Mark 4:2 Themes and Topics

He spoke at some length to them in parables, saying: "A sower went out to sow, and as he sowed some seeds fell on the road and the birds came and ate them up. Some other seeds fell on stony soil where they had not much earth, and shot up at once because they had no depth of soil; read more.
but when the sun rose they got scorched and withered away because they had no root. Some other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. Some other seeds fell on good soil and bore a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirtyfold. He who has an ear, let him listen to this."

Once more he proceeded to teach by the seaside, and a crowd gathered round him greater than ever, so he entered a boat on the sea and sat down, while all the crowd stayed on shore. He gave them many lessons in parables, and said to them in the course of his teaching: "Listen, a sower went out to sow, read more.
and as he sowed it chanced that some seed fell on the road, and the birds came and ate it up; some other seed fell on stony soil where it had not much earth, and it shot up at once because it had no depth of earth, but when the sun rose it got scorched and withered away, because it had no root; some other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked it, so it bore no crop; some other seed fell on good soil and bore a crop that sprang up and grew, yielding at the rate of thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold." He added, "Anyone who has ears to hear, let him listen to this." When he was by himself his adherents and the twelve asked him about the parable, and he said to them: "The open secret of the Realm of God is granted to you, but these outsiders get everything by way of parables, so that for all their seeing they may not perceive, and for all their hearing they may not understand, lest they turn and be forgiven." And he said to them, "You do not understand this parable? Then how are you to understand the other parables? The sower sows the word. As for those 'on the road,' when the seed is sown there ??as soon as they hear it, Satan at once comes and carries off the word sown within them. Similarly those who are sown 'on stony soil' are the people who on hearing the word accept it with enthusiasm; but they have no root in themselves, they do not last; the next thing is that when the word brings trouble or persecution, they are at once repelled. Another set are those who are sown 'among thorns'; they listen to the word, but the worries of the world and the delight of being rich and all the other passions come in to choke the word; so it proves unfruitful. As for those who were sown 'on good soil,' these are the people who listen to the word and take it in and bear fruit at the rate of thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold."

As a large crowd was gathering and as people were resorting to him from town after town, he addressed them in a parable. "A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the road and was trampled down, and the wild birds ate it up; some other seed dropped on the rock, but it withered away when it sprang up because it had no moisture; read more.
some other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up along with it and choked it; some other seed fell on sound soil, and springing up bore a crop, a hundredfold." When he said this he called out, "He who has an ear, let him listen to this." The disciples questioned him about the meaning of the parable; so he said, "It is granted you to understand the open secrets of the Reign of God, but the others get it in parables, so that for all their seeing they may not see, and for all their hearing they may not understand. This is what the parable means. The seed is the word of God. Those 'on the road' are people who hear; but then the devil comes and carries off the word from their heart, that they may not believe and be saved. Those 'on the rock' are people who on hearing the word welcome it with enthusiasm, but they have no root; they believe for a while and fall away in the hour of trial. As for the seed that fell among thorns, that means people who hear but who go and get choked with worries and money and the pleasures of life, so that they never ripen. As for the seed in the good soil, that means those who hear and hold fast the word in a good and sound heart and so bear fruit stedfastly.

Anyone who is 'advanced' and will not remain by the doctrine of Christ, does not possess God: he who remains by the doctrine of Christ possesses both the Father and the Son. Verse Concepts

When Jesus finished his speech, the crowds were astounded at his teaching; Verse Concepts

He gave them many lessons in parables, and said to them in the course of his teaching: Verse Concepts

Jesus told them in reply, "My teaching is not my own but his who sent me; Verse Concepts

He spoke at some length to them in parables, saying: "A sower went out to sow, and as he sowed some seeds fell on the road and the birds came and ate them up. Some other seeds fell on stony soil where they had not much earth, and shot up at once because they had no depth of soil; read more.
but when the sun rose they got scorched and withered away because they had no root. Some other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. Some other seeds fell on good soil and bore a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirtyfold. He who has an ear, let him listen to this."

"A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the road and was trampled down, and the wild birds ate it up; some other seed dropped on the rock, but it withered away when it sprang up because it had no moisture; some other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up along with it and choked it; read more.
some other seed fell on sound soil, and springing up bore a crop, a hundredfold." When he said this he called out, "He who has an ear, let him listen to this."

Now, listen to the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the Realm and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart; that is the man who is sown 'on the road.' As for him who is sown 'on stony soil,' that is the man who hears the word and accepts it at once with enthusiasm; read more.
he has no root in himself, he does not last, but when the word brings trouble or persecution he is at once repelled. As for him who is sown 'among thorns,' that is the man who listens to the word, but the worry of the world and the delight of being rich choke the word; so it proves unfruitful. As for him who is sown 'on good soil,' that is the man who hears the word and understands it; he bears fruit, producing now a hundredfold, now sixty, and now thirtyfold."

Once more he proceeded to teach by the seaside, and a crowd gathered round him greater than ever, so he entered a boat on the sea and sat down, while all the crowd stayed on shore. He gave them many lessons in parables, and said to them in the course of his teaching: "Listen, a sower went out to sow, read more.
and as he sowed it chanced that some seed fell on the road, and the birds came and ate it up; some other seed fell on stony soil where it had not much earth, and it shot up at once because it had no depth of earth, but when the sun rose it got scorched and withered away, because it had no root; some other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked it, so it bore no crop; some other seed fell on good soil and bore a crop that sprang up and grew, yielding at the rate of thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold." He added, "Anyone who has ears to hear, let him listen to this."

The sower sows the word. As for those 'on the road,' when the seed is sown there ??as soon as they hear it, Satan at once comes and carries off the word sown within them. Similarly those who are sown 'on stony soil' are the people who on hearing the word accept it with enthusiasm; read more.
but they have no root in themselves, they do not last; the next thing is that when the word brings trouble or persecution, they are at once repelled. Another set are those who are sown 'among thorns'; they listen to the word, but the worries of the world and the delight of being rich and all the other passions come in to choke the word; so it proves unfruitful. As for those who were sown 'on good soil,' these are the people who listen to the word and take it in and bear fruit at the rate of thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold."

This is what the parable means. The seed is the word of God. Those 'on the road' are people who hear; but then the devil comes and carries off the word from their heart, that they may not believe and be saved. Those 'on the rock' are people who on hearing the word welcome it with enthusiasm, but they have no root; they believe for a while and fall away in the hour of trial. read more.
As for the seed that fell among thorns, that means people who hear but who go and get choked with worries and money and the pleasures of life, so that they never ripen. As for the seed in the good soil, that means those who hear and hold fast the word in a good and sound heart and so bear fruit stedfastly.

That same day Jesus went out of the house and seated himself by the seaside; but, as great crowds gathered to him, he entered a boat and sat down, while all the crowd stood on the beach. He spoke at some length to them in parables, saying: "A sower went out to sow, read more.
and as he sowed some seeds fell on the road and the birds came and ate them up. Some other seeds fell on stony soil where they had not much earth, and shot up at once because they had no depth of soil; but when the sun rose they got scorched and withered away because they had no root. Some other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. Some other seeds fell on good soil and bore a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirtyfold. He who has an ear, let him listen to this." Then the disciples came up and said to him, "Why do you speak in parables?" He replied, "Because it is granted you to understand the open secrets of the Realm of heaven, but it is not granted to these people. For he who has, to him shall more be given and richly given, but whoever has not, from him shall be taken even what he has. This is why I speak to them in parables, because for all their seeing they do not see and for all their hearing they do not hear or understand. In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled: You will hear and hear but never understand, you will see and see but never perceive. For the heart of this people is obtuse, their ears are heavy of hearing, their eyes they have closed, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they understand with their heart and turn again, and I cure them. But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears, for they hear! I tell you truly, many prophets and good men have longed to see what you see, but they have not seen it; and to hear what you hear, but they have not heard it. Now, listen to the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the Realm and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart; that is the man who is sown 'on the road.' As for him who is sown 'on stony soil,' that is the man who hears the word and accepts it at once with enthusiasm; he has no root in himself, he does not last, but when the word brings trouble or persecution he is at once repelled. As for him who is sown 'among thorns,' that is the man who listens to the word, but the worry of the world and the delight of being rich choke the word; so it proves unfruitful. As for him who is sown 'on good soil,' that is the man who hears the word and understands it; he bears fruit, producing now a hundredfold, now sixty, and now thirtyfold."

Once more he proceeded to teach by the seaside, and a crowd gathered round him greater than ever, so he entered a boat on the sea and sat down, while all the crowd stayed on shore. He gave them many lessons in parables, and said to them in the course of his teaching: "Listen, a sower went out to sow, read more.
and as he sowed it chanced that some seed fell on the road, and the birds came and ate it up; some other seed fell on stony soil where it had not much earth, and it shot up at once because it had no depth of earth, but when the sun rose it got scorched and withered away, because it had no root; some other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked it, so it bore no crop; some other seed fell on good soil and bore a crop that sprang up and grew, yielding at the rate of thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold." He added, "Anyone who has ears to hear, let him listen to this." When he was by himself his adherents and the twelve asked him about the parable, and he said to them: "The open secret of the Realm of God is granted to you, but these outsiders get everything by way of parables, so that for all their seeing they may not perceive, and for all their hearing they may not understand, lest they turn and be forgiven." And he said to them, "You do not understand this parable? Then how are you to understand the other parables? The sower sows the word. As for those 'on the road,' when the seed is sown there ??as soon as they hear it, Satan at once comes and carries off the word sown within them. Similarly those who are sown 'on stony soil' are the people who on hearing the word accept it with enthusiasm; but they have no root in themselves, they do not last; the next thing is that when the word brings trouble or persecution, they are at once repelled. Another set are those who are sown 'among thorns'; they listen to the word, but the worries of the world and the delight of being rich and all the other passions come in to choke the word; so it proves unfruitful. As for those who were sown 'on good soil,' these are the people who listen to the word and take it in and bear fruit at the rate of thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold." He also said to them, "Is a lamp brought to be placed under a bowl or a bed? Is it not to be placed upon the stand? Nothing is hidden except to be disclosed, nothing concealed except to be revealed. If anyone has an ear to hear, let him listen to this." Also he said to them, "Take care what you hear; the measure you deal out to others will be dealt out to yourselves, and you will receive extra. For he who has, to him shall more be given; while as for him who has not, from him shall be taken even what he has."

As a large crowd was gathering and as people were resorting to him from town after town, he addressed them in a parable. "A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the road and was trampled down, and the wild birds ate it up; some other seed dropped on the rock, but it withered away when it sprang up because it had no moisture; read more.
some other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up along with it and choked it; some other seed fell on sound soil, and springing up bore a crop, a hundredfold." When he said this he called out, "He who has an ear, let him listen to this." The disciples questioned him about the meaning of the parable; so he said, "It is granted you to understand the open secrets of the Reign of God, but the others get it in parables, so that for all their seeing they may not see, and for all their hearing they may not understand. This is what the parable means. The seed is the word of God. Those 'on the road' are people who hear; but then the devil comes and carries off the word from their heart, that they may not believe and be saved. Those 'on the rock' are people who on hearing the word welcome it with enthusiasm, but they have no root; they believe for a while and fall away in the hour of trial. As for the seed that fell among thorns, that means people who hear but who go and get choked with worries and money and the pleasures of life, so that they never ripen. As for the seed in the good soil, that means those who hear and hold fast the word in a good and sound heart and so bear fruit stedfastly. No one lights a lamp and hides it under a vessel or puts it below the bed: he puts it on a stand so that those who come in can see the light. For nothing is hidden that shall not be disclosed, nothing concealed that shall not be known and revealed. So take care how you listen; for he who has, to him shall more be given, while as for him who has not, from him shall be taken even what he thinks he has."

That same day Jesus went out of the house and seated himself by the seaside; but, as great crowds gathered to him, he entered a boat and sat down, while all the crowd stood on the beach. He spoke at some length to them in parables, saying: "A sower went out to sow, read more.
and as he sowed some seeds fell on the road and the birds came and ate them up. Some other seeds fell on stony soil where they had not much earth, and shot up at once because they had no depth of soil; but when the sun rose they got scorched and withered away because they had no root. Some other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. Some other seeds fell on good soil and bore a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirtyfold. He who has an ear, let him listen to this." Then the disciples came up and said to him, "Why do you speak in parables?" He replied, "Because it is granted you to understand the open secrets of the Realm of heaven, but it is not granted to these people. For he who has, to him shall more be given and richly given, but whoever has not, from him shall be taken even what he has. This is why I speak to them in parables, because for all their seeing they do not see and for all their hearing they do not hear or understand. In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled: You will hear and hear but never understand, you will see and see but never perceive. For the heart of this people is obtuse, their ears are heavy of hearing, their eyes they have closed, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they understand with their heart and turn again, and I cure them. But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears, for they hear! I tell you truly, many prophets and good men have longed to see what you see, but they have not seen it; and to hear what you hear, but they have not heard it. Now, listen to the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the Realm and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart; that is the man who is sown 'on the road.' As for him who is sown 'on stony soil,' that is the man who hears the word and accepts it at once with enthusiasm; he has no root in himself, he does not last, but when the word brings trouble or persecution he is at once repelled. As for him who is sown 'among thorns,' that is the man who listens to the word, but the worry of the world and the delight of being rich choke the word; so it proves unfruitful. As for him who is sown 'on good soil,' that is the man who hears the word and understands it; he bears fruit, producing now a hundredfold, now sixty, and now thirtyfold." He put another parable before them. "The Realm of heaven," he said, "is like a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while men slept his enemy came and resowed weeds among the wheat and then went away. When the blade sprouted and formed the kernel, then the weeds appeared as well. So the servants of the owner went to him and said, 'Did you not sow good seed in your field, sir? How then does it contain weeds?' He said to them, 'An enemy has done this.' The servants said to him, 'Then would you like us to go and gather them?' 'No,' he said, 'for you might root up the wheat when you were gathering the weeds. Let them both grow side by side till harvest; and at harvest-time I will tell the reapers to gather the weeds first and tie them in bundles to be burnt, but to collect the wheat in my granary.'" He put another parable before them. "The Realm of heaven," he said, "is like a grain of mustard-seed which a man takes and sows in his field. It is less than any seed on earth, but when it grows up it is larger than any plant, it becomes a tree, so large that the wild birds come and roost in its branches." He told them another parable. "The Realm of heaven," he said, "is like dough which a woman took and buried in three pecks of flour, till all of it was leavened." Jesus said all this to the crowds in parables; he never spoke to them except in a parable ??35 to fulfil what had been said by the prophet, I will open my mouth in parables, I will speak out what has been hidden since the foundation of the world. Then he left the crowds and went indoors. And his disciples came up to him saying, "Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field." So he replied, "He who sows the good seed is the Son of man; the field is the world; the good seed means the sons of the Realm; the weeds are the sons of the evil one; the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world, and the reapers are angels. Well then, just as the weeds are gathered and burnt in the fire, so will it be at the end of the world; the Son of man will despatch his angels, and they will gather out of his Realm all who are hindrances and who practise iniquity, and throw them into the furnace of fire; there men will wail and gnash their teeth. Then the just will shine like the sun in the Realm of their Father. He who has an ear, let him listen to this. The Realm of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field; the man who finds it hides it and in his delight goes and sells all he possesses and buys that field. Again, the Realm of heaven is like a trader in search of fine pearls; when he finds a single pearl of high price, he is off to sell all he possesses and buy it. Again, the Realm of heaven is like a net which was thrown into the sea and collected fish of every sort. When it was full, they dragged it to the beach and sitting down they gathered the good fish into vessels but flung away the bad. So will it be at the end of the world. The angels will go out and separate the evil from among the just and fling them into the furnace of fire; there men will wail and gnash their teeth. Have you understood all this?" They said to him, "Yes." So he said to them, "Well then, every scribe who has become a disciple of the Realm of heaven is like a householder who produces what is new and what is old from his stores."

He gave them many lessons in parables, and said to them in the course of his teaching: "Listen, a sower went out to sow, and as he sowed it chanced that some seed fell on the road, and the birds came and ate it up; read more.
some other seed fell on stony soil where it had not much earth, and it shot up at once because it had no depth of earth, but when the sun rose it got scorched and withered away, because it had no root; some other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked it, so it bore no crop; some other seed fell on good soil and bore a crop that sprang up and grew, yielding at the rate of thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold." He added, "Anyone who has ears to hear, let him listen to this." When he was by himself his adherents and the twelve asked him about the parable, and he said to them: "The open secret of the Realm of God is granted to you, but these outsiders get everything by way of parables, so that for all their seeing they may not perceive, and for all their hearing they may not understand, lest they turn and be forgiven." And he said to them, "You do not understand this parable? Then how are you to understand the other parables? The sower sows the word. As for those 'on the road,' when the seed is sown there ??as soon as they hear it, Satan at once comes and carries off the word sown within them. Similarly those who are sown 'on stony soil' are the people who on hearing the word accept it with enthusiasm; but they have no root in themselves, they do not last; the next thing is that when the word brings trouble or persecution, they are at once repelled. Another set are those who are sown 'among thorns'; they listen to the word, but the worries of the world and the delight of being rich and all the other passions come in to choke the word; so it proves unfruitful. As for those who were sown 'on good soil,' these are the people who listen to the word and take it in and bear fruit at the rate of thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold." He also said to them, "Is a lamp brought to be placed under a bowl or a bed? Is it not to be placed upon the stand? Nothing is hidden except to be disclosed, nothing concealed except to be revealed. If anyone has an ear to hear, let him listen to this." Also he said to them, "Take care what you hear; the measure you deal out to others will be dealt out to yourselves, and you will receive extra. For he who has, to him shall more be given; while as for him who has not, from him shall be taken even what he has." And he said, "It is with the Realm of God as when a man has sown seed on earth; he sleeps at night and rises by day, and the seed sprouts and shoots up ??he knows not how. (For the earth bears crops by itself, the blade first, the ear of corn next, and then the grain full in the ear.) But whenever the crop is ready, he has the sickle put in at once, as harvest has come." He said also, "To what can we compare the Realm of God? how are we to put it in a parable? It is like a grain of mustard-seed ??less than any seed on earth when it is sown on earth; but once sown it springs up to be larger than any plant, throwing out such big branches that the wild birds can roost under its shadow." In many a parable like this he spoke the word to them, so far as they could listen to it;