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Text -- Matthew 13:1-47 (NET)
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Strongs On/Off
Context
The Parable of the Sower
13:1 On that day after Jesus went out of the house , he sat by the lake .
13:2 And such a large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat to sit while the whole crowd stood on the shore .
13:3 He told them many things in parables , saying : “Listen ! A sower went out to sow .
13:4 And as he sowed , some seeds fell along the path , and the birds came and devoured them .
13:5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground where they did not have much soil . They sprang up quickly because the soil was not deep .
13:6 But when the sun came up , they were scorched , and because they did not have sufficient root , they withered .
13:7 Other seeds fell among the thorns , and they grew up and choked them .
13:8 But other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain , some a hundred times as much, some sixty , and some thirty .
13:9 The one who has ears had better listen !”
13:10 Then the disciples came to him and said , “Why do you speak to them in parables ?”
13:11 He replied , “You have been given the opportunity to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven , but they have not .
13:12 For whoever has will be given more, and will have an abundance . But whoever does not have , even what he has will be taken from him .
13:13 For this reason I speak to them in parables : Although they see they do not see , and although they hear they do not hear nor do they understand .
13:14 And concerning them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says : ‘You will listen carefully yet will never understand , you will look closely yet will never comprehend .
13:15 For the heart of this people has become dull ; they are hard of hearing , hearing , and they have shut their eyes , so that they would not see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their hearts and turn , and I would heal them .’
13:16 “But your eyes are blessed because they see , and your ears because they hear .
13:17 For I tell you the truth , many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.
13:18 “So listen to the parable of the sower :
13:19 When anyone hears the word about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches what was sown in his heart ; this is the seed sown along the path .
13:20 The seed sown on rocky ground is the person who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy .
13:21 But he has no root in himself and does not endure ; when trouble or persecution comes because of the word , immediately he falls away .
13:22 The seed sown among thorns is the person who hears the word , but worldly cares and the seductiveness of wealth choke the word , so it produces nothing . nothing .
13:23 But as for the seed sown on good soil , this is the person who hears the word and understands . He bears fruit , yielding a hundred , sixty , or thirty times what was sown.”
The Parable of the Weeds
13:24 He presented them with another parable : “The kingdom of heaven is like a person who sowed good seed in his field .
13:25 But while everyone was sleeping , an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away .
13:26 When the plants sprouted and bore grain , then the weeds also appeared .
13:27 So the slaves of the owner came and said to him , ‘Sir , didn’t you sow good seed in your field ? Then where did the weeds come from ?’
13:28 He said , ‘An enemy has done this .’ So the slaves replied , ‘Do you want us to go and gather them ?’
13:29 But he said , ‘No , since in gathering the weeds you may uproot the wheat with them .
13:30 Let both grow together until the harvest . At harvest time I will tell the reapers , “First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned , but then gather the wheat into my barn .”’”
The Parable of the Mustard Seed
13:31 He gave them another parable : “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field .
13:32 It is the smallest of all the seeds , but when it has grown it is the greatest garden plant and becomes a tree , so that the wild birds come and nest in its branches .”
The Parable of the Yeast
13:33 He told them another parable : “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with three measures of flour until all the dough had risen .”
The Purpose of Parables
13:34 Jesus spoke all these things in parables to the crowds ; he did not speak to them without a parable .
13:35 This fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet : “I will open my mouth in parables , I will announce what has been hidden from the foundation of the world.”
Explanation for the Disciples
13:36 Then he left the crowds and went into the house . And his disciples came to him saying , “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field .”
13:37 He answered , “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man .
13:38 The field is the world and the good seed are the people of the kingdom . The weeds are the people of the evil one ,
13:39 and the enemy who sows them is the devil . The harvest is the end of the age , and the reapers are angels .
13:40 As the weeds are collected and burned with fire , so it will be at the end of the age .
13:41 The Son of Man will send his angels , and they will gather from his kingdom everything that causes sin as well as all lawbreakers .
13:42 They will throw them into the fiery furnace , where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth .
13:43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father . The one who has ears had better listen !
Parables on the Kingdom of Heaven
13:44 “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure , hidden in a field , that a person found and hid . Then because of joy he went and sold all that he had and bought that field .
13:45 “Again , the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls .
13:46 When he found a pearl of great value , he went out and sold everything he had and bought it .
13:47 “Again , the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was cast into the sea that caught all kinds of fish.
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Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics
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Names, People and Places:
Dictionary Themes and Topics:
Church |
Jesus, The Christ |
JESUS CHRIST, 4C1 |
NUMBER |
MARK, THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO, 1 |
KING, CHRIST AS |
Fishing, the art of |
Sermon |
JESUS CHRIST, 3 |
Matthew, Gospel according to |
Seed |
Agriculture |
PROVIDENCE, 1 |
Gospel |
Tares |
Kingdom |
Word of God |
MILLENNIUM, PREMILLENNIAL VIEW |
PARABLE |
Wicked |
more
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expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes
NET Notes -> Mat 13:2; Mat 13:3; Mat 13:3; Mat 13:3; Mat 13:3; Mat 13:4; Mat 13:5; Mat 13:5; Mat 13:5; Mat 13:7; Mat 13:7; Mat 13:9; Mat 13:10; Mat 13:11; Mat 13:11; Mat 13:11; Mat 13:11; Mat 13:11; Mat 13:12; Mat 13:14; Mat 13:14; Mat 13:15; Mat 13:16; Mat 13:17; Mat 13:17; Mat 13:19; Mat 13:19; Mat 13:20; Mat 13:20; Mat 13:21; Mat 13:21; Mat 13:22; Mat 13:22; Mat 13:22; Mat 13:23; Mat 13:24; Mat 13:25; Mat 13:26; Mat 13:27; Mat 13:28; Mat 13:30; Mat 13:30; Mat 13:30; Mat 13:31; Mat 13:31; Mat 13:31; Mat 13:32; Mat 13:32; Mat 13:32; Mat 13:33; Mat 13:33; Mat 13:33; Mat 13:33; Mat 13:35; Mat 13:35; Mat 13:35; Mat 13:37; Mat 13:38; Mat 13:38; Mat 13:40; Mat 13:41; Mat 13:42; Mat 13:43; Mat 13:43
NET Notes: Mat 13:2 Grk “and all the crowd.” The clause in this phrase, although coordinate in terms of grammar, is logically subordinate to the previous clau...
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NET Notes: Mat 13:3 A sower went out to sow. The background for this well-known parable, drawn from a typical scene in the Palestinian countryside, is a field through whi...
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NET Notes: Mat 13:4 In Matthew’s version of this parable, plural pronouns are used to refer to the seed in v. 4 (ἅ…αὐτά [Ja…a...
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NET Notes: Mat 13:9 The translation “had better listen!” captures the force of the third person imperative more effectively than the traditional “let hi...
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NET Notes: Mat 13:10 Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
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NET Notes: Mat 13:11 The key term secrets (μυστήριον, musthrion) can mean either (1) a new revelation or (2) a revealing inte...
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NET Notes: Mat 13:12 What he has will be taken from him. The meaning is that the one who accepts Jesus’ teaching concerning his person and the kingdom will receive a...
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NET Notes: Mat 13:14 Grk “look by looking.” The participle is redundant, functioning to intensify the force of the main verb.
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NET Notes: Mat 13:15 A quotation from Isa 6:9-10. Thus parables both conceal or reveal depending on whether one is open to hearing what they teach.
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NET Notes: Mat 13:16 This beatitude highlights the great honor bestowed on the disciples to share in this salvation.
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NET Notes: Mat 13:17 This is what past prophets and righteous people had wanted very much to see, yet the fulfillment had come to the disciples. This remark is like 1 Pet ...
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NET Notes: Mat 13:19 The word of Jesus has the potential to save if it germinates in a person’s heart, something the devil is very much against.
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NET Notes: Mat 13:20 Grk “The one sown on rocky ground, this is the one.” The next two statements like this one have this same syntactical structure.
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NET Notes: Mat 13:23 The Greek is difficult to translate because it switches from a generic “he” to three people within this generic class (thus, something lik...
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NET Notes: Mat 13:24 Grk “He set before them another parable, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant and has not been tran...
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NET Notes: Mat 13:25 Grk “sowed darnel.” The Greek term ζιζάνιον (zizanion) refers to an especially undesirable weed th...
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NET Notes: Mat 13:28 Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the owner’s statement.
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NET Notes: Mat 13:32 The point of the parable seems to be that while the kingdom of God may appear to have insignificant and unnoticeable beginnings (i.e., in the ministry...
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NET Notes: Mat 13:33 The parable of the yeast and the dough teaches that the kingdom of God will start small but eventually grow to permeate everything. Jesus’ point...
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NET Notes: Mat 13:37 Grk “And answering, he said.” This construction is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation. Here δ...
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NET Notes: Mat 13:38 Grk “the sons of the evil one.” See the preceding note on the phrase “people of the kingdom” earlier in this verse, which is t...
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