Luke 8:11-13

8:11 “Now the parable means ¹  this: The seed is the word of God. 8:12 Those along the path are the ones who have heard; then the devil ²  comes and takes away the word ³  from their hearts, so that they may not believe ⁴  and be saved. 8:13 Those ⁵  on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, ⁶  but ⁷  in a time of testing ⁸  fall away. ⁹ 

[8:11]  ¹ tn Grk “is,” but in this context it is clearly giving an explanation of the parable.

[8:12]  ² sn Interestingly, the synoptic parallels each use a different word for the devil here: Matt 13:19 has “the evil one,” while Mark 4:15 has “Satan.” This illustrates the fluidity of the gospel tradition in often using synonyms at the same point of the parallel tradition.

[8:12]  ³ sn The word of Jesus has the potential to save if it germinates in a person’s heart, something the devil is very much against.

[8:12]  ⁴ tn The participle πιστεύσαντες (pisteusante") has been translated as a finite verb here. It may be regarded as an adverbial participle of attendant circumstance. From a logical standpoint the negative must govern both the participle and the finite verb.

[8:13]  ³ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[8:13]  ⁴ sn This time of temporary faith represented by the description believe for a while is presented rather tragically in the passage. The seed does not get a chance to do all it can.

[8:13]  ⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[8:13]  ⁶ tn Traditionally, “temptation.” Such a translation puts the emphasis on temptation to sin rather than testing of faith, which is what the context seems to indicate.

[8:13]  ⁷ sn Fall away. On the idea of falling away and the warnings against it, see 2 Tim 3:1; Heb 3:12; Jer 3:14; Dan 9:9.