Matthew 13:1-16

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 ¹  the whole crowd stood on the shore. 13:3 He ²  told them many things in parables, ³  saying: “Listen! ⁴  A sower went out to sow. ⁵  13:4 And as he sowed, some seeds ⁶  fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. 13:5 Other ⁷  seeds fell on rocky ground ⁸  where they did not have much soil. They sprang up quickly because the soil was not deep. ⁹  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, ¹⁰  and they grew up and choked them. ¹¹  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!” ¹² 

13:10 Then ¹³  the disciples came to him and said, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” 13:11 He replied, ¹⁴  “You have been given ¹⁵  the opportunity to know ¹⁶  the secrets ¹⁷  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. ¹⁸  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 ¹⁹  yet will never understand,

you will look closely ²⁰  yet will never comprehend.

13:15 For the heart of this people has become dull;

they are hard of 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.’ ²¹ 

13:16 “But your eyes are blessed ²²  because they see, and your ears because they hear.

[13:2]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[13:3]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Grk “Behold.”

[13:3]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Here and in vv. 7 and 8 δέ (de) has not been translated.

[13:5]  ⁸ sn The rocky ground in Palestine would be a limestone base lying right under the soil.

[13:5]  ⁹ tn Grk “it did not have enough depth of earth.”

[13:7]  ¹⁰ sn Palestinian weeds like these thorns could grow up to six feet in height and have a major root system.

[13:7]  ¹¹ sn That is, crowded out the good plants.

[13:9]  ¹² 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).

[13:10]  ¹³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[13:11]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “And answering, he said to them.” This construction is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[13:11]  ¹⁵ tn This is an example of a “divine passive,” with God understood to be the source of the revelation (see ExSyn 437-38).

[13:11]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “to you it has been given to know.” The dative pronoun occurs first, in emphatic position in the Greek text, although this position is awkward in contemporary English.

[13:11]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “the mysteries.”

[13:12]  ¹⁸ sn 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 share in the kingdom now and even more in the future, but for the one who rejects Jesus’ words, the opportunity that that person presently possesses with respect to the kingdom will someday be taken away forever.

[13:14]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “with hearing,” a cognate dative that intensifies the action of the main verb “you will listen” (ExSyn 168-69).

[13:14]  ²⁰ tn Grk “look by looking.” The participle is redundant, functioning to intensify the force of the main verb.

[13:15]  ²¹ sn A quotation from Isa 6:9-10. Thus parables both conceal or reveal depending on whether one is open to hearing what they teach.

[13:16]  ²² sn This beatitude highlights the great honor bestowed on the disciples to share in this salvation.