Mark 4:7
in Mark 4Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the seedlings, and they yielded no crop.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And other fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.
KJV
And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.
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This verse in Mark 4
Commentary
9 notes on this verseFor 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.
This site's exposition
Other seed fell among thorns
on Mark 4:7-8
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.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
There are some of them rich, and others immersed in much business. The thistles are the rich, and the thorns are they who are immersed in much business. Those, accordingly, who are entangled in many various kinds of business, do not cleave to the servants of God, but wander away, being choked by their business transactions; and the rich cleave with difficulty to the servants of God, fearing lest these should ask something of them. Such persons, accordingly, shall have difficulty in entering the kingdom of God. For as it is disagreeable to walk among thistles with naked feet, so also it is hard for such to enter the kingdom of God.
The Medieval Church2 voices
And some fell among thorns; by which are marked souls which care for many things. For thorns are cares.
Other seed fell on a soul occupied with many things, for the "thorns" are the cares of life.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And some fell among thorns,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
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.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1857)
proposed
These verses contain the parable of the sower. Of all the parables spoken by our Lord, none is probably so well-known as this. There is none which is so easily understood by all, from the gracious familiarity of the figures which it contains. There is none which is of such universal and perpetual application. So long as there is a Church of Christ and a congregation of Christians, so long there will be employment for this parable. The language of the parable requires no explanation. To use the words of an ancient writer, "it needs application, not exposition."
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1857)
proposed
These verses contain the parable of the sower. Of all the parables spoken by our Lord, none is probably so well-known as this. There is none which is so easily understood by all, from the gracious familiarity of the figures which it contains. There is none which is of such universal and perpetual application. So long as there is a Church of Christ and a congregation of Christians, so long there will be employment for this parable. The language of the parable requires no explanation. To use the words of an ancient writer, "it needs application, not exposition." Let us now see what it teaches. We are taught, in the first place, that there are some hearers of the Gospel, whose hearts are like the wayside in a field . These are they who hear sermons, but pay no attention to them. They go to a place of worship, for form or fashion, or to appear respectable before men. But they take no interest whatever in the preaching. It seems to them a mere matter of words and names, and unintelligible talk. It is neither money, nor food, nor drink, nor clothes, nor company; and as they sit under the sound of it, they are taken up with thinking of other things. It matters nothing whether it is Law or Gospel. It produces no more effect on them than water on a stone. And at the end they go away, knowing no more than when they came in. There are myriads of professing Christians in this state of soul. There is hardly a church or chapel, where scores of them are not to be found. Sunday after Sunday they allow the devil to catch away the good seed that is sown on the surface of their hearts. Week after week they live on, without faith, or fear, or knowledge, or grace — feeling nothing, caring nothing, taking no more interest in religion, than if Christ had never died on the cross at all. And in this state they often die and are buried, and are lost forever in hell.
The words behind it
17 Greek wordsEvery 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.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| καὶ | kai | And | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| ἄλλο | allo | other | G243 → | 155 times |
| ἔπεσεν | epesen | fell | G4098 → | 90 times |
| εἰς | eis | among | G1519 → | 1755 times |
| τὰς | tas | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἀκάνθας, | akanthas | thorns, | G173 → | 14 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| ἀνέβησαν | anebesan | grew up | G305 → | 82 times |
| αἱ | hai | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἄκανθαι | akanthai | thorns | G173 → | 14 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| συνέπνιξαν | sunepnixan | choked | G4846 → | |
| αὐτό, | auto | it, | G846 → | 5565 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| καρπὸν | karpon | fruit | G2590 → | 66 times |
| οὐκ | ouk | no | G3756 → | 1664 times |
| ἔδωκεν. | edoken | it yielded. | G1325 → | 412 times |
καὶAnd
kaiG2532 →9120 times
ἄλλοother
alloG243 →155 times
ἔπεσενfell
epesenG4098 →90 times
εἰςamong
eisG1519 →1755 times
τὰςthe
tasG3588 →19766 times
ἀκάνθας,thorns,
akanthasG173 →14 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
ἀνέβησανgrew up
anebesanG305 →82 times
αἱthe
haiG3588 →19766 times
ἄκανθαιthorns
akanthaiG173 →14 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
συνέπνιξανchoked
sunepnixanG4846 →
αὐτό,it,
autoG846 →5565 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
καρπὸνfruit
karponG2590 →66 times
οὐκno
oukG3756 →1664 times
ἔδωκεν.it yielded.
edokenG1325 →412 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
Matthew 13:22The seed sown among the thorns is the one who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
it leads to
- 1 Timothy 6:17
Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be conceited and not to put their hope in the uncertainty of wealth, but in God, who richly provides all things for us…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Luke 8:14
The seeds that fell among the thorns are those who hear, but as they go on their way, they are choked by the worries, riches, and pleasures of this life, and their fruit does…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Timothy 6:9–10
Those who want to be rich, however, fall into temptation and become ensnared by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Mark 4:18–19
Others are like the seeds sown among the thorns. They hear the word,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Luke 12:15
And He said to them, “Watch out! Guard yourselves against every form of greed, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
- 1 Timothy 6:17
Through
Jeremiah 4:3For this is what the LORD says to the men of Judah and Jerusalem: “Break up your unplowed ground, and do not sow among the thorns.
it leads to
- Hosea 10:12
Sow for yourselves righteousness and reap the fruit of loving devotion; break up your unplowed ground. For it is time to seek the LORD until He comes and sends righteousness upon you like rain.
- Luke 8:7
Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the seedlings.
- Hosea 10:12
Through
Luke 8:14The seeds that fell among the thorns are those who hear, but as they go on their way, they are choked by the worries, riches, and pleasures of this life, and their fruit does…
it leads to
- 1 John 2:15–17
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
- 1 John 2:15–17
Where this verse is studied
About Mark
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Gregory the Dialogist, Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 15; 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 Gill, Exposition of the New Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Shepherd of Hermas, Shepherd of Hermas, Similitude 9; Theophylact of Ohrid, Catena Aurea by Aquinas and Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Mark.