Mark 2:13

The Call of Levi; Eating with Sinners

2:13 Jesus ¹  went out again by the sea. The whole crowd came to him, and he taught them.

Matthew 13:1-9

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 ²  the whole crowd stood on the shore. 13:3 He ³  told them many things in parables, ⁴  saying: “Listen! ⁵  A sower went out to sow. ⁶  13:4 And as he sowed, some seeds ⁷  fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. 13:5 Other ⁸  seeds fell on rocky ground ⁹  where they did not have much soil. They sprang up quickly because the soil was not deep. ¹⁰  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, ¹¹  and they grew up and choked them. ¹²  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 

Luke 8:4-8

The Parable of the Sower

8:4 While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus ¹⁴  from one town after another, ¹⁵  he spoke to them ¹⁶  in a parable: 8:5 “A sower went out to sow ¹⁷  his seed. ¹⁸  And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled on, and the wild birds ¹⁹  devoured it. 8:6 Other seed fell on rock, ²⁰  and when it came up, it withered because it had no moisture. 8:7 Other seed fell among the thorns, ²¹  and they grew up with it and choked ²²  it. 8:8 But ²³  other seed fell on good soil and grew, ²⁴  and it produced a hundred times as much grain.” ²⁵  As he said this, ²⁶  he called out, “The one who has ears to hear had better listen!” ²⁷ 

[2:13]  ¹ tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:2]  ² tn Grk “and all the crowd.” The clause in this phrase, although coordinate in terms of grammar, is logically subordinate to the previous clause.

[13:3]  ³ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[13:3]  ⁴ sn Though parables can contain a variety of figures of speech (cf. the remainder of chapter 13), many times they are simply stories that attempt to teach spiritual truth (which is unknown to the hearers) by using a comparison with something known to the hearers. In general, parables usually advance a single idea, though there may be many parts and characters in a single parable and subordinate ideas may expand the main idea further. The beauty of using the parable as a teaching device is that it draws the listener into the story, elicits an evaluation, and demands a response.

[13:3]  ⁵ tn Grk “Behold.”

[13:3]  ⁶ sn 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 which a well-worn path runs. Sowing would occur in late fall or early winter (October to December) in the rainy season, looking for sprouting in April or May and a June harvest. The use of seed as a figure for God’s giving life has OT roots (Isa 55:10-11). The point of the parable of the sower is to illustrate the various responses to the message of the kingdom of God.

[13:4]  ⁴ tn In Matthew’s version of this parable, plural pronouns are used to refer to the seed in v. 4 (ἅ…αὐτά [Ja…auta]), although the collective singular is used in v. 5 and following (indicated by the singular verbs like ἔπεσεν [epesen]). For the sake of consistency in English, plural pronouns referring to the seed are used in the translation throughout the Matthean account. In both Mark and Luke the collective singular is used consistently throughout (cf. Mark 4:1-9; Luke 8:4-8).

[13:5]  ⁵ tn Here and in vv. 7 and 8 δέ (de) has not been translated.

[13:5]  ⁶ sn The rocky ground in Palestine would be a limestone base lying right under the soil.

[13:5]  ⁷ tn Grk “it did not have enough depth of earth.”

[13:7]  ⁶ sn Palestinian weeds like these thorns could grow up to six feet in height and have a major root system.

[13:7]  ⁷ sn That is, crowded out the good plants.

[13:9]  ⁷ tn The translation “had better listen!” captures the force of the third person imperative more effectively than the traditional “let him hear,” which sounds more like a permissive than an imperative to the modern English reader. This was Jesus’ common expression to listen and heed carefully (cf. Matt 11:15, 13:43; Mark 4:9, 23; Luke 8:8, 14:35).

[8:4]  ⁸ tn Grk “to him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:4]  ⁹ tn This phrase renders a distributive use of κατά (kata) with πόλις (polis), literally “according to [each] town.”

[8:4]  ¹⁰ tn The words “to them” do not appear in the Greek text but are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[8:5]  ⁹ sn A sower went out to sow. The background for this well-known parable is a field through which a well-worn path runs in the Palestinian countryside. Sowing would occur in late fall or early winter (October to December) in the rainy season, looking for sprouting in April or May and a June harvest. The use of seed as a figure for God’s giving life has OT roots: Isa 55:10-11.

[8:5]  ¹⁰ tn Luke’s version of the parable, like Mark’s (cf. Mark 4:1-9) uses the collective singular to refer to the seed throughout, so singular pronouns have been used consistently throughout this parable in the English translation. However, the parallel account in Matt 13:1-9 begins with plural pronouns in v. 4 but then switches to the collective singular in v. 5 ff.

[8:5]  ¹¹ tn Grk “the birds of the sky” or “the birds of the heaven”; the Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated either “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context. The idiomatic expression “birds of the sky” refers to wild birds as opposed to domesticated fowl (cf. BDAG 809 s.v. πετεινόν).

[8:6]  ¹⁰ sn The rock in Palestine would be a limestone base lying right under the soil.

[8:7]  ¹¹ sn Palestinian weeds like these thorns could grow up to six feet in height and have a major root system.

[8:7]  ¹² sn That is, crowded out the good plants.

[8:8]  ¹² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in the final stage of the parable.

[8:8]  ¹³ tn Grk “when it grew, after it grew.”

[8:8]  ¹⁴ sn Unlike the parallel accounts in Matt 13:8 and Mark 4:8, there is no distinction in yield in this version of the parable.

[8:8]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “said these things.”

[8:8]  ¹⁶ tn The translation “had better listen!” captures the force of the third person imperative more effectively than the traditional “let him hear,” which sounds more like a permissive than an imperative to the modern English reader. This was Jesus’ common expression to listen and heed carefully (cf. Matt 11:15; 13:9, 43; Mark 4:9, 23; Luke 14:35).