TEXT [Commentary]

4. Parable of the sower (4:1-20; cf. Matt 13:1-9)

1 Once again Jesus began teaching by the lakeshore. A very large crowd soon gathered around him, so he got into a boat. Then he sat in the boat while all the people remained on the shore. 2 He taught them by telling many stories in the form of parables, such as this one:

3 “Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seed. 4 As he scattered it across his field, some of the seed fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate it. 5 Other seed fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seed sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow. 6 But the plant soon wilted under the hot sun, and since it didn’t have deep roots, it died. 7 Other seed fell among thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants so they produced no grain. 8 Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they sprouted, grew, and produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted!” 9 Then he said, “Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.”

10 Later, when Jesus was alone with the twelve disciples and with the others who were gathered around, they asked him what the parables meant.

11 He replied, “You are permitted to understand the secret[*] of the Kingdom of God. But I use parables for everything I say to outsiders, 12 so that the Scriptures might be fulfilled:

‘When they see what I do,

they will learn nothing.

When they hear what I say,

they will not understand.

Otherwise, they will turn to me

and be forgiven.’[*]”

13 Then Jesus said to them, “If you can’t understand the meaning of this parable, how will you understand all the other parables? 14 The farmer plants seed by taking God’s word to others. 15 The seed that fell on the footpath represents those who hear the message, only to have Satan come at once and take it away. 16 The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy. 17 But since they don’t have deep roots, they don’t last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God’s word. 18 The seed that fell among the thorns represents others who hear God’s word, 19 but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things, so no fruit is produced. 20 And the seed that fell on good soil represents those who hear and accept God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!”

NOTES

4:1 by the lakeshore. This refers to the Sea of Galilee, which is about eight by fourteen miles in size.

large crowd. This is the largest gathering in the Gospel of Mark thus far. Jesus was still out in the open teaching people as in 3:9 (see also 2:13).

boat. This is the first of several boat scenes in Mark 4–8, others of which include the stilling of the storm (4:35-41), Jesus’ walk on the water (6:45-52), and a discussion about leaven (8:14-21). Each of these scenes involves a criticism of the disciples, but in this first boat scene they were instructed. An ancient first-century BC–AD boat was found in Galilee in 1986. It measured 26.5 feet long by 7.5 feet wide by 4.5 feet deep (Hanson and Oakman 1998:110). It was probably typical of boats at this time.

4:2 parables. This term covers a wide array of teaching tools from short examples, maxims, or proverbial figures known in Heb. as mashal [TH4912, ZH5442], to longer stories developed as theological illustrations (Lane 1974:150-51). The shorter ones are found in 3:23-27. Here we have a longer one.

4:3 Listen! The parable begins with a call to hear that marks out its importance.

farmer. In the Gr., this refers to a sower of seed, who was probably also a farmer, which explains the NLT rendering.

4:4 footpath. Alongside a field, there would often be a footpath where those traveling could walk without ruining the crops. The ground there would be packed down from all the foot travel, so seed would sit exposed on its surface where birds could get it. In Palestine, farmers sowed first and then plowed.

4:8 thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much. The seed that fell in the good soil stands in contrast to the three other seed groups that fell on the path, on shallow soil, and among the thorns. It did what seed is supposed to do, which is to bear fruit. Some seeds were more productive than others.

4:9 should listen and understand. This NLT rendering develops one of Jesus’ common expressions—“the one with ears to hear, let him hear.” The point is not merely for the sound to be perceived but for the message to be heeded, so the NLT rendering is a good one. Jesus was revealing a divine mystery (4:11), and he wanted people to pay attention to it.

4:11 the secret of the Kingdom of God. “Secret” renders the Gr. word for “mystery” (mustērion [TG3466, ZG3696]); Jesus’ point was that the parables contained revelation about the Kingdom. This is the term’s only occurence in Mark. In Mark’s perspective, there are insiders and outsiders to understanding what God is doing—the disciples are privileged to know what is going on.

4:12 learn nothing . . . not understand. Otherwise, they will turn. This verse is a shortened citation from Isa 6:9-10. The key differences are that third person verbs open the first clause (rather than second person) and the concluding reference is to being forgiven rather than healed. These differences are like the targum of Isaiah (Marcus 2000:300). The differences so strongly paralleled in the Aramaic setting may indicate that the age of the tradition reaches back into Jesus’ time. Unlike the other texts, the Gospel of Mark reverses the order of perception to seeing/hearing. Marcus (2000:300) suggests that this is because Mark liked to highlight the role of vision (8:22-26; 10:46-52; numerous times in ch 13; 15:32, 36, 39). In context, the statement explains that Isaiah’s ministry was one of hardening.

so that . . . Otherwise. A huge debate swirls around the use of hina [TG2443, ZG2671] at the beginning of the verse and mēpote [TG3379, ZG3607] toward its end. Does hina (in order that) mean that the purpose of the parables was to obscure belief (so Marcus 2000:299-300)? This takes the hina as a final clause and stresses the Gr. Mark uses to introduce the quotation. Or does mēpote (lest) introduce an indirect question and hina stand as epexegetical (so Guelich 1989:211-12), so that the passage describes the effect of their failure to embrace the parables? This latter interpretation relies on the force of the commonly assumed Aramaic behind the saying (viz., “that is, seeing they learn nothing . . . if they had turned and been forgiven”). The decision here is not an easy one, especially granted that Matthew and Luke have softer renderings in Gr. (more like the proposed underlying Aramaic option—and it is likely the original saying was given in Aramaic), so that the Gr. differences are translational issues in the tradition. This Aramaic-based reading is less harsh than the way Mark’s Gr. can be read. The NLT leaves the text somewhat ambiguous on this point by using “when” at the beginning of the citation and “otherwise” near the end. The OT idea of repentance is alluded to in the idea of turning (shub [TH7725, ZH8740]). In other words, parables are judgments that prevent outsiders from becoming responsive. The debate is whether that prevention is by previous divine design or the effect of an earlier lack of responsiveness. Either way, the use of parables meant that judgment was taking place.

4:14 God’s word. Jesus begins by noting that the seed is “the word.” In 4:11, the topic of this word is the message of the Kingdom, the key content of these parables. So this parable is about different ways that people respond to the word that comes from God about the Kingdom. Mark uses “the word” in this way to speak of the Gospel (1:14; 2:2; 4:33; cf. Acts 6:4; 10:36-37, 44; Col 4:3).

4:15 The seed that fell. This phrase is repeated with all four soils (4:16, 18, 20); it lit. reads, “these are those.” The sowing imagery used in Judaism was flexible (4 Ezra 8:41; 9:31; Marcus 2000:308). In other words, the parable sometimes speaks of seed as the word that is sown (4:14), but elsewhere the seed is the different types of people with different kinds of heart attitudes into whom the word is sown (4:15, 16, 18, 20). The parable is not about the word as an abstract, isolated concept, but about the ways that the word is received and responded to once it is “taken in.”

Satan. Some seed never has a chance to produce fruit (the goal within the imagery) because Satan snatches it from the surface of the path. In Judaism, Satan is sometimes compared to a bird (Apocalypse of Abraham 13:3-8). Despite being bound by having lost his battle with Jesus (3:27), Satan is portrayed as still being active (Hooker 1991:131).

4:16 with joy. The seed on the rocky soil initially reacts with openness, which sadly does not last (4:17).

4:17 they don’t have deep roots. In Judaism, the wicked are commonly identified as rootless (Sir 23:25; 40:15; Wis 4:3; cf. Marcus 2000:309). Their temporary faith exposes them as lacking the genuine faith that brings forth fruit.

fall away. Gr. skandalizontai [TG4624A, ZG4997]. The noun skandalon [TG4625, ZG4998] refers to someone who views the message of the cross as an offense, a barrier to belief (1 Cor 1:23). To fall away is to trip over this obstacle. Jesus’ point is that in these cases, the shame of persecution is greater than a person’s embrace of the message, so they stumble over the message in times of trouble. This term denotes apostasy, or lack of real faith (TDNT 7:349).

have problems. Rootless believers fall away when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word.

4:19 worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things. The seed among thorns pictures those who get so encumbered with the basic enticements of this world that they produce no fruit. The seed again fails to accomplish its purpose. The terms used here do not appear frequently in the Synoptics. “Worries” is used elsewhere only in Luke 21:34; “lure” appears only here and in its parallel, Matt 13:22; and “desire” has no parallel akin to its use here, although it is used positively in Luke 22:15. The theme of riches and the problems of the rich are a concern (Matt 6:24-25; 19:23-24; Mark 10:25; Luke 1:53; 12:21). In this case, the failure lies with the distractions that prevent the person from benefiting from the word. The one thing the first three groups share is that none of them are fruitful. In the terms of the parable, they are all failures.

4:20 hear and accept God’s word and produce a harvest. Here the seed reaches its goal. The word is heard, accepted, and has a yield. The idea behind the word for “accepting” is that of welcoming the word, of openly taking it in (Jas 1:21; Cranfield 1959:163).

thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times. These varying yields indicate that disciples have different levels of productivity. When the word reaches a prepared heart, it flourishes.

COMMENTARY [Text]

Mark 4, with its teaching on the Kingdom, is the first of two major teaching blocks in Mark, the other being the Olivet discourse in Mark 13. The opening section of Mark 4 indicates the importance of the Kingdom message to Jesus’ preaching and to the hurdles he faced. Jesus began with the parable of a sower. By definition, parables teach by making a comparison and paint a picture through that comparison. What the parable of the sower depicts—the preaching of the word about the Kingdom—is not noted until 4:11, 14. This parable and those that follow, as a group, tell us important things about Jesus’ message concerning the Kingdom and the plan that goes with it.

Jesus’ main point is that the parables reveal the Kingdom of God. Those who get the point understand “the mystery of the Kingdom.” The Greek term for mystery (mustērion [TG3466, ZG3696]) has roots in the Old Testament idea of raz [TA10661, ZA10661], where God discloses something that requires a gifted person to interpret what is said (someone like Daniel) or that is made clear with the coming of what was promised (Dan 2:18-19; 12:8-10; TDNT 4:814-821; the term also shows up at Qumran in CD 3:18; 1QH 13[5]:36; cf. Marcus 2000:298). The term is singular here, but probably operates as a collective idea. Thus, the “secret” (the “mystery”) has many parts that as a whole comprise the mystery of the Kingdom. The key features of mystery in Mark 4 are tied to God’s sovereign plan and to the various responses to the Kingdom, such as the great fruitfulness of those who respond, the availability of the Kingdom, the almost hidden way in which it grows, and the fact that it starts out small but ends up covering the whole earth. The disciples had access to the mystery, since the text says that it had been given to them to understand. Others did not understand, and these remained outside the Kingdom.

One of the functions of parables, as the citation from Isaiah 6:9-10 shows, is that they also judge those who are unresponsive, since they contain “concealed revelation.” Those outside of Jesus’ community would not understand the parables on their own. This failure to respond to what was seen and heard is a consistent theme in Mark (2:16; 3:2; 7:2-5; 11:18; 14:58, 64). Jesus compared the lack of response in Israel and his subsequent use of parables to the earlier ministry of Isaiah. In fact, Jesus’ ministry, especially his use of parables, bears out the fulfillment of Isaiah 6:9-10: the judgment on a people already hardened meant that they would not be responding, for although something was put before them that they could see and hear, they did not respond with an understanding that would turn them toward forgiveness.

In 4:13, Jesus suggests that the parable of the sower is crucial to understanding the other parables, so he explains it to his disciples, thus unveiling the mystery. His explanation also relieves a tension that might suggest that 4:11 meant that the disciples should instinctively comprehend the parables without such an explanation. The advantage the disciples had over outsiders was that they had Jesus’ interpretation of the parables.

The message of the parable is that there are varying degrees of receptivity to the word of God. Some people never grasp the word because Satan interferes before they even have a chance to interact with it. Others are distracted by the pressures of a world that does not welcome the message, or by the cares, concerns, and enticements of life. Many never yield fruit even when they are initially attracted to the word. By contrast, when the seed of the word encounters a receptive heart, it produces fruit in varying degrees. All disciples are urged to be receptive and fruitful, not allowing the rejection of the world to get in their way.

For these people, neither Satan, persecutions, nor the cares of this world distract them from embracing the word of the Kingdom. They will be the fruitful ones. Fruitfulness, including the imagery of large yields, was a common Old Testament metaphor portraying the blessings and products of the new age (Jer 31:12; Hos 2:21-22; Joel 2:22; Amos 9:13; Zech 8:12; Marcus 2000:295). The extraordinary sizes of the yields (a normal harvest would be about ten times the amount sown) point to the great success of the harvest (Witherington 2001:165-166).