Mark 4:33

The Use of Parables

4:33 So ¹  with many parables like these, he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear.

Mark 4:1

The Parable of the Sower

4:1 Again he began to teach by the lake. Such a large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat on the lake and sat there while ²  the whole crowd was on the shore by the lake.

Colossians 3:1-2

Exhortations to Seek the Things Above

3:1 Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 3:2 Keep thinking about things above, not things on the earth,

Hebrews 5:11-14

The Need to Move on to Maturity

5:11 On this topic we have much to say ³  and it is difficult to explain, since you have become sluggish ⁴  in hearing. 5:12 For though you should in fact be teachers by this time, ⁵  you need someone to teach you the beginning elements of God’s utterances. ⁶  You have gone back to needing ⁷  milk, not ⁸  solid food. 5:13 For everyone who lives on milk is inexperienced in the message of righteousness, because he is an infant. 5:14 But solid food is for the mature, whose perceptions are trained by practice to discern both good and evil.

[4:33]  ¹ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.

[4:1]  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.

[5:11]  ³ tn Grk “concerning which the message for us is great.”

[5:11]  ⁴ tn Or “dull.”

[5:12]  ⁵ tn Grk “because of the time.”

[5:12]  ⁶ tn Grk “the elements of the beginning of the oracles of God.”

[5:12]  ⁷ tn Grk “you have come to have a need for.”

[5:12]  ⁸ tc ‡ Most texts, including some early and important ones (א² A B* D Ψ 0122 0278 1881 Ï sy Cl), have καί (kai, “and”) immediately preceding οὐ (ou, “not”), but other equally significant witnesses (Ì⁴⁶ א* B² C 33 81 1739 lat Or Did) lack the conjunction. As it was a natural tendency for scribes to add a coordinating conjunction, the καί appears to be a motivated reading. On balance, it is probably best to regard the shorter reading as authentic. NA²⁷ has καί in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.