt 13:11 - 17), and in which familiar facts of the earthly life are used figuratively to expound truths of the higher life. The unspiritual do not link these facts of the natural life with those of the supernatural, which are not discerned by them (1Co 2:14), and therefore they need an interpreter of the relation between the two. Such symbols assume the existence of a law common to the natural and spiritual worlds under which the symbol and the thing symbolized alike work; so that the one does not merely resemble the other superficially, but stands in actual coherence and harmony with it. Christ formulates such a law in connection with the parables of the Talents and the Sower. "To him that hath shall be given. From him that hath not shall be taken away." That is a law of morals and religion, as of business and agriculture. One must have in order to make. Interest requires capital. Fruit requires not only seed but soil. Similarly, the law of growth as set forth in the parable of the Mustard Seed, is a law common to nature and to the kingdom of God. The great forces in both kingdoms are germinal, enwrapped in small seeds which unfold from within by an inherent power of growth.

5. A parable is also an example or type; furnishing a model or a warning; as the Good Samaritan, the Rich Fool, the Pharisee and the Publican. The element of comparison enters here as between the particular incident imagined or recounted, and all cases of a similar kind.

The term parable, however, as employed in ordinary Christian phraseology, is limited to those utterances of Christ which are marked by a complete figurative history or narrative. It is thus defined by Goebel (" Parables of Jesus "). "A narrative moving within the sphere of physical or human life, not professing to describe an event which actually took place, but expressly imagined for the purpose of representing, in pictorial figure, a truth belonging to the sphere of religion, and therefore referring to the relation of man or mankind to God."

In form the New Testament parables resemble the fable. The distinction between them does not turn on the respective use of rational and irrational beings speaking and acting. There are fables where the actors are human. Nor does the fable always deal with the impossible, since there are fables in which an animal, for instance, does nothing contrary to its nature. The distinction lies in the religious character of the New Testament parable as contrasted with the secular character of the fable. While the parable exhibits the relations of man to God, the fable teaches lessons of worldly policy or natural morality and utility. "The parable is predominantly symbolic; the fable, for the most part, typical, and therefore presents its teaching only in the form of example, for which reason it chooses animals by preference, not as symbolic, but as typical figures; never symbolic in the sense in which the parable mostly is, because the higher invisible world, of which the parable sees and exhibits the symbol in the visible world of nature and man, lies far from it. Hence the parable can never work with fantastic figures like speaking animals, trees," etc. (Goebel, condensed).

The parable differs from the allegory in that there is in the latter "an interpenetration of the thing signified and the thing signifying; the qualities and properties of the first being attributed to the last," and the two being this blended instead of being kept distinct and parallel. See, for example, the allegory of the Vine and the Branches (John 15) where Christ at once identifies himself with the figure : "I am the true vine." Thus the allegory, unlike the parable, carries its own interpretation with it.

Parable and proverb are often used interchangeably in the New Testament; the fundamental conception being, as we have seen, the same in both, the same Hebrew word representing both, and both being engimatical. They differ rather in extent than in essence; the parable being a proverb expanded and carried into detail, and being necessarily figurative, which the proverb is not; though the range of the proverb is wider, since the parable expands only one particular case of a proverb. (See Trench, "Notes on the Parables," Introd.)

Mt 13:3 A sower [ο σπειρων] . Rev., the sower. Generic, as representing a class.

To sow [του σπειρειν] . "According to Jewish authorities, there was twofold sowing, as the seed was either cast by the hand or by means of cattle. In the latter case, a sack with holes was filled with corn and laid on the back of the animal, so that, as it moved onward, the seed was thickly scattered" (Edersheim, " Life and Times of Jesus ").

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Verse 3. He spake many things unto them in parables] Parable, from παρα, near, and βαλλω, I cast, or put. A comparison or similitude, in which one thing is compared with another, especially spiritual things with natural, by which means these spiritual things are better understood, and make a deeper impression on an attentive mind. Or, a parable is a representation of any matter accommodated, in the way of similitude, to the real subject, in order to delineate it with the greater force and perspicuity. See more on this subject at the conclusion of this chapter. No scheme, says Dr. Lightfoot, of Jewish rhetoric was more familiarly used than that of parables; which, perhaps, creeping in from thence among the heathens, ended in fables.

It is said in the tract Sotah, chap. 9. "From the time that Rabbi Meri died, those that spake in parables ceased." Not that this figure of rhetoric perished in the nation from that time; but because he surpassed all others in these flowers, as the gloss there from the tract Sanhedrin speaks. "A third part of his discourses was tradition; a third part allegory; and a third part parable." The Jewish books every where abound with these figures, the nation inclining by a kind of natural genius to this kind of rhetoric. Their very religion might be called parabolical, folded up within the covering of ceremonies; and their oratory in their sermons was like to it. But is it not indeed a wonder, that they who were so much given to and delighted in parables, and so dexterous in unfolding them, should stick in the outward shell of ceremonies, and should not have brought out the parabolical and spiritual sense of them? Our Saviour, who always spoke with the common people, uses the same kind of speech, and very often the same preface which they used, To what is it likened? See Lightfoot in loco. Though we find the basis of many of our Lord's parables in the Jewish writings, yet not one of them comes through his hands without being astonishingly improved. In this respect also, Surely never man spoke like this man.

Under the parable of the sower, our Lord intimates,

1. That of all the multitudes then attending his ministry, few would bring forth fruit to perfection. And

2. That this would be a general case in preaching the Gospel among men.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(3) He spake many things unto them in parables.—This is the first occurrence of the word in St. Matthew’s Gospel, and it is clear from the question of the disciples in Mat_13:10 that it was in some sense a new form of teaching to them. There had been illustrations and similitudes before, as in that of the houses built on the sand and on the rock in Mat_7:24-27, and that of the unclean spirit in Mat_12:43-45, but now for the first time He speaks to the multitude in a parable, without an explanation. The word, which has passed through its use in the Gospels into most modern European languages (palabras, parôle, parabel), means literally, a comparison. It had been employed by the Greek translators of the Old Testament for the Hebrew word mashed, which we commonly render by “proverb,” and which, like the Greek parabole, has the sense of similitude. Of many, perhaps of most, Eastern proverbs it was true that they were condensed parables, just as many parables are expanded proverbs. (Comp. Joh_16:25; Joh_16:29.) In the later and New Testament use of the word, however, the parable takes the fuller form of a narrative embracing facts natural and probable in themselves, and in this respect differs from the fable which (as in those of Æsop and Phædrus, or that of the trees choosing a king in Jdg_9:8-15) does not keep within the limits even of possibility. The mode of teaching by parables was familiar enough in the schools of the Rabbis, and the Talmud contains many of great beauty and interest. As used by them, however, they were regarded as belonging to those who were receiving a higher education, and the son of Sirach was expressing the current feeling of the schools when he said of the tillers of the soil and the herdsmen of flocks that they “were not found where parables were spoken” (Sir_38:33). With what purpose our Lord now used this mode of instruction will appear in His answer to the question of the disciples. The prominence given in the first three Gospels to the parable that follows, shows how deep an impression it made on the minds of men, and so far justified the choice of this method of teaching by the divine Master.

(3) A sower.—Literally, the sower—the man whose form and work were so familiar, in the seed-time of the year, to the peasants of Galilee. The outward frame-work of the parable requires us to remember the features in which Eastern tillage differs from our own. The ground less perfectly cleared—the road passing across the field—the rock often cropping out, or lying under an inch or two of soil—the patch of good ground rewarding, by what might be called a lucky chance rather than skill of husbandry, the labour of the husbandman.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3. in parables] Up to this time Jesus had preached repentance, proclaiming the kingdom, and setting forth the laws of it in direct terms. He now indicates by parables the reception, growth, characteristics, and future of the kingdom. The reason for this manner of teaching is given below, Mat_13:10-15.

A parable (Hebr. mashal) = “a likeness” or “comparison.” Parables differ from fables in being pictures of possible occurrences—frequently of actual daily occurrences,—and in teaching religious truths rather than moral truths.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And he spake many things unto them in parables,.... For the parables of the sower, and the different sorts of ground the seed fell in, of the wheat and tares, of the grain of mustard seed, of the leaven in three measures of meal, of the treasure hid in a field, of the pearl of great price, of the net cast into the sea, and of the householder, were all delivered at this time. This way of speaking by parables was much in use among the eastern nations, and particularly the Jews. R. Meir was very famous among them for this way of teaching: they say (a),

"that when R. Meir died, , "they that were skilled in, and used parables, ceased".''

The commentators (b) on this passage say,

"that he preached a third part tradition, and a third part mystical discourse, , "and a third part parables":''

which method of discoursing was judged both pleasant and profitable, and what served to raise the attention of the hearer, and to fix what was delivered the more firmly in their minds: what was our Lord's reason for using them, may be seen in Mat 13:13. He begins with the parable of the sower. The design of which is to set forth the nature of the word of God, the work and business of the ministers of it, the different success of the preaching of it, and the fruitfulness of it; and to show when it is truly received, and the various degrees of fruit it produces; that the efficacy of it depends on the grace of God, which makes the heart good, and fit to receive it; and how few they be which hear the word to any spiritual advantage and benefit; and how far persons may go in hearing, and yet fall short of the grace of God; and therefore no dependence is to be had on the external hearing of the word.

Behold, a sower went forth to sow; Luke adds, "his seed"; as does also Munster's Hebrew Gospel here; and Mark introduces the parable thus, "hearken, behold!" it being a matter of great importance and concern, which is expressed by this parable, it deserves the most diligent attention. By "the sower" is meant "the son of man", as may be learnt from the explanation of another parable, Mat 13:37 which is Jesus Christ himself, who is often so called on account of his human nature; and may the rather be thought to be intended here, since the seed he sowed is called "his seed"; meaning the Gospel, of which he is the author, publisher, sum and substance; and since he is, by way of eminency, called , "the sower"; which must be understood of him as a prophet, or preacher of the word, who was eminently sent of God, and richly qualified for such an office, and was most diligent in it, and yet his success was but small. Indeed, every minister of the Gospel may be called a sower, who bears precious seed, sows spiritual things, and though in tears, he shall not return empty, but shall reap in joy, and bring his sheaves with him. This sower "went forth" from his own house to his field; which, as applied to Christ, may intend his incarnation, his coming into this world by the assumption of human nature, his appearance in the public ministry, in the land of Judea, and his going forth still in his ministers, and by his Spirit, in the preaching of the Gospel; and, as applied to the preachers of the word, may be explained of their commission, of their being sent, and of their going forth into the field of the world, preaching the Gospel every where. The end of the sower's going forth is to "sow his seed": by "his seed" is meant the word, the word of God; see Mar 4:14 so called, because of the choiceness and excellency of it in itself, that grain which is reserved for seed being usually the best of the kind; and because of its smallness, it being mean and contemptible in the eyes of those, who know not the nature of it; and because of the generative virtue it has, though not without a divine influence. Nor does it bring forth fruit, unless it is sown in the heart, as seed in the earth; where its operation is secret, its growth and increase gradual, and its fruitfulness different. By "sowing", is meant preaching; which, as sowing, requires knowledge and skill, and an open and liberal hand; keeping back nothing that is profitable, a declaring the same doctrine in one place as another; and designs a constant ministration of it, notwithstanding all discouragements, and a patient waiting for success.

(a) Misn. Sota, c. 9. sect. 15. (b) Jarchi & Bartenora in ib. e Talmud. Bab. Sanhedrim, fol. 38. 2.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

3 And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;

Ver. 3. And he spake many things to them in parables] A parable, saith Suidas, is διηγημα και ομοιωσις πραγματων, a setting forth of the matter by way of similitude from something else that differs in kind, and yet in some sort resembleth and illustrateth it. Christ, the prince of preachers, varieth his kind of teaching according to the nature and necessity of his audience, speaking as they could hear, as they could bear, saith St Mark. Ministers, in like sort, must turn themselves, as it were, into all shapes and fashions both of spirit and speech, to win people to God.

Behold, a sower went forth] Our Saviour stirs them up to attention by a "Behold." Which, though it might seem not so needful to be said to such as came far, and now looked through him, as it were, for a sermon: yet he, well knowing how dull men are to conceive heavenly mysteries, how weak to remember, hard to believe, and slow to practise, calls for their uttermost attention to his divine doctrine, and gives them a just reason thereof in his ensuing discourse. It fares with the best, while they hear, as with little ones, when they are saying their lesson; if but a bird fly by, they must needs look after it: besides the devil’s malice striving to distract, stupify, or steal away the good seed, that it may come to nothing.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

To them he spoke many things, from a ship, in parables; probably many more than are here recorded. By familiar and well-known objects, Jesus Christ would thus convey more pleasingly his divine instructions, and teach them to spiritualize their daily labours, and by natural things, which meet the senses, lead them to knowledge of things divine, which we cannot naturally comprehend. (Haydock) --- Several reasons may be assigned why our Lord made use of parables: 1st. The lively imagination of the Orientals made them relish these figurative expressions, which awaken the attention, and exercise the understanding. 2d. The indisposition of his hearers made him frequently veil his instructions under similitudes or parables; but in private, he expounded the meaning to his disciples, who were better disposed, and was ever ready to give every necessary and satisfactory explanation to as many as sincerely wished for it. --- A third motive, given by St. Matthew, was the accomplishment of the prophecies; for one of the characteristics of the Messias was, that he would express himself in this parabolical manner; and Jesus Christ was pleased that the most minute circumstances should be fulfilled in his person, in order that the resemblance between him and the ancient prophets, in the mode of instructing, might induce the Jews to consider him as the great prophet, foretold by Moses. There are few Christians that do not dwell with delight and improvement on our Lord’s parables. Their imagination, warmed with the singular beauty of the imagery, more easily retains them; and the greatest geniuses have ever esteemed them as very superior and striking lessons of morality and religion. --- In his sermon on the mount, Jesus Christ does not make use of parables to convey his instructions to the Jews, for then his auditors were composed of a mixed multitude, and the major part of them illiterate people; but here, on the contrary, they are the Scribes and Pharisees, the doctors of the law. (St. John Chrysostom) --- Jesus Christ speaks sometimes in plain, and sometimes in obscure terms, that, by what they understand, they may be led to the search of what they do not understand. (St. Jerome)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

And he spake many things. Of which but a few are here recorded (cf. vers. 34, 51). Unto them in parables. Taking the expression in the widest sense, "speaking in parables" began in the very earliest ages, when natural or spiritual truths were described under figures taken from everyday life, and continues until the present time, more especially among Eastern nations. Interesting examples of such a method of instruction are to be seen in the Haggadoth (which are frequently parabolic narratives) of the Talmuds and other Jewish works. But both myth (cf. Alford) and parabolic Haggada share the common danger of being misunderstood as narratives which are intended to be taken literally, while in the parable, in the narrower sense of the word, such a confusion is hardly possible. For the narrative then suggests, either by its introduction or its structure, that it is only the mirror by which a truth can be seen, and is not the truth itself. Such parables also, though seldom even approaching in beauty to our Lord"s, are very frequent in Jewish writings, though they come but seldom in the Old Testament. (Isa_28:23-29 2Sa_12:1-6 2Sa_14:6-11 1Ki_20:35-40; comp. also Isa_5:1-7 and Eze_17:1-10, which are rather allegories; and Jud 9:7-15 and 2Ki_14:9, which are fables) (On the distinction of parable in the narrower sense from fable, myth, proverb, allegory, see Alford and Trench.) Weiss ("Life," 2:115) thinks that the most profound reason of all which the Lord had for employing parables was that he wished to show that the same regulations which hold good for the world round us and ourselves in relation to the world and each other, hold good also in the higher ethical and religious life. But at the most this can have been a very subsidiary motive with him. Saying, Behold, a sower. Observe that our Lord enters upon his parable at once (contrast ver. 24). He will attract attention. Mark"s "Hear ye" would have forwarded this. A sower; literally, the sower, as the Revised Version; i.e. the sower of whom I am about to speak. (cf. Driver on 1Sa_19:13; also Mat_1:23 Mat_12:43) Went forth. In the Greek this verb comes first, as though our Lord wished to call attention, not so much to the sower himself as to his action. To sow. (For the minute adherence to actual life throughout the whole of this parable, see by all means Thomson"s "Land and the Book," p. 82, edit. 1887; Stanley"s "Sinai and Palestine," pp. 425, sqq., edit. 1868)

HOMILIES BY MARCUS DODS Vers. 3-23. Parable of the sower.

The object of this parable is to explain the causes of the failure and success of the gospel. It might have been supposed enough to proclaim the kingdom. Why does this fail? It fails, says our Lord, because of the nature of the soil. This soil is often impervious, often shallow, often dirty.

I "SOME SEEDS FELL BY THE WAYSIDE, AND THE FOWLS CAME AND DEVOURED THEM." The spiritual analogue is said to be in him "who heareth the Word, but understandeth it not. " The beaten footpath and the cart track have their uses, but they grow no corn. The seed may be of the best quality, but for all purposes of sowing you might as well sprinkle pebbles or shot. So there is a hearing which keeps the Word entirely outside. It does not even enter the understanding. It rouses no inquiry, provokes no contradiction. You have occasion sometimes to mention a fact to a friend which should alter all his purpose, but you find he has not taken it in. So, says our Lord, there are hearers who do not take in what is said; their understanding is impervious, impenetrable. They hear because this has come to be one of the many employments with which they fill up their time, but they have never considered why they should do so, or what result they should look for. Or there may be a slowness and cold frostiness of nature which prevents the seed from fructifying. The proposals made suggest nothing to the wayside hearer. In some cases the seed apparently lost for years is quickened and brings forth fruit, but in this case never.

II THE SECOND FAULT IS SHALLOWNESS. The sprinkling of soil on the surface of the rock, where the seed quickly springs, and for the same reason quickly decays. There is not depth of soil for any time to be spent in rooting. The shallow hearer is distinguished by two characteristics he straightway receives the Word, and he receives it with joy. The man of deeper character receives it with seriousness, reverence, trembling, foreseeing the trials he will be subjected to. But while these are pondering the vastness of the revelation and the majesty of the hope, and striving to forecast all the results in and upon them, hesitating because they would receive the Word for eternity or not at all, the superficial man has settled the whole matter out of hand, and he who yesterday was known as a scoffer is today a loud-voiced child of the kingdom. These men are almost certainly taken to be the most earnest; you cannot see the root, and what is seen is shown in greatest luxuriance by them. But the same nature which made them susceptible to the gospel and quickly responsive makes them susceptible to pain, suffering, hardship, and easily defeated. When consequences have to be faced they give way. The question of how these shallow natures can be saved hardly falls within the parable, but it may be right to say a man"s nature may be deepened by the relationships and conflicts of life. Much deepening of character is effected in passing through life.

III THE THIRD FAULT IS WHAT IS TECHNICALLY KNOWN AS DIRT. The soil can only support a certain amount of vegetation, and every living weed means a choked blade of corn. This is a picture of the preoccupied heart, the rich vigorous nature occupied with so many other interests that only a small part is available for giving effect to Christ"s ideas. Their interest is real, but there are so many other cares and desires that the result is scarcely discernible. The good crop is not the one with the greatest density of vegetation, but where all is wheat. Most soils have a kind of weed congenial, and the weeds here specified are "the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches," the former being merely the poor man"s species of the latter Among rich and poor alike you will find many who would be left without any subject of thought and any guiding principle in action, if you took from them anxiety about their own position in life. It is not enough to put aside distracting thoughts. Cutting down the thorns won"t do; still less holding them aside till the seed be sown. It is vain to hope for the only right harvest of a human life if your heart is sown with worldly ambitions, a greedy hasting to be rich, an undue love of comfort, a true earthliness of spirit. One seed only must be sown in you, and it will produce all needed diligence in business as well as all fervour of spirit.

There is one important distinction between material and moral sowing. Man is possessed of free will, the power of checking to some extent natural consequences. Therefore the gospel is to be preached to every creature, and we may be expected to bring to the hearing of it a soft, deep, clean soil of heart what Luke calls "an honest and good heart." There will be differences of crop even among those who bring good hearts, but wherever the Word is held fast and patiently cared for, there the life wilt produce all that God cares to have from it. But even the honest heart is not enough unless we keep the Word. The sower must be at pains to cover in the seed and watch that it be not taken away. So the hearer loses his labour unless his mind goes back on what he has heard, and he sees that he has really got hold of it. We have all heard all that is necessary for life and godliness; it remains that we make it our own, that it secures a living root in us and in our life. We must bear it in mind, so that all that comes before us may throw new light on it and give it further hold on us. D.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

In parables - The word is here taken in its proper sense, for apt similes or comparisons. This way of speaking, extremely common in the eastern countries, drew and fixed the attention of many, and occasioned the truths delivered to sink the deeper into humble and serious hearers. At the same time, by an awful mixture of justice and mercy, it hid them from the proud and careless. In this chapter our Lord delivers seven parables; directing the four former (as being of general concern) to all the people; the three latter to his disciples. Behold the sower - How exquisitely proper is this parable to be an introduction to all the rest! In this our Lord answers a very obvious and a very important question. The same sower, Christ, and the same preachers sent by him, always sow the same seed: why has it not always the same effect? He that hath ears to hear, let him hear!

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

The parable story:

v. 3. And He spake many things unto them in parables, saying: Behold, a sower went forth to sow.

v. 4. And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the wayside, and the fowls came, and devoured them up.

v. 5. Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth; and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth.

v. 6. And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.

v. 7. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up and choked them.

v. 8. But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.

Parables are stories of comparison, and as Jesus employed them, He made use of the familiar in nature and in human life and experience to teach and bring home the great facts of His kingdom in its real and in its apparent form. Even ordinarily the Orientals were fond of parables, but Jesus had, besides, a remarkably effective way of catching the attention of His hearers, and emphasizing the important points in the comparison. The parable of the fourfold soil is an example. There is a farmer, a husbandman, such as the people of Galilee were accustomed to see, engaged in sowing his grain, broadcast. It cannot be avoided that some of the seed falls upon the pathway leading through the field, such as were common in Palestine. The result: The grains are trodden under foot; the birds, all manner of birds, pick them up as welcome food. Some of the seeds find lodgment in the stony soil, where the rock was close to the surface, with only a thin covering of earth. The result: The rock holds the heat, there is a quick sprouting and shooting up into the air, but a still quicker scorching by the sun, since the roots have no chance to enter deeply into the ground. Other grains fell among the thorns, where the plow had indeed been used, but had not succeeded in clearing away all the thorn roots. The result: The hardier weeds with their heavy foliage cut off air, light, and moisture from the tender stalks of grain, thus suffocating them. But other seed fell upon good soil, rich, loamy, soft, deep, clean, where it had moisture and sunlight in the right proportion, and could grow up and fulfill the hopes of the husbandman, bringing a rich return for his labor.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3. And he spake many things to them in parables. Of which only samples are preserved, even by Matthew, and still fewer in the other Gospels. Parables. Narratives designed to convey spiritual instruction. The parable differs from the proverb in being a narrative, from the fable in being true to nature, from the myth in being undeceptive, from the allegory in that it veils the spiritual truth. Behold, a sower went forth to sow. It is the sower in the original. There was grain land on every side, and the figure was familiar to every hearer. There are no farm houses in Palestine. All live in towns or villages. Hence, the farmers “go forth” to sow.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

Connecting Statement:

Jesus describes the kingdom of heaven by telling a parable about a person who sows seeds.

Jesus said many things to them in parables

"Jesus told them many things in parables"

to them

"to the people in the crowd"

Behold

"Look" or "Listen." This word calls attention to what is to be said next. AT: "Pay attention to what I am about to tell you"

a farmer went out to sow seed

"a farmer went out to scatter seeds in a field"

As he sowed

"As the farmer scattered the seed"

beside the road

This refers to a "path" next to the field. The ground there would have been hard from people walking on it.

devoured them

"ate all the seeds"

rocky ground

This is ground full of rocks with just a thin layer of soil on top of the rocks.

Immediately they sprang up

"The seeds quickly sprouted and grew"

they were scorched

This can be stated in active form. AT: "the sun scorched the plants, and they became too hot" (See: Active or Passive)

they withered away

"the plants became dry and died"

translationWords

Jesus

parable

plant

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

3. ἐν παραβολαῖς. Up to this time Jesus had preached repentance, proclaiming the kingdom, and setting forth the laws of it in direct terms. He now indicates by parables the reception, growth, characteristics, and future of the kingdom. The reason for this manner of teaching is given below, Mat 13:10-15.

παραβολή, from παραβάλλειν, ‘to put side by side,’ ‘compare’ (Hebr. mashal) = ‘a likeness’ or ‘comparison.’ The meaning of the Hebrew word extends to proverbial sayings: 1Sa 10:12; Pro 1:1, and to poetical narration, Psa 78:2 (see Dean Perowne’s note). Parables differ from fables in being pictures of possible occurrences—frequently of actual daily occurrences,—and in teaching religious truths rather than moral truths. See below Mat 13:10 and Mat 13:33.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3. ἐν παραβολαῖς] The senses of this word in the N.T. are various, and may be found in the lexicons. My present concern with it is to explain its meaning as applied to the “parables” of our Lord. (1) The Parable is not a Fable, inasmuch as the Fable is concerned only with the maxims of worldly prudence, whereas the Parable conveys spiritual truth. The Fable in its form rejects probability, and teaches through the fancy, introducing speaking animals, or even inanimate things; whereas the Parable adheres to probability, and teaches through the imagination, introducing only things which may possibly happen. ἔστι παραβολὴ λόγος ὡς περὶ γενομένου, μὴ γενομένου μὲν κατὰ τὸ ῥητόν, δυναμένου δὲ γίνεσθαι. Origen, cited by Trench on the Parables, p. 4. (2) Nor is the Parable a Myth: inasmuch as in Mythology the course of the story is set before us as the truth, and simple minds receive it as the truth, only the reflective mind penetrating to the distinction between the Vehicle and the thing conveyed; whereas in the Parable these two stand distinct from one another to all minds, so that none but the very simplest would ever believe in the Parable as fact. (3) Nor is the Parable a Proverb: though παραβολή is used for both in the N.T. (Luk 4:23; Luk 5:36: Mat 15:14, Mat 15:15), and παροιμία in John for a Parable (Joh 10:6; Joh 16:25, Joh 16:29). It is indeed more like a Proverb than either of the former; being an expanded Proverb, and a Proverb a concentrated Parable, or Fable, or result of human experience expressed without a figure. Hence it will be seen that the Proverb ranges far wider than the Parable, which is an expansion of only one particular case of a Proverb. Thus ‘Physician heal thyself’ would, if expanded, make a parable; ‘ne sus Minervam,’ a fable; ‘honesty is the best policy,’ neither of these. (4) Nor is the Parable an Allegory: inasmuch as in the Allegory the imaginary persons and actions are placed in the very places and footsteps of the real ones, and stand there instead of them, declaring all the time by their names or actions who and what they are. Thus the Allegory is self-interpreting, and the persons in it are invested with the attributes of those represented; whereas in the Parable the courses of action related and understood run indeed parallel, but the persons are strictly confined to their own natural places and actions, which are, in their relation and succession, typical of higher things. (5) It may well hence be surmised what a Parable is. It is a serious narration, within the limits of probability, of a course of action pointing to some moral or spiritual Truth (‘Collatio per narratiunculam fictam, sed veri similem, serio illustrans rem sublimiorem.’ Unger, de Parabolis Jesu (Meyer)); and derives its force from real analogies impressed by the Creator of all things on His creatures. The great Teacher by parables therefore is He who needed not that any should testify of man; for He knew what was in man, Joh 2:25: moreover, He made man, and orders the course and character of human events. And this is the reason why none can, or dare, teach by parables, except Christ. We do not, as He did, see the inner springs out of which flow those laws of eternal truth and justice, which the Parable is framed to elucidate. Our parables would be in danger of perverting, instead of guiding aright. The Parable is especially adapted to different classes of hearers at once: it is understood by each according to his measure of understanding. See note on ver. 12.

The seven parables related in this chapter cannot be regarded as a collection made by the Evangelist as relating to one subject, the Kingdom of Heaven and its development; they are clearly indicated by ver. 53 to have been all spoken on one and the same occasion, and form indeed a complete and glorious whole in their inner and deeper sense. The first four of these parables appear to have been spoken to the multitude from the ship (the interpretation of the parable of the sower being interposed); the last three, to the disciples in the house.

From the expression ἤρξατο in Mk. compared with the question of the disciples in ver. 10,—and with ver. 34,—it appears that this was the first beginning of our Lord’s teaching by parables, expressly so delivered, and properly so called. And the natural sequence of things here agrees with, and confirms Matthew’s arrangement against those who would place (as Ebrard) all this chapter before the Sermon on the Mount. He there spoke without parables, or mainly so; and continued to do so till the rejection and misunderstanding of his teaching led to His judicially adopting the course here indicated, χωρὶς παρ. οὐδὲν ἐλάλει αὐτοῖς. The other order would be inconceivable: that after such parabolic teaching, and such a reason assigned for it, the Lord should, that reason remaining in full force, have deserted his parabolic teaching, and opened out his meaning as plainly as in the Sermon on the Mount.

3-9.] The Sower. Mar 4:2-9. Luk 8:4-8. See note on the locality in vv. 51, 52.

3.] For the explanation of the parable see on vv. 19-23. ὁ σπ., generic, singular of οἱ σπείροντες—a sower; he that soweth.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

(M) 3. And He spake to them many things in parables, saying, Behold, the sower went out to sow.] Mk. has: “And He was teaching them many things in parables, and He said to them in His teaching, Hear; Behold, the sower went out to sow.”

πολλά] Mt. generally omits Mk.’s adverbial πολλά.—ἐλάλησεν] abbreviates Mk.’s ἐδίδασκεν—καὶ ἔλεγεν αὐτοῖς ἐν τῇ διδαχῇ αὐτοῦ. See Introduction, p. xxiv.—τοῦ σπείρειν] for Mk.’s σπεῖραι. Mt. has τοῦ with inf. 7 times. The present tense emphasises the continuance of the action. See Blass, p. 196 f., and note on 11:1.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.