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Mark 4:32

in Mark 4

But after it is planted, it grows to be the largest of all garden plants and puts forth great branches, so that the birds of the air nest in its shade.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

yet when it is sown, groweth up, and becometh greater than all the herbs, and putteth out great branches; so that the birds of the heaven can lodge under the shadow thereof.

KJV

But when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it.

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This verse in Mark 4

Commentary

13 notes on this verse

A commentator

Ambrose of Milan

Commentary on Luke · Written before 397.

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.

This site's exposition

To what can we compare the kingdom of God

on 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.

This site's exposition

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.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers3 voices

A commentator

Augustine of Hippo

LETTER 32 · Written before 430.

proposed

In the same manner, then, the catholicity of our mother becomes palpable when others who are not her sons make war on her. It is a fact that this little branch of worshipers in Africa has been broken off from the great tree which embraces the whole world in the spreading of its branches. She is in labor with them in charity, that they may return to the root without which they cannot have true life.

A commentator

Peter Chrysologus

SERMON 98 · Written before 450.

proposed

It is up to us to sow this mustard seed in our minds and let it grow within us into a great tree of understanding reaching up to heaven and elevating all our faculties; then it will spread out branches of knowledge, the pungent savor …

A commentator

John Chrysostom

Catena Aurea by Aquinas · Written before 407.

proposed

(non occ. leg. ap. Possin. Cyril.) And also because the wisdom spoken amongst the perfect expands, to an extent greater than all other sayings, that which was told to men in short discourses, for there is nothing greater than this truth.

The Medieval Church2 voices

A commentator

Theophylact of Ohrid

Catena Aurea by Aquinas · Written before 1107.

proposed

But the preaching of it has been spread far and wide over the earth, and increased so, that the birds of heaven, that is, contemplative men, sublime in understanding and knowledge, dwell under it. For how many wise men among the Gentiles, quitting their wisdom, have found rest in the preaching of the Gospel! Its preaching then is greater than all. Again, it put forth great boughs, for the Apostles were divided off as the boughs of a tree, some to Rome, some to India, some to other parts of the world.
Or else, that seed is very small in fear, but great when it has grown into charity, which is greater than all herbs; for God is love, (1 John 4:16) whilst all flesh is grass. (Isa. 40:6 But the boughs which it puts forth are those of mercy and compassion, since under its shade the poor of Christ, who are meant by the living creatures of the heavens, delight to dwell.
5 more voices on this verse

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Theophylact of Ohrid

Commentary on Mark · Written before 1107.

proposed

But the preaching of the word, once sown upon the earth, expanded and grew, so that the birds of the air rest upon it, that is, all people of lofty and elevated mind and knowledge. Indeed, how many wise men found rest in this preaching, …

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

That the beginnings of the gospel kingdom would be very small, like that which is one of the least of all seeds. When a Christian church was sown in the earth for God, it was all contained in one room, and the number of the names was but one hundred and twenty ( Acts i.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

But when it is sown, it groweth up,....

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

The parable of the mustard seed is one of those parables which partake of the character both of history and prophecy. It seems intended to illustrate the history of Christ's visible church on earth, from the time of the first advent down to the judgment day. The seed cast into the earth, in the preceding parable, showed us the work of grace in a heart. The mustard seed shows us THE PROGRESS OF PROFESSING CHRISTIANITY IN THE WORLD.
The parable of the mustard seed is one of those parables which partake of the character both of history and prophecy. It seems intended to illustrate the history of Christ's visible church on earth, from the time of the first advent down to the judgment day. The seed cast into the earth, in the preceding parable, showed us the work of grace in a heart. The mustard seed shows us THE PROGRESS OF PROFESSING CHRISTIANITY IN THE WORLD. We learn, in the first place, that, like the grain of mustard seed, Christ's visible church was to be small and weak in its beginnings . A grain of mustard seed was a proverbial expression among the Jews for something very small and insignificant. Our Lord calls it "smaller than all the seeds that are in the earth." Twice in the Gospels we find our Lord using the figure as a word of comparison, when speaking of a weak faith. (Matt. 17:20; Luke 17:6.) The idea was doubtless familiar to a Jewish mind, however strange it may sound to us. Here, as in other places, the Son of God shows us the wisdom of using language familiar to the minds of those whom we may address. It would be difficult to find an emblem which more faithfully represents the history of the visible church of Christ than this grain of mustard seed. Weakness and apparent insignificance were undoubtedly the characteristics of its beginning. How did its Head and King come into the world? He came as a feeble infant, born in a manger at Bethlehem, without riches, or armies, or attendants, or power. Who were the men that the Head of the Church gathered round Himself, and appointed His apostles? They were poor and unlearned people — fishermen, publicans, and men of like occupations, to all appearance the most unlikely people to shake the world. What was the last public act of the earthly ministry of the great Head of the Church?

The words behind it

25 Greek words

Every Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

11 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Daniel 4:20–22The tree you saw that grew large and strong, whose top reached the sky and was visible to all the earth,15 worksDaniel 4:10–14In these visions of my mind as I was lying in bed, I saw this come to pass: There was a tree in the midst of the land, and its height was great.10 worksEzekiel 31:3–10Look at Assyria, a cedar in Lebanon, with beautiful branches that shaded the forest. It towered on high; its top was among the clouds.7 worksPsalms 80:9–11You cleared the ground for it, and it took root and filled the land.6 worksPsalms 91:1He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.5 worksIsaiah 32:2Each will be like a shelter from the wind, a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in a dry land, like the shadow of a great rock in an arid land.4 works
The other 5 cross-references, with their words ▾
Lamentations 4:20The LORD’s anointed, the breath of our life, was captured in their pits. We had said of him, “Under his shadow we will live among the nations.”4 worksIsaiah 11:9They will neither harm nor destroy on all My holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the sea is full of water.4 worksSong of Solomon 2:3Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest is my beloved among the young men. I delight to sit in his shade, and his fruit is sweet to my taste.4 worksProverbs 4:18The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining brighter and brighter until midday.3 worksEzekiel 31:17They too descended with it to Sheol, to those slain by the sword. As its allies they had lived in its shade among the nations.2 works

The walk

5 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Psalms 91:1

    He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

    it leads to

    • Psalms 32:7

      You are my hiding place. You protect me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah

    • Psalms 27:5

      For in the day of trouble He will hide me in His shelter; He will conceal me under the cover of His tent; He will set me high upon a rock.

    • Psalms 36:7

      How precious is Your loving devotion, O God, that the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings!

    • Psalms 17:8

      Keep me as the apple of Your eye; hide me in the shadow of Your wings

    • 1 John 4:15–16

      If anyone confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.

Where this verse is studied

About Mark

Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee, Rembrandt, 1633, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Public domain.
Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee, Rembrandt, 1633, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Public domain.
Mark: the study guide →Read Mark 4 →
This page draws on 12 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Ambrose of Milan, Commentary on Luke; Augustine of Hippo, LETTER 32; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition); John Chrysostom, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Peter Chrysologus, SERMON 98; Pseudo-Jerome, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Theophylact of Ohrid, Catena Aurea by Aquinas and Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Mark.

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