Markchapter 4
41 verses · Mark · AD 55 to 65 · The Gospels
He replied, “The mystery of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to those on the outside everything is expressed in parables,
Introduction
Mark, The Gospels, Mark Overview.
Mark gathers several of Jesus' parables into one day of teaching by the lake, and then follows it with a crossing at night. He wrote for believers in a small and pressured church in Rome, who may have wondered why the message seemed to bear so little fruit. The parables here are drawn from sowing, lamps and seed, things any village hearer knew. Listen for the call to hear, which returns again and again. Listen also for the question the disciples ask at the end, and how it gathers up the whole chapter. Read it as teaching about how the kingdom grows.
Context
- Who
- Roman readers who had to be told what Galilean farming looked like
- What
- A day of teaching in parables beside the Sea of Galilee, followed by the calming of a storm on the lake.
- Where
- The shore of the Sea of Galilee, a boat on the water, and the open lake at night.
- When
- The Galilean ministry, about AD 29.
- Why
- To teach how the word of the kingdom is received and how it grows, and to show that the one who teaches it rules the wind and the sea.
Historical context
The sowing described is the real method. Seed was scattered by hand across the whole field and ploughed in after, so it genuinely fell on the hard footpaths that ran through the plots, on ground where a shelf of limestone lay just under the topsoil and cooked the roots, and among thorn roots that had never been dug out.
Show the rest of the historical context, 3 more paragraphs
The lamp saying uses a household object Mark names in Latin-derived terms: a modius, the standard grain measure, a bucket-sized container found in every home. Putting a lamp under it did not dim the light; it hid it completely.
The lake sits in a deep bowl nearly seven hundred feet below sea level, ringed by hills, with the Golan heights rising to the east. Cold air pouring down those slopes onto warm water produces violent squalls with almost no warning. Fishermen who had worked the lake all their lives were genuinely frightened, which tells you what kind of storm it was.
Mark alone notes that Jesus was asleep on the cushion in the stern, the leather pad the steersman sat on. It is the kind of small, useless, remembered detail that comes from someone who was in the boat.
Significance
The seed parables answer a question a small persecuted church asks constantly: why is so little coming of this? The answer is that most seed fails and the harvest is still enormous, that growth happens while the farmer sleeps and he does not know how, and that the smallest seed in the garden ends up the largest plant.
Show the rest of the significance, 1 more paragraph
Then the storm gives Roman believers the picture they needed. The disciples' question is not can you but do you not care that we are perishing, which is the question of people being killed for the faith. The answer is a man who stands up in the boat and speaks to the wind.
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
The Sower, the Soils, and the Secret of the Kingdom
Mark 4:1-2
Jesus began to teach beside the sea: Such a large crowd gathered that Jesus got into a boat and sat in it to teach beside the sea. The chapter that opens with Jesus teaching from the sea ends with Him calming that same sea.
Mark 4:1
“And he began again to teach by the seaside: and there was gathered unto him a great multitude--or, according to another well-supported reading, "a mighty" or "immense multitude." so that he entered into a ship--rather, "the ship," meaning the one mentioned in Mr 3:9.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
He taught them many things in parables: John Wesley explains that a parable is any teaching that sets out spiritual things through natural ones. Eastern teachers often taught this way. John Chrysostom adds that a parable wakes the hearer by putting something before the eyes.
Mark 4:2
“We try to think in a general way about every parable, the elaborate interpretation of which has not been recorded by the Evangelists, remembering that Jesus explained all things to his own disciples privately. The writers of the Gospels have withheld any detailed exposition of the parables, because the things signified by them were beyond the power of words to express. Not even the whole world itself could contain the books that might be written to fully clarify and develop the parables. But it may happen that a receptive heart will grasp something of them.”
Origen of Alexandria · written before 253 · Commentary on Matthew 14.12patristic
Mark 4:3-4
A farmer went out to sow his seed: One farmer sows the same seed on four kinds of ground, so the point rests on the ground where it lands. On the hard path the birds came and devoured it, which Jesus explains in 4:15 as Satan taking away the word.
Mark 4:3
“And these (heretics) suppose that this is what is spoken by the Saviour: "A sower went forth to sow; and that which fell on the fair and good ground produced, some a hundred-fold, and some sixty-fold, and some thirty-fold." And for this reason, the (Docetic) says, (that the Saviour) has spoken the words, "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear," because these (truths)are not altogether rumours. All these Aeons, both the three and all those infinite (Aeons which proceed) from these indefinitely, are hermaphrodite Aeons.”
Hippolytus of Rome · written before 235 · Hippolytus Refutation of All Heresies Book 8patristic
some seed fell along the path: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown describe the path as the hard, unbroken track through the field, and Luke 8:5 adds that the seed was trodden down. John Chrysostom notes that the sower scatters seed over the whole field. God offers His gifts to all.
Mark 4:4
“And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the wayside--by the side of the hard path through the field, where the soil was not broken up. and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up--Not only could the seed not get beneath the surface, but "it was trodden down" (Lu 8:5), and afterwards picked up and devoured by the fowls.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 more voice on this verse
Mark 4:4
“The fowls - Του ουρανου, of the air, is the common reading; but it should be omitted, on the authority of nine uncial MSS., upwards of one hundred others, and almost all the versions. Bengel and Griesbach have left it out of the text. It seems to have been inserted in Mark, from Luk 8:5.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Mark 4:5-6
Some fell on rocky ground: Rocky ground in Galilee is commonly thin soil over shelf rock, so the seed sprang up quickly because the soil was shallow. Jesus applies the rootless growth in 4:16-17 to a hearer whose glad start fails under trouble.
Mark 4:5
“And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth--"the rocky ground"; in Matthew (Mt 13:5), "the rocky places"; in Luke (Lu 8:6), "the rock." The thing intended is, not ground with stones in it which would not prevent the roots striking downward, but ground where a quite thin surface of earth covers a rock.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
because they had no root: John Chrysostom points to the stated cause. The shoots withered for lack of root, so the blame lies with the soil. John Gill reads the sun as persecution, which exposes a faith held in the head and absent from the heart.
Mark 4:6
“But when the sun was up, it was scorched,.... When persecution arose because of the word, and that became very hot and vehement, it tried and pierced through this thin speculative knowledge of the word, which could not stand before it, and bear the heat of it: and because it had no root, it withered away; the word had only a place in the head, and not in the heart; wherefore the profession of it was soon dropped, and came to nothing.”
Mark 4:7-8
Other seed fell among thorns: Thorns grow in the same soil as the grain and choke it slowly, and the seed yielded no crop. Seed on good soil produced a crop at three rising rates, thirty, sixty, and a hundred.
Mark 4:7
“For who would ever have believed me if I had wished to interpret thorns as riches, especially since the former prick while the latter delight? And yet they are thorns, because they tear the mind with the prickings of their thoughts, and when they drag it all the way to sin, they cause it to bleed as if by an inflicted wound. These, in this passage, as another evangelist attests, the Lord calls not simply riches, but deceitful riches, and rightly so.”
Gregory the Dialogist · written before 604 · Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 15patristic
1 more voice on this verse
Mark 4:7
“Hence it "becomes unfruitful" (Mt 13:22); it grows, but its growth is checked, and it never ripens. The evil here is neither a hard nor a shallow soil--there is softness enough, and depth enough; but it is the existence in it of what draws all the moisture and richness of the soil away to itself, and so starves the plant.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Cyril of Alexandria notes that the three kinds of loss are matched by three levels of harvest. John Chrysostom explains the different yields by the readiness of each soil. Good ground varies too.
Mark 4:8
“Observe therefore, that just as Christ described three degrees of loss, so similarly the degrees of success are equal in number. For those seeds that fall upon the pathway are snatched away by the birds: and those upon the rocks, having merely shot up, within a little while wither away: and those among the thorns are choked. But that desirable land brings forth fruit in three several degrees, as I said: a hundred, sixty, and thirtyfold.”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Commentary on the Gospel of Luke, Sermon 41patristic
Jesus closes the public parable with a call: He who has ears to hear, let him hear. The saying invites the crowd to understand, since having ears is different from hearing with understanding. The sentence is short, and the demand behind it is total.
Mark 4:9
“Remember what is said: If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear. For all who were present there had bodily ears. But he who says to all having ears, If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear, without doubt seeks the ears of the heart. Take care therefore that the word received remains in the ear of the heart.”
Gregory the Dialogist · written before 604 · Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 15patristic
1 more voice on this verse
Mark 4:9
“And he said - He that hath ears to hear, let him hear - The Codex Bezae, later Syriac in the margin, and seven copies of the Itala, add, και ὁ συνιων συνιετω, and whoso understandeth, let him understand.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Mark 4:10-12
they asked Him about the parable: The mystery of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to those on the outside everything is expressed in parables. The words ever seeing but never perceiving come from the commissioning of Isaiah.
Mark 4:10
“And when he was alone,.... After the multitude was dismissed, and he either remained in the ship, or left it, and retired to some private place, it may be to Simon's house in Capernaum. The Syriac, Persic, and Ethiopic versions read, "when they were alone"; meaning as follows, they that were about him with the twelve; that is, such disciples of his, who, besides the twelve, constantly attended him; perhaps those who now were, or hereafter were the seventy disciples. The Vulgate Latin reads, "the twelve that were with him".”
1 more voice on this verse
Mark 4:10
“They that were about him - None of the other evangelists intimate that there were any besides the twelve with him: but it appears there were several others present; and though they were not styled disciples, yet they appear to have seriously attended to his public and private instructions.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Adam Clarke notes that several early manuscripts lack the words to know, so the mystery itself is given. The Berean text follows that reading. John Wesley adds that the Jews called the heathen those outside, and Jesus turns the phrase on obstinate unbelievers.
Mark 4:11
“Unto you it is given to know - Γνωναι, to know, is omitted by ABKL, ten others, the Coptic, and one of the Itala. The omission of this word makes a material alteration in the sense; for without it the passage may be read thus: - To you the mystery of the kingdom of God is given; but all these things are transacted in parables to those without. Griesbach leaves it doubtful. And Professor White says, probabiliter delendum.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Mark 4:11
“To them that are without - So the Jews termed the heathens: so our Lord terms all obstinate unbelievers: for they shall not enter into his kingdom: they shall abide in outer darkness.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Augustine finds mercy even in this hard saying. Their blindness was deserved, he writes, yet it could bring them to see their sins and turn for pardon. Matthew Henry adds that forgiveness comes to those who turn.
Mark 4:12
“That seeing they may see,.... Which the end and reason of his speaking to them in parables. The passage referred to is in Isa 6:9. See Gill on Mat 13:14. See Gill on Mat 13:15.”
Cross references
Mark 4:12
- QuotingIsaiah 6:9“And He replied: “Go and tell this people, ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’”
'seeing they may see, and not perceive' (parables rationale)
Mark 4:13-14
Jesus treats the sower as the key parable, asking how will you understand any of the parables. The farmer sows the word, so the seed is named once, and each soil describes a hearer.
Mark 4:13
“Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables?--Probably this was said not so much in the spirit of rebuke, as to call their attention to the exposition of it which He was about to give, and so train them to the right apprehension of His future parables.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 more voice on this verse
Mark 4:13
“Know ye not this parable? - The scope and design of which is so very obvious. How then will ye know all parables? - Of which mode of teaching ye should be perfect masters, in order that ye may be able successfully to teach others. This verse is not found in any of the other evangelists.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
The farmer sows the word: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that Christ sows through His preachers. Since the sower and the seed stay the same, every difference in the harvest lies in the soils, which are states of the human heart. Matthew Henry observes that only one soil in four bears fruit.
Mark 4:14
“Each of these has his agents among men themselves; and Christ's agents in the sowing of the good seed are the preachers of the word. Thus, as in all the cases about to be described, the sower is the same, and the seed is the same; while the result is entirely different, the whole difference must lie in the soils, which mean the different states of the human heart.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Satan comes and takes away the word: As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. Mark's As soon as marks the speed of the enemy's work, the word taken before it is received.
Mark 4:15
“And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown,.... Such hearers are represented by the way side, in which the seed fell; who, coming where the Gospel is preached, stop awhile and hear it, and so are only casual and accidental hearers of it: but when they have heard; and indeed whilst they are hearing, and before they are well got out of the place of hearing, Satan cometh immediately and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts.”
2 more voices on this verse
Mark 4:15
“These are they - Probably our Lord here refers to the people to whom he had just now preached, and who, it is likely, did not profit by the word spoken. Where the word is sown - Instead of this clause, four copies of the Itala read the place thus - They who are sown by the way side, are they Who Receive The Word Negligently. There are thousands of this stamp in the Christian world. Reader, art thou one of them?”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Mark 4:15
“And these are they by the wayside, where the word is sown; but, when they have heard, &c.--or, more fully (Mt 13:19), "When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart." The great truth here taught is, that hearts all unbroken and hard are no fit soil for saving truth.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Mark 4:16-17
at once receive it with joy: On rocky ground the hearers at once receive it with joy, but they themselves have no root. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away, as fast as the joy came.
Mark 4:16
“Take care that rocky ground does not receive the seed and send forth the fruit of good work without the roots of perseverance. For many are pleased by what they hear and propose beginnings of good work; but as soon as they begin to be wearied by adversities, they abandon what they have begun. Rocky ground therefore lacked moisture, which did not bring what had sprouted to the fruit of perseverance.”
Gregory the Dialogist · written before 604 · Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 15patristic
1 more voice on this verse
Mark 4:16
“The great truth here taught is that hearts superficially impressed are apt to receive the truth with readiness, and even with joy (Lu 8:13); but the heat of tribulation or persecution because of the word, or the trials which their new profession brings upon them quickly dries up their relish for the truth, and withers all the hasty promise of fruit which they showed.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
they themselves have no root: John Gill compares these hearers with the crowds who rejoiced in John the Baptist for a while and then left him. Charles Spurgeon pictures a layer of rock beneath the soil that was never broken. The root could not go down.
Mark 4:17
“And have no root in themselves,.... The word has no root in their hearts, only in their natural affections: nor is the root of grace in them; there is no heart work, only speculative notions, and flashy affections: and so endure but for a time: they continue hearers and professors of the Gospel but for a small season; like the Jews, who rejoiced in the ministry of John the Baptist for a while, and then left him: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended.”
Mark 4:18-19
Others are like the seeds sown among the thorns: The choking powers are named: the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desire for other things. Mark's list names desire beside worry and wealth, slightly wider than the shorter phrasing elsewhere in the Gospels.
Mark 4:18
“It should be noted that the Lord, in His explanation, says that cares, pleasures, and riches choke the word. For they choke it because by their importunate thoughts they strangle the throat of the mind; and since they do not allow good desire to enter the heart, they kill, as it were, the passage of the breath of life. It should also be noted that He joins two things with riches, namely cares and pleasures, because indeed they both oppress the mind through anxiety and dissolve it through abundance.”
Gregory the Dialogist · written before 604 · Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 15patristic
the deceitfulness of wealth: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown draw on Luke 8:14, which says this fruit never ripens. The plant may grow and promise much for a time. Adam Clarke notes that the desire for other things covers whatever the worries and riches leave out.
Mark 4:19
“The deceitfulness of riches - This is variously expressed in different copies of the Itala: the errors - delights of the world - completely alienated (abolienati) by the pleasures of the world. The lusts of other things - which have not been included in the anxious cares of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches. All, all, choke the word!”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Hearers on good soil hear the word, receive it, and produce a crop, and only here do all three reach completion. The yields of thirtyfold, sixtyfold, or a hundredfold show that fruit comes in degrees.
Mark 4:20
“The "thirtyfold" is designed to express the lowest degree of fruitfulness; the "hundredfold" the highest; and the "sixtyfold" the intermediate degrees of fruitfulness. As a "hundredfold," though not unexampled (Ge 26:12), is a rare return in the natural husbandry, so the highest degrees of spiritual fruitfulness are too seldom witnessed.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
No Lamp Is Put Under a Basket
Mark 4:21-23
bring in a lamp to put it under a basket: A lamp is lit to be seen, and nobody sets it under a basket or under a bed. Jesus turns the image toward the mystery just explained to the Twelve, for there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed.
Mark 4:21
“Is a candle brought ... - A candle is not lit up to be put immediately under a measure or a bed, where it can give no light. Its design is to give light. So my preaching by parables is not designed to obscure the truth, but to throw light on it. You should understand those parables, and, understanding them, should impart the truth to others also, as a candle throws its beams upon a dark world. Bushel - The word here used in the original means a measure for grain containing about 12 quarts.”
1 more voice on this verse
Mark 4:21
“And he said, Is a candle - As if he had said, I explain these things to you, I give you this light, not to conceal, but to impart it to others. And if I conceal any thing from you now, it is only that it may be more effectually manifested hereafter.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
nothing hidden that will not be disclosed: Adam Clarke applies the saying to the plan of salvation. What the types and sacrifices had shown only dimly would now be made plain in the gospel. Matthew Henry adds that God gives gifts and grace to be shared.
Mark 4:22
“For there is nothing hid, etc. - Probably our Lord means, that all that had hitherto been secret, relative to the salvation of a lost world, or only obscurely pointed out by types and sacrifices, shall now be uncovered and made plain by the everlasting Gospel. See on Mat 5:15 (note); Mat 10:26 (note).”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
If anyone has ears to hear: Ryle notes that these verses gather short proverbs that stick in the memory after a sermon's main subject fades. This call is one of them. John Gill takes it as a sign that what Jesus has just said carries great weight.
Mark 4:23
“If any man have ears to hear, let him hear. What is now delivered, being very momentous and important; see Mat 11:15.”
1 more voice on this verse
Mark 4:23
“If any man have ears to hear, let him hear. That is, that none of those things which are said to you by me should escape you.”
Theophylact of Ohrid · written before 1107 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Mark 4:24-25
Pay attention to what you hear turns the warning back on the listener's own hearing. With the measure you use, it will be measured to you, so the one who takes in what he hears grows in it.
Mark 4:24
“And he saith unto them, Take heed what ye hear--In Luke (Lu 8:18) it is, "Take heed how ye hear." The one implies the other, but both precepts are very weighty. with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you--See on Mt 7:2. and unto you that hear--that is, thankfully, teachably, profitably. shall more be given.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 more voice on this verse
Mark 4:24
“And unto you that hear shall more be given - This clause is wanting in DG, Coptic, and four copies of the Itala; and in others, where it is extant, it is variously written. Griesbach has left it out of the text, and supposes it to be a gloss, Whosoever hath, to him shall be given.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
whoever has will be given more: Albert Barnes applies the saying to hearing. The attentive grow in the truth, while the careless forget even what they once learned. John Chrysostom adds that a man who believes a lie thinks he has something, and even that will be taken.
Mark 4:25
“For he that hath, to him shall be given; that is, he who hath faith shall have virtue, and he who hath obedience to the word, shall also have the understanding of the mystery. Again, he who, on the other hand, has not faith, fails in virtue; and he who has not obedience to the word, shall not have the understanding of it; and if he does not understand, he might as well not have heard.”
Pseudo-Jerome · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
The Seed Growing Secretly and the Mustard Seed
Mark 4:26-29
a man who scatters seed on the ground: This parable of the growing seed appears in Mark alone, and its point lies in the man's ignorance. In it the seed sprouts and grows, though he knows not how, a process he can neither hurry nor explain.
Mark 4:26
“So is the kingdom of God - This parable is mentioned only by Mark, a proof that Mark did not abridge Matthew. Whitby supposes it to refer to the good ground spoken of before, and paraphrases is thus: - “What I have said of the seed sown upon good ground, may be illustrated by this parable.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Mark 4:26
“So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; and should sleep, and rise night and day--go about his other ordinary occupations, leaving it to the well-known laws of vegetation under the genial influences of heaven. This is the sense of "the earth bringing forth fruit of herself," in Mr 4:27.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Mark 4:26
The parable contained in these verses is short, and only recorded in Mark's Gospel. But it is one that ought to be deeply interesting to all who have reason to hope that they are true Christians. It sets before us the history of the work of grace in an individual soul. It summons us to an examination of our own experience in divine things. There are some expressions in the parable which we must not press too far. Such are the "sleeping and rising" of the farmer, and the "night and day."
though he knows not how: Albert Barnes explains the phrase as the farmer's ordinary round of sleeping by night and rising by day. The picture leaves room for diligence. Its point, Barnes says, is that the growth of faith is as hidden as the growth of grain.
Mark 4:27
“And should sleep, and rise night and day - Should sleep in the night and rise by day, for so the expression is to be understood. That is, should live in his usual way, without exerting any influence over the growing grain. By this we are not to infer that men are to use no diligence in the obtaining and in the growth of piety; but the illustration shows only that as we cannot tell how grain grows, so we cannot tell the mode in which piety increases in the heart. He knoweth not how - This is still true.”
Adam Clarke notes that the Greek word for all by itself means by its own energy, apart from human effort. Albert Barnes adds that the earth's power comes from God, and so does growth in the heart. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown see the stages of the Christian life.
Mark 4:28
“For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear--beautiful allusion to the succession of similar stages, though not definitely marked periods, in the Christian life, and generally in the kingdom of God.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 more voice on this verse
Mark 4:28
“Bringeth forth - of herself - Αυτοματη. By its own energy, without either the influence or industry of man. Similar to this is the expression of the poet: - Namque aliae, Nullis Homlnum Cogentibus, ipsae Sponte Sua veniunt. Virg. Geor. l. ii. v. 10 “Some (trees) grow of their own accord, without the labor of man.” All the endlessly varied herbage of the field is produced in this way. The full corn - Πληρη σιτον, Full wheat; the perfect, full-grown, or ripe corn. Lucian uses κενος καρπος, Empty fruit, for imperfect, or unripe fruit. See Kypke.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
he swings the sickle: Adam Clarke notes that the Greek says he sends out the sickle, meaning the reapers. Some have read the harvest as the moment a ripened believer is taken to heaven. Clarke and Albert Barnes both warn against pressing the detail.
Mark 4:29
“Immediately he putteth in the sickle - This is the way with the farmer. As soon as the grain is ripe it is cut down. So it is often with the Christian. As soon as he is prepared for heaven he is taken there. But we are not to press this part of the parable, as if it meant that all are removed as soon as they are fit for heaven. Every parable contains circumstances thrown in to fill up the story, which cannot be literally interpreted.”
1 more voice on this verse
Mark 4:29
“And when the "harvest" comes, then the "sickle" gathers the fruits. This "sickle" is the Word of God, and the "harvest" is the time of death.”
Theophylact of Ohrid · written before 1107 · Commentary on Markpatristic
Mark 4:30-32
The mustard seed was proverbially small, the smallest of all seeds sown upon the earth, so the kingdom begins almost unseen. Once planted it grows to be the largest of all garden plants, so that the birds of the air nest in its shade.
Mark 4:30
“Now a simile differs from a parable; for it is written in Mark, "With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it?" From this it is plain that there is some logical distinction between a comparison and a parable. The simile seems to be generic, and the parable specific. The simile, which is the highest genus of the parable, contains the parable as one of its species.”
Origen of Alexandria · written before 253 · Commentary on Matthew 10.4patristic
Mark 4:31
“The word which proclaims the kingdom of heaven is sharp and pungent as mustard. It represses bile (anger) and checks inflammation (pride). From this word flows the soul's true vitality and fitness for eternity. To such increased size did the growth of the word come that the tree which sprang from it (that is the Church of Christ now being established over the whole earth) filled the world, so that the birds of the air (that is, holy angels and lofty souls) dwelt in its branches.”
Clement of Alexandria · written before 215 · Nicetas Bishop of Heracleapatristic
puts forth great branches: Augustine sees the spreading branches as the church reaching across the whole world. Ambrose notes that a mustard seed releases its strength when it is ground. Faith, he says, shows its power when tested by trouble.
Mark 4:32
“Now let us consider the nature of mustard, and the power of comparison. The mustard seed itself is certainly a cheap and simple thing: if it is ground, it releases its strength. Similarly, faith at first seems simple, but if it is tested by adversity, it reveals the grace of its virtue; so that it also fills others who either hear or read with the fragrance of itself. The mustard seed of our martyrs is Felix, Nabor, and Victor: they had the fragrance of faith, but it was hidden.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Commentary on Lukepatristic
Mark 4:33-34
to the extent that they could understand: Jesus spoke the word to them, to the extent that they could understand, and privately He explained everything to His own disciples. Teaching is matched to what the hearers can take, and the fuller explanation goes to those who stay close.
Mark 4:33
“But Matthew (Mt 13:34) says, "All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables"; and as Mark records only some of the parables which Matthew gives, we are warranted to infer that the "many such parables" alluded to here mean no more than the full complement of them which we find in Matthew.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 more voice on this verse
Mark 4:33
“Spake he the word - The word of God. The doctrines of his gospel. As they were able to hear it - As they could comprehend it. They were like children; and he was obliged to lead them along cautiously and by degrees to a full understanding of the plan of salvation.”
privately He explained everything to His own disciples: Albert Barnes explains the method. The crowd held so many wrong ideas about the kingdom that plain teaching would have offended, so parables brought the truth in gradually. Adam Clarke adds that the private teaching fitted the disciples to instruct others.
Mark 4:34
“He expounded all things to his disciples - That they might be capable of instructing others. Outside hearers, those who do not come into close fellowship with the true disciples of Christ, have seldom more than a superficial knowledge of Divine things. In the fellowship of the saints, where Jesus the teacher is always to be found, every thing is made plain, - for the secret of the Lord is with them who fear him.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Peace, Be Still: the Storm Obeys
Mark 4:35-36
When that evening came, Jesus proposes the crossing that carries the disciples into a storm. The chapter turns from words about the kingdom to a display of the King's authority over creation.
Mark 4:35
“These verses describe a storm on the sea of Galilee, when our Lord and His disciples were crossing it, and a miracle performed by our Lord in calming the storm in a moment. Few miracles recorded in the Gospel were so likely to strike the minds of the apostles as this. Four of them at least were fishermen. Peter, Andrew, James, and John, had probably known the sea of Galilee, and its storms, from their youth. Few events in our Lord's journeyings to and fro upon earth, contain more rich instruction than the one related in this passage.”
there were other boats with Him: John Chrysostom notes that the other boats crossed separately. Jesus kept the disciples with Him alone, he suggests, so that they would witness the miracle and others would not see their weak faith. Adam Clarke adds that the boat was His own, which usually waited on Him.
Mark 4:36
“See the notes at Mat 8:18-27. Mar 4:36 Even as he was in the ship - They took him without making any preparation for the voyage; without providing any food or raiment. He was sitting in a ship, or boat, instructing the people. In the same boat, probably ill fitted to encounter a storm on the lake, they sailed. This would render their danger more imminent and the miracle more striking. There were with him other little ships - Belonging probably to the people, who, seeing him sail, resolved to follow him.”
Mark 4:37-38
a violent windstorm came up: Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on the cushion, a detail Mark alone keeps. The disciples wake Him with a charge of neglect, Teacher, don’t You care that we are perishing, fear reading indifference into His rest.
Mark 4:37
“It should be, "so that the ship was getting covered by the waves." So we must translate the word used in Luke (Lu 8:23) --not as in our version--"And there came down a storm on the lake, and they were filled [with water]"--but "they were getting filled," that is, those who sailed; meaning, of course, that their ship was so.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 more voice on this verse
Mark 4:37
“And there arose a great storm of wind,.... Called Laelaps, a wind that is suddenly whirled about upwards and downwards, and is said to be a storm, or tempest of wind with rain; it was a sort of a hurricane: and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was full; of water, and ready to sink. Beza says in one copy it read, βυθιζεσθαι, and so in one of Stephens's.”
sleeping on the cushion: Gregory of Nazianzus sets this sleep beside the power that follows. He who grew tired is the rest of the weary, and He who slept walked on the sea. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that seasoned fishermen feared for their lives, so the danger was real.
Mark 4:38
“And he was in the hinder part of the ship,.... That is, Christ was in the stern of the ship: the Persic version renders it, "he was in the bottom of the ship, in a corner", but very wrongly; here he was asleep on a pillow, which some say was a wooden one, framed at the stern: however, he was fast asleep on it, being greatly fatigued with the work of the day; See Gill on Mat 8:24. And they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?”
3 more voices on this verse
Mark 4:38
“Matthew (Mt 8:25) has it, "Lord, save us, we perish." When those accustomed to fish upon that deep thus spake, the danger must have been imminent. They say nothing of what would become of Him, if they perished; nor think, whether, if He could not perish, it was likely He would let this happen to them; but they hardly knew what they said.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Mark 4:38
“He was wearied, but He is the Rest of them that are weary and heavy laden. He was heavy with sleep, but He walked lightly over the sea. He rebuked the winds, He made Peter light as he began to sink.”
Gregory of Nazianzus · written before 390 · Oration 29, On the Sonpatristic
Mark 4:38
“On a pillow - Προσκεφαλαιον probably means a little bed, or hammock, such as are common in small vessels. I have seen several in small packets, or passage boats, not a great deal larger than a bolster.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
rebuked the wind and the sea: Mark uses the same verb rebuked when Jesus silences the unclean spirit at 1:25, so the storm is handled as a hostile power. Then the wind died down, and it was perfectly calm.
Mark 4:39
“And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm--The sudden hushing of the wind would not at once have calmed the sea, whose commotion would have settled only after a considerable time. But the word of command was given to both elements at once.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
2 more voices on this verse
Mark 4:39
“Pay close attention to the Lord's words; whenever he instructs us about the Father, he knows that by using terms of personal authority, such as "I will; be clean"; and "Peace! Be still!" and "But I say to you"; and "You deaf and dumb spirit, I command you";18 and other similar expressions, we will be led to recognize his authority as master and creator. By these encounters we are meeting the Father of the Son, the Father who creates through the Son.”
Basil of Caesarea · written before 379 · On the Holy Spirit 8.21patristic
Mark 4:39
“Peace, be still - Be silent! Be still! There is uncommon majesty and authority in these words. Who but God could act thus? Perhaps this salvation of his disciples in the boat might be designed to show forth that protection and deliverance which Christ will give to his followers, however violently they may be persecuted by earth or hell. At least, this is a legitimate use which may be made of this transaction.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Mark 4:40-41
Jesus sets their fear against their faith, asking Do you still have no faith. Overwhelmed with fear, they asked one another, Who is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him. It is the question the whole Gospel is written to answer.
Mark 4:40
“In Matthew (Mt 8:26) it is, "Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?" Faith they had, for they applied to Christ for relief: but little, for they were afraid, though Christ was in the ship.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 more voice on this verse
Mark 4:40
“And, lo, there was a great swell in the sea, so that the ship was covered with the billows: and he was asleep. And his disiples approached and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us, we perish. And he saith to them, Why are you timid, O men of little faith?”
John Calvin · Commentaries (1554)reformed
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown point to Psalm 89:9, where Israel praises the Lord for stilling the raging sea. Now a man in their own boat had done the same by His word. John Gill draws the conclusion that He must be God.
Mark 4:41
“And they feared exceedingly,.... That is, the men in the ship, the mariners to whom the ship belonged, and who had the management of it: and said to one another, as persons in the greatest amazement, what manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him? Surely this person must not be a mere man; he must be more than a man; he must be truly God, that has such power over the wind and sea.”
2 more voices on this verse
Mark 4:41
“But he arose, and rebuked the wind and the tempest of the water; and they ceased, and there was a calm. And he said to them, Where is your faith? And they were afraid, and wondered, saying among themselves, Who is this? for he commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.”
John Calvin · Commentaries (1554)reformed
Mark 4:41
“What manner of man is this? - They were astonished at such power proceeding from a person who appeared to be only like one of themselves. It is often profitable to entertain each other with the succor and support which we receive from God in times of temptation and distress; and to adore, with respectful awe, that sovereign power and goodness by which we have been delivered.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
How this psalm is built
The form: A set of parables taught in one day by the lake, with the sower first as the key to the rest, closed by the crossing in the storm, as 14 classes it.
The patterns in this chapter
| Device | What it does | Where to see it |
|---|---|---|
| The call to hear | The command to listen opens the parable of the sower at verse 3, and the saying about ears to hear closes it at verse 9. The same saying returns at verse 23 after the lamp, and verse 24 turns it into a warning about how a person hears. The site's published exposition of verse 9 reads the refrain as an invitation that asks for understanding.This site's published exposition of Mark 4:9, The exposition_notes row on Mark 4:9, citing John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament, 1755, and Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, 1871. | Mark 4:3, Mark 4:9, Mark 4:23, Mark 4:24 |
| The teaching in public and the explanation in private | Verses 10 to 12 take the disciples aside to ask about the parables, and verses 33 and 34 close the teaching by saying that Jesus spoke to the crowd in parables and explained everything to His own disciples in private. The two passages frame the parables between them. The site's published exposition of verses 33 and 34 reads the closing lines as Mark's own summary of the method.This site's published exposition of Mark 4:33 to 34, The exposition_notes row on Mark 4:33 to 34, citing J. C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, Mark, 1857, and John Calvin, Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists, 1555. | Mark 4:10, Mark 4:11, Mark 4:33, Mark 4:34 |
How this chapter is built
1 more paragraph on the patterns
The chapter gathers the teaching of one day into a set of parables, set in a boat at verse 1 and closed by the evening crossing at verse 35. The parable of the sower stands first with its explanation, and at verse 13 Jesus treats it as the key to all the parables. Two sayings about the lamp and the measure follow, and then two seed parables, the seed that grows by itself, which Mark alone records, and the mustard seed. The call to hear returns at verses 3, 9, 23 and 24 and binds the set together. The storm then turns the chapter from the words of Jesus to His power, and it ends on the question of who He is.
Keep studying
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Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The form and classifications
This site's published exposition of Mark 4:13 to 14, The exposition_notes row on Mark 4:13 to 14, citing Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1710, and J. C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, Mark, 1857.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes; Alexander Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture, Mark; Ambrose of Milan, Commentary on Luke; Augustine of Hippo; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2846: “'No Root in Themselves'” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on the Gospel of Luke, Sermon 41; Gregory of Nazianzus, Oration 29, On the Son; J. C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, Mark; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists; John Chrysostom; John Gill; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.