Matthew 13:3-4

13:3 He ¹  told them many things in parables, ²  saying: “Listen! ³  A sower went out to sow. ⁴  13:4 And as he sowed, some seeds ⁵  fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them.

Matthew 13:18-19

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 ⁶  comes and snatches what was sown in his heart; ⁷  this is the seed sown along the path.

Matthew 13:24-26

The Parable of the Weeds

13:24 He presented them with another parable: ⁸  “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 ⁹  among the wheat and went away. 13:26 When ¹⁰  the plants sprouted and bore grain, then the weeds also appeared.

Matthew 13:37

13:37 He ¹¹  answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man.

[13:3]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[13:3]  ² 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]  ³ tn Grk “Behold.”

[13:3]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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).

[13:19]  ⁶ sn Interestingly, the synoptic parallels each use a different word for Satan here: Mark 4:15 has “Satan,” while Luke 8:12 has “the devil.” This illustrates the fluidity of the gospel tradition in often using synonyms at the same point of the parallel tradition.

[13:19]  ⁷ 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.

[13:24]  ⁸ tn Grk “He set before them another parable, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant and has not been translated.

[13:25]  ⁹ tn Grk “sowed darnel.” The Greek term ζιζάνιον (zizanion) refers to an especially undesirable weed that looks like wheat but has poisonous seeds (L&N 3.30).

[13:26]  ¹⁰ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[13:37]  ¹¹ tn Grk “And answering, he said.” This construction is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.